Jachut

Why do people put stock in these television grandstanders? They're there to make shows and take ratings! I cant stand freaking Dr Phil or Dr Oz. I wouldnt put any stock in what they said - they're selling a product, themselves and their show and like ALL media, you cant place much faith in it. Make your own decisions based on your own research.

This is a good post, spot on. The band doesnt work for everyone because everyone's issues are different and everyone is prepared to different things to lose weight and keep it off. Most people, if they fill beyond a certain point will start to get food stuck and throw up a lot. Then they unfill and feel like they have "no" restriction. This is very common. But the truth is, there really is no perfect point of restriction with the band where weight loss is automatic but you dont get the side effects of getting stuck. This is not how the band is designed to work. I've never ever in six years found that "sweet spot" and have always had the capacity to eat things like sandwiches - my band has NEVER enabled me to live on 800 calories a day, I would be absolutely freaking starving and if I filled it that tight, I'd be stuck and throwing up all the time. But many people dont do very well at learning to eat slowly and carefully in the manner that they need to with a band. Its a big change, a difficult one but crucial for success. Throwing up is nearly always user error, and occasionally due to eating a food that just isnt going to work (those are different for everyone). As for living on baked chicken, well, that's right. YOu need to change what you eat no matter what. If you put some effort in, you can learn how to have variety and satisfaction in your diet without high calorie, fatty foods, and you can have those treat foods once in a while in small quantities. I say I eat whatever I want because I dont follow any particular diet plan but make no mistake, you cant truly eat "what you want" whenever you want it and lose weight successfully. There is denial and hard work involved and until you're ready to face that, a lapband is not going to help. Bypass as a surgery tends to be better for people who cant make these changes, but the problem is regain later on. Its not a moral failing for the band not to work and its not an attack when people post that it doesnt work and these people dont deserve to be told they're just not doing it right, but the truth is, the band isnt right for everyone.

Hmmmmm. Long term I certainly found it necessary to adjust my lifestyle to keep weight coming off and these days, I find it quite a lot of work to stay on the straight and narrow and it doesnt "feel" like the band does much other than restrict the quantity I can eat at a sitting. But I had to unfill it for another surgery and yep, its definitely cutting my appetite and making it easier to eat less overall. But that signal does get weaker with time. It gets easier to ignore it and eat what you want anyway. And before I unfilled mine, I could never have had this much Fluid in it, I would have been so tight. My band is now 0.2cc off FULL and I can eat an entire sandwich - not a problem really - except that being able to eat a sandwich also means you can eat a Big Mac or a largish plate of Pasta AND have room for something else half an hour later. Choices, definitely. But at first, I found weight loss automatic, it was very dramatic, pretty fast and definitely because of the band. I think some people truly dont get that honeymoon, particularly with the new bands, but I really do think there's a lot of people who just arent listening to what their band and body is telling them too.

I just created an album of before pictures for anyone who wants to look http://www.lapbandtalk.com/gallery/album/8849-jachut-post-rectal-cancer-pre-tummy-tuck/

Wow Brenda, its amazing how many people have fought and won this battle! He didnt give me a choice to just fix the scars themselves, it was off with them all and tighten the whole abdominal wall - I thought he would just focus on the caesar scar and id planned to ask him if we could extend that into a mini tummy tuck figuring that would make "some" improvement, but my lower belly is flat and taught, its my upper belly and sad belly button that are the problem, so i thought id have to live with that. But nope, apparently full abdominoplasty is the standard way to fix all of this. Have to go and see lpband surgeon to discuss a low profile port too. I guess that means unfilling again, groan

