Jachut

Its this low heart rate burns more fat theory Fanny. People just latch onto that because it gives them a reason not to work hard. Its pretty much accepted by the public as truth. If I posted that out on the general forum, it would not be popular!.

We all know it, those of us who run. We KNOW that we wouldnt get the same results from walking. Walking is great exercise, a healthy habit and we have to walk before we can run. But we all KNOW that we'd never get as fit from walking. Here's a little article I found trying to calculate the calories from this morning's run How Many Calories Are You Really Burning? Its all the up/down motion of running as well as the straight ahead motion that makes it the bigger calorie burner - primarily becuase you need more oxygen to run than walk. Which is why our cardiovascular systems are much stronger than they would be from just walking. Its also why my knee is farked after running 14.5 kms his morning (10 miles or so). Lol. But hey, I burned over 1000 calories. Which explains why whenever I do my long run, I tend to pig out on lollies and stuff during the rest of the day. Tonight I ate two bowls of ice cream. They were small bowls. It wouldnt have seemed so bad if I'd just had one big one. But it DOES explain why I was always able to lose on 1500 a day, doesnt it? So next time someone says to you, Oh its great you like to run but you're wasting your time. Walking burns more fat. That drives me CRAZY. That low heart rate theory is so flawed but everyone believe it. Its simple. Work harder for better results.

You'll still want private health insurance though - can you IMAGINE the public waiting lists once its fully covered? Just becuase its covered doesnt mean you wont have to wait five years on some list or other to get in to have it done. So many will still want to go private so that they're done when they want to be with whom they want to be. And that means of course that surgeons will charge way more than the scheduled fee so there will be a gap in what medicare covers and what you pay. Same as how it costs zip to have a baby in a public hospital but costs those of us who have private health insurance several thousand dollars. I mean, I went to the gynae the other week for 5 minutes, cost me $165 and I only got $65 back! So whilst its great news and something we need, and its for a reasonable bmi of 30+, I suspect it will be far from free for many people. You'll either pay more than Medicare will cover or wait for a loooooong time.

DH is experiencing this a little, he was banded June 6 and has only lost about 14lb. But to be brutal, from observing him, it doesnt really surprise me. He's obviously waiting for the band to do the work, he's eating things just because he can, and then crying "how come I can still eat pizza" and he's doing no exercise. I was a low BMIer at a BMI of almost 36, I lost tons of weigth early on. I was very very lucky, I had really good restriction at first. But I was also very strict on my diet and I began to exercise the day I came home from hospital. It can be done, its harder when you dont have that good restriction and once you get it it WILL kick in for you, and the weight will start to come off. But until then, you know what you *should* be doing, make sure you're honest about the degree to which you're doing it and realise that it wont be this hard forever. The fills will help you eventually. What you're going through is not at all uncommon, just frustrating.

Lol, yeah perhaps substitute Peanut Butter or something? Vegemite is an acquired taste, but you eat a tiny tiny scraping of it on toast, you dont slather it on! Even most Aussies would gag at that. I dont get the Protein shake thing, man those are disgusting! What I've never figured with breakfast on the run, etc, is that if I just dont eat it, I am way less hungry and eat less all day. I know its good for me so I eat it, but I really do better with no breakfast. Much less afternoon munchies.

Those things have come along the way for me, I remember the purchase of my first pair of jeans in a normal store for example. Last year I did the short, funky hair cut and got rid of the hair I'd been hiding behind for years. And truly, I dont think the *end* ever comes. I'm STILL thinking oh, just 2 or 3 more kgs. You never go off this diet, so there's no end point. Truly, I dont have one ultimate goal. But I guess a boob job would qualify, although I'm far from sure I'm going to do it yet.

The thing about high Protein diets that worries me is that it may eventually be proven that its the most effective way to lose fat. that doesnt mean that its the best for your overall health. I think its important not to lose sight of that. No point being superbly conditioned if you're dying of bowel cancer, or you have kidney stones. Balance is the key I think. Enough protein but not too much. And I dont know about anything else but I cant run a half marathon without carbs. I eat carbs, I run. I'm not fat anymore. Its all the proof I need.

1500 a day was always good for me, a good balance between losing weight and still getting in a good variety of nutrients every day. I still eat about that now I'm maintaining. I never went "off" my diet, its more so that my weight loss just eventually slowed then stopped. Thankfully that happened at a healthy weight, lol! I dont function well on less, my energy levels dip and I cant run as well.

I seem to differ in that solid Proteins (whilst they do fill me quickly) arent as effective for me as wholegrains in keeping me satisfied. So I eat bread, rice, Pasta and cereals. I personally think that's a healthier diet all round anyway. So I dont worry about Protein so much. If I have a sandwich for lunch, I stay full for hours. If I have a salad with some tuna, I'm hungry in half an hour. So I eat the sandwich.