Its entirely reconstructive, but a side effect will be a supermodel tummy. After my ultra low bowel resection i was left with an ugly, twisted scar where my caesar scar used to be and a stoma of course. When the stoma was closed i had a new scar ( about as big as a port incision) and an upper abdominal bulge. Despite this huge op being laparoscopic, my abdominal wall has been severely weakened, and the fullness on my previously flat tummy Id thought was middle aged spread ( early menopause due to rafiation) is not my pear shaped bod beginning to store intraabdominal fat but rather muscle laxity brought on by wearing my intestine as an accessory for nine months. I also had incisional hernias which were getting worse so my colorectal surgeon encouraged me to go and see a reconstructive plastic surgeon, who said a full abdominoplasty is the way to go. Because its reconstructive im looking at $5000 rather that $15000 which is more the norm here. I never could have used my familys money for pure vanity as my tummy isnt that baf, but this is ncessary, henc guilt free. And Ive never really considered getting my boobs done because i couldnt see the point without the tummy work. Now as hu by has said, i may as well do it, so will save up and do that later this year. At present, the tummy tuck will be in the last week of march. Im a tad scared. Ive had some truly traumatic surgeries in the last 12 months and have suffered a fair bit of depression at the damage my treatments have done to my body. This is going to be a big and painful one, but i think i will finally feel lime ive kicked cancer's ass!

I hate smartphone typing!

Ive had one, just one incidence in six years with a band where ive wanted to throw up- as opposed to pbing- from nausea. Unfortunately it was a few weeks ago and involved alcohol. Since chemo i cant tolerate it or some reason and have gotten unexpectedly and unpkeasanly drunk a few times. Anyway, my body heaved and i got the sweats anf he watering mouth and all the symptom of tue vomitin but nothinbg would come up. But i wpuld think bingin would quickly cause pain, food ould get stuck and vrything bov the pouch ould come right bck up. Trouble is when ive been stuck and pbd, unless its. Really bad one, i can eat again within minutes. I dont think pbing would halt hlt binging at all, no reputable surgeon would knowingly band someone with bulimia ( or anorexia either or that mattr) witjout dircting them for treatmen of h primry Ho

Sheesh, we women are never good enough are we? What's wrong with you, only got one pair of hands or something? Seriously though, you look fantastic. Actually your pic was the only one I've ever seen where your skin is actually very nice before, I gather it was more muscle repair you needed?

Ive been guilty of the same thing, so have we all, dont beat yourself up over it. Im sorry this has happened, at least this torturous diet will get that 26 lbs back off, i hope its not too tough to stick to and that it does the trick.

Glad to hear you're ok and hope the band helps you towards success. I'd been banded for five years when I was diagnosed with rectal cancer in August 2010. I had chemo and radiation, followed buy a bowel resection and an ileostomy for nine months. I had six months of chemo earlier this year and then had my ileostomy reversed in July. I had my band unfilled the entire time and really feared gaining so I continued to run daily and go to the gym during treatment and eat as if I ad a band. I had 5FU with no steroids, my problem was getting too thin. I will warn you, I really didnt give enough thought to the demands treatment would make on my body. I felt relatively Ok so i pushed myself hard with exercise, blieving it ould help me to recover, radiation of course was to my pelvis putting me into instant menopause, and a brutal on at that. On year on I was suffering terrible depression and anxiety despite having been cured, my onc and gp ran a whole lot of bloods and tests - I am completely Iron depleted and anaemic, definitely post menopausal and have ostopaenia, ironically I broke a rib a few weeks ago doing not much at ll. So take your supplements And make sure to eat super duper well, its SO important. You ve needs above and byond the ordinary person. I had to start HRT (instant depression cure), Calcium, iron, super multi etc. Very best of luck to you!

I really feared somethign going wrong in the surgery and like Helen, I dont know why. I've had other elective ops and never felt a qualm and I've since had really really major surgery and wasnt scared. I think it was the feelign that I'd put myself there through overeating and shouldnt have to be taking the risk of surgery. I really feared never seeing my kids again. I also feared what I'd do when I wanted to really pig out and couldnt. Truth is, I can. And sometimes do. My go to foods were never burgers, fries, heavy things like that but I could sit with a packet of shortbread dunking them in my coffee forever, and things like that are slider foods. I've done that on many occasions since being banded. I keep it under control now though, its not a daily occurrence like it used to be.

You need to drink more and yes, a very Protein heavy diet can lead to kidney stones. Look, I know many people advocate it and I know it works great for weight loss and is beneficial for some areas of your health, but it also has downsides and if you're focussing too much on the protein, you make your body a very acidic environment (which predisposes you to things like gout, cancer, kidney stones). You need to balance out the protein with lots of fruit and vegies which are alkaline foods and I think many bandsters dont do that well, they think they're going great because they drink their Protein shakes and that's all there is to it. Dont know what your diet is like, just something to consider. Many people are predisposed to kidney stones anyway and many people who are NOT on a high protein diet get them too (and many people on a high protein diet never ever get them), so it really could be something that was always going to happen.

So do I, and I've never been a real fan of supplements, nor of eating very low calories or doing low carb. I've always preferred to eat a wide variety from all food groups and I thought I was doing very well. But I got cancer - I would have anyway, the tumour had started before I was banded most probably. I know that the treatment placed a huge strain on my body. But I've recently found out my iron stores are completely depleted (we fixed my bleeding tumour over twelve months ago now, and I went into instant menopause from the radiation last year, so I'm not losing iron due to bleeding), I'm also anaemic meaning circulating iron is too low and my bones have thinned dangerously - to the point where I broke a rib three weeks ago just trying to undo the knob on a spin bike. It seems six years of low calorie (1500 a day or so) eating and a lot of running and other tough cardio such as spinning have made me thin and aerobically very fit but havent done my body many favours nutritionally. Chemo and two surgeries no doubt didnt help either. Needless to say, I now own a dosette box, full of HRT, aspirin, multi, fish oil, calcium and iron!

Just thinking on this post though and am curious, why dont you like taking chewables? Im very bad with my sulements becuse i really hate swallowing the huge pills and am very excited yo see a new austrlian website selling chewBles!

I agree, and our goals are individual as well B-man's cooment about not feeding him that "I dont want to bulk, only tone" line as been bothering me for days. Its not an unreasonable comment and its certainly correct and it was not said with any intent to offend, so I am not refuting it or taking offense. But here's the rub. . Personally, I would rather look loke Miranda Kerr than Jillian Michaels a million times over, and my routine gives me that kind of body (well, the closest a non genetically blessed 44 year old can come to it anyway). I know women dont generally bulk anyway but I like the result my routine has given me, So I will stick with my high cardio and Body Pump routine and not loading up on protein. I just wont buy into the supplements and heavy weight training scene because first it bores me sh*tless and secondly, I have no desire for that sort of body. And if it turns me into a calorie burning furnace, well I can already pretty much eat what I want coz I burn it off running ( which I love so it is not a chore) so really, I couldnt give a crap whether someone. Thinks thats right or wrong. It ist fashionable to want to look thin rather than like an Olympic athlete these days and I think all the supplements and advice are a part of that fad, great if its what youre aiming for and theres nothing wrong with having that goal, i just dont.

Very true. I take it but only because I know that I need it. Mentruating women are unlikely to get into trouble with it but why pay for something if you dont need it?

I'd eat more, and not because I believe in starvation mode, but for nutrition sake. I've always been a bit gung ho about nutrition, I figured if you eat well and eat 1200 or so a day you should be fairly OK. I've never really taken supplements, and dont drink Protein shakes. But I've had a wake up call recently, yes, I was having cancer treatment, so that puts a unique strain on my body - but my set of nutritional issues include Iron depletion, osteopaenia (that's a precursor to osteoporosis), B12 deficiency, all of which have lead to some unpleasant symptoms including depression, anxiety and real brain fog to the point where I wondered if I was suffering dementia. That's as a result of six years of calorie restriction, coupled with a lot of very hard exercise. I'm thin, yes, but I was well on my way to being a frail little old lady! I broke a rib three weeks agoand all I was doing was trying to adjust the knob on a spin bike that was done up a bit tight! That is what led to the bone density test, which showed my bones are not what they shoudl be. Needless to say by the time I lay out what I know I need to eat in a day, there's over 1500 calories there. I can eat that, I'm maintaining now, not losing, but it just really proves to me that you absolutely CANT survivive on 500 a day and you really really need to be supplementing carefully. You need a good multi, you need your Calcium and if you're menstruating, you need your iron. You can feel fine for years undereating, but it kind of hits you all of a sudden.