This has been argued quite a lot on here, it particularly arises when people make comments like "my ideal body weight is 140lb but I have 190lb of muscle right now, so I dont need to go that low". Wrong. As you lose weight, you WILL lose muscle, no matter what you do. Even if you pump Iron. Your body simply will not need as much to carry you around. You can be much more muscular at the end of your journey but still not have 190lb of muscle left. What you want to end up with is a good lean body ratio at the end of it. And to do that you need to protect your muscle with exercise. But there's also a lot of guff out there about how cardio wastes muscle away and how you have to scoff Protein all day every day. I can tell you I eat a carb based diet and run for exercise and I'm more toned and muscular than I've ever had in my life, and a totally different shaped body to boot. My legs are like iron, and my stomach muscles are so strong, heck, even my upper body has nice definition now but I can guarantee there's physically less muscle there than there was when I had to haul 245lb around every day. So eat well, be active, that's all it takes. Pumping iron will obviously give you even more muscle, and its great for you, so if you enjoy it, do it! Even though you will lose muscle as you lose weight (you never lose just fat) its the ratio of muscle to fat on your body that's important and there's no reason why you cant improve that with weight loss. So even with less actual weight of muscle on you 100lb from now, you can be MORE muscular and have a better body composition. Does that make sense? It sounds confusing to me and I know what I mean!

I agree. I'm a daily weigher but I dont panic about plateaus and small gains. They just motivate me to stay focussed. Because I know that I cannot gain 2lb of fat in one day, nor can I lose 2lb of fat in one day. I also plateaued out for long periods of time during my losing phase, and I never lost 2lb per week for any stretch of time. I still go there in the end.

I wasnt even that heavy by comparative standards, with a BMI of 36 AND I'm tall as well. Yet I had to lose a good 30lb before my clothing size truly changed and before people started noticing. I must have packed it in well!

American surgeons (and mexican ones too) seem to me to really like rules. They really like to tell people what they should be eating and how much. Not that that's a bad thing, by a long shot. But all this half cup, this much Protein, that much Water etc. But its not so much like that here. My literature says "do not eat to the point where you induce discomfort or nausea". Which to me makes perfect sense. The amount you can eat changes with fills. Some people can eat a cup, some people NEED more food than others. Why tell everyone they must eat 1000 calories a day when I lost perfectly well on 1500? If you are eating, then stay satisfied for a few hours and keep losing weight then whether that's 1/2 cup or 2 cups, its obviously not too much is it? When you stop losing that's when you need a fill so that you can decrease portion sizes again. So yeah, the guidelines are quite liberal here, but rely a lot on people to use their common sense. We KNOW that we shouldnt base our meals on ice cream and we know that a 3 cup serve of ice cream is too much!

Being tall, a BMI of 35 and just plain lucky (no stretchmarks or loose skin after 3 pregnancies) I got away with it *just*. I'm flabbier than I'd like to be and that is loose skin but I dont have oodles of hanging bits that have to be tucked in. Its 99.9% certain you will have some, its just what happens. But its not always terrible.

For breakfast on the run, I take a piece of vegemite toast and a cup of coffee in the car. At home, I tend to eat a wholegrain cereal and I kind of carry it round the house with me as I get read, it might take me half an hour to actually eat it. I usually put some sliced banana on too.

A bathing suit is ALWAYS worth a decent spend. You will never regret buying a great one. I may be lucky enough to be able to wear a bikini but believe me I cannot simply walk into a store and buy any old one. I have to buy for the "larger" figure even though I'm not a larger figure at all. But teeny triangle tops and really ultra hipster bottoms, nuh uh, not a good look on a 40 year old. Forget flimpsy bathing suits from Target too, a decent suit here in Australia is going to cost $150 but its SO worth it. Decent coverage with the top, bust enhancing padding etc, good quality thicker fabric, double lining, all of it just pulls you together so much and can make you look really lovely in your suit even if you're not perfect. Add a nice soft fake tan and you can hold your head high.

About 9 months after surgery I started having issues with monthly pain on using my bowels and backpain started then too. I never had heavy periods but they got heavier, for me. I also hadnt had period pain or PMT since before I had my first baby and that all started again. Turns out I've developed endometriosis (have it on my sciatic nerve too). Probably sparked by weight loss to a degree but we have a very strong family history of it also, turns out I didnt entirely escape it. It *could* be a coincidence too though, at 40, my cycles are bound to start changing sooner or later. Thank goodness it struck me at 38, AFTER I'd had all the babies I wanted!

Dont muck around with it too much but if you're not even enjoying what you eat, I doubt you need to be that tight. I had a small fill back in Feb thinking I would shoot for 65kg. What happened is it just made me really tight, and I stopped enjoying my food, was barely eating, my running suffered and it started to become really inconvenient to try to eat out with a band. At 68 to 70kg I have a BMI of around 22, I look fine (if not supermodel perfect), I'm fit and healthy, WHAT was I thinking? Why try to lose even more. I realised I was being silly and had a bit taken out. I have .1 less in now than when I had the tiny fill in the first place. It took a week, but my appetite and capacity definitely increased. I had fallen prey to eating easy foods with my tighter band and for a week or two, I continued to eat those foods only more of them. Whoops, up 2lb. I pulled my socks up and banished those foods and now I'm sitting nicely on around 68 to 70 again. If I manage this for six months, I *might* take a little more out. But the point is not to start eating everything again. You have to be on this plan for the rest of your life, that's how you maintain. But basic enjoyment of what you're eating is not a silly goal, its what you need to stay sane. And never ever ever give up the exercising! That's really important in weight maintenance.