I like a good carb serve for breakie but I do know tht when I eat a good Protein containing breakfast, I eat much better for the rest of the day. But I need that energy so I often have something like an egg on toast (and I could seriously not eat till 3pm after that), or cheese and tomato on toast, even tuna and avocado on toast. I like Cereal and oatmeal (real rolled oats) are fabulous for me because of the soluble fibre and my bowel issues, what I do with that is the night before cover it with milk and refrigerate and then you just have to zap it for a minute and a half like the quick cook stuff. I mix through some chopped nuts and seeds and top with a dollop of yogurt, mmmmm. And for quick mornings, I keep a good high protein box cereal around. I do like a fruit smoothie, but it just doesnt get me through the morning. So sometimes if I fancy one, I make it a very small one and top it up with a couple of wholegrain crispbreads with Peanut Butter.

Me! In truth, I could look better with some ps, as could we all at 44, but i dont NEED it. My tummy is pretty good, lower belly perfect and flat, but some upper sag, with a sad belly button, thats from pregnancy as ive never had a big stomach at any other time, butt is a bit wobbly but has been all my life. Arms are perfect, in fact i fave really nice arms and shoulders if I do say so myself. Legs are good. A boob job would be what Id really need, but again, ive never had pert breasts and have breastfed three kids for six years all up. I got to a bmi of 20 too, so am pretty stoked. The main reason id have ps would be to erase normal signs of aging and past pregnancies, less so than because of weight loss. And begore you ask, i did noyhing special, in fact apparentl i do it all wrong. I eat bread and carbs, run a lot and have never shelled out for miracle firming cream. And being an Aussie, Ive spent my life in the harsh sun ( and probably look like it)

I think you're doing great and you sound like you've expressed your frustration and are feeling better. Yes, the band is a tool, yes, you have to do the work and yes, it's not designed to create more than 1-2lb lost per week when you work with it. But I think if we're honest, weve ALL harboured that secret fantasy that the weight will simply pour off and we all want to be thin yesterday. Its normal to feel a bit impatient. However, if you want to influence and speed up your loss, there's five other days in the week that you're not exercising!. Twice a week wont cut it for that long, you really do need four or five sessions for the best results.

Well, this is a very good point that indicates that you do have to eat enough to sustain yourself to lose weight, but I still dont believe its anything to do with "starvation mode". Here's why: there is ony so much you can restrict your calories and be able to hack it. Even WITH a lapband quelling actual hunger, i find I can only cut back so far before cravings (particularly for sugar) set in. And when I've thought I'd be clever and done a gargantuan day of body pump, a spin class AND a run, I tend to spend three days binging afterwards. I tend to lose when I decide I"m going to eat bigger meals - not because I'm putting in more calories but because it cuts back remarkably on the grazing. I'm very bad at skipping meals and eating sugar and caffeine all day long, way way more calories doing that than eating sensibly. So it feels like I"m eating more but in reality, its the same calories but a much better balance of Protein, carbs and fat that actually gives my body something to run on. Note: I'm not a doctor or a nutritional professional, I'm just doing what I always do on this forum, talking as if I know what I"m talking about, lol. But have you ever noticed how complicated nutrition and weight loss is these days? Pre workout supplement this, post workout shake that, so many grams, eat at precisely this time, have precisely this combination. When I was a teenager and my mum wanted to lose a bit (or I did), we just went to Weight Watchers, which was, and always will be - wait for it - portion control. No science, no blarney, no expensive supplements. You ate less and moved more! I dont think our bodies have undergone much evolutionary change in the last 30 years.

So jealous! I think its finally hit me after six years that things aint