Refreshed is a good word. That's all you'd ever need. I've been "refreshed" once in the last 18 months or so. My last real fill was 18 months ago. In fact I just had a little bit out a few weeks back because I'm cautiously trying to reach a spot where I maintain my weight but can eat the widest variety possible - for the sake of fuelling myself for running and for my long term health. There's no advantage to eating a tiny amount long term if you can eat more and still maintain, nutrition wise. So no, you dont need "fills" but you'll continue to need the moderation of the band. I'm pretty sure were I unfilled totally I'd gain weight!

When you do slip up, you dont tend to slip up so badly and its easier to get back on track. You do still tend to drift off your plan, like you would before, I still can only keep up ANY sort of intense diet for a week or two before I start to drift, but portion sizes remain constant and physically a lot of the really bad foods (like McDonalds, KFC, pizza) are just so darn hard to eat, I just dont eat those anymore, ever really. So you dont get weight regain and you can get going again. You dont get hungry, so even if food choices are not absolutely optimum, you're not eating a lot. But mainly I like to eat and I like a wide variety so I exercise a lot. The band hasnt made me take up running, that was all me. Now I run an hour four or five days a week and the way its changed my body (I havent just lost weight, I've really changed) I'm confident that as long as running is part of my life, I wont battle my weight again. With the guiding hand of my trusty band of course!

I think you have to find one that suits your skin colour. I like St Tropez, but there's 2 cheap ones that work really well on me too - Bronze Up is a great colour on my skin, and its non tinted and non sticky, and it doesnt have that development smell on me. So that's what I use mostly. I just put a coat on at night twice a week. For a special occasion you cant beat a Mystic Tan in the booth.

I eat a totally normal diet - which to me means its wholegrain carb based - bread, cereal, protein to me is important but not the only important macronutrient. I eat fruit and veg and I like a glass of wine at night and everynow and then we have a takeaway dinner like fish and chips. I dont really like pizza and with a family of five, chinese or indian costs a fortune - that's a couple of times a year only for us. We'd have a takeaway dinner maybe twice a month. I never choose junk food for lunch anymore though, never ever.

I'm a dedicated fake tanner. I dont know that it makes me look thinner, but it makes me look WAY healthier. If you keep it light, I reckon a dark tan is aging and looks pretty awful. But a light tan - in winter I still do my face, neck, chest and hands - blends in my dark undereye circles and means I need a bare minimum of makeup and dont frighten myself when I look in the mirror in the morning. I dont like a face full of make up personally, its not a look I like, so I'm happy to have an, ahem, "natural" glow and a bit of lipgloss. I just dont look as healthy or nice when I go full on pale in the winter. But I stress, it has to be light - one coat. Orange is not a good look. I think it depends a lot on your skin tone, I'm pale but olive if that makes sense. Fake tan on pink based skin, ugh. In summer, I'm happy enough with the natural colour I get, I dont need to be dark, but I wouldnt bare my bod on the beach without the camouflage of a nice tan! But fake is always best. Sunbeds are downright dangerous and there's not much point looking great with a tan at 28 if you look like a handbag at 40.

Lol, yes the image in my head is an olympic athlete! But I let myself down by actually singing Abba songs aloud during that race. I realised I was doing it when I started to get funny looks! But yeah, really we're hard on ourselves. When you think where we've come from, to look normal - jiggles and all - is good enough for me! Do you know Chickie, that that's what I really love about running. That hour of positive affirmations and postive self image (even if it's fantasy) is such a healthy thing for self image, I think. It gives you a respect for your body that's quite separate to how it looks and it gives you a way of looking at your body that is not so judgemental. Its how you FEEL that really matters after all. You look great though Chickie! And when in doubt, just run in front of someone much bigger than you wearing pink, lol.

well, here's want rather than need: http://www.supersportimages.com/products/showbib.php?xs=467&s1=535 those are me, just came through my email now. I'd sure LIKE some work done on those upper thighs. I think they're horrendous. But do I need it? Nope. And its not really a good photo, they're not that bad. Here's my stomach (posted a few weeks ago when someone asked about scars: I think its jiggly, and when I bend over, it all hangs unattractively in the middle, utterly disgusting. I hate it. I'd like to fix it if I had lots of money and the scars werent bad. But do I "need" it? No. Its easy enough to just not wear a bikini isnt it? That's want v need in my opinion. When clothes wont fit parts of you or your 3 sizes different top to bottom or your back aches becuase of the weight of your boobs, that's need. Its not wrong however to "want" plastic surgery you dont "need". There's nothing vain about it, there's no shame in wanting to look as good as possible. For me, however, it stops with going into debt for it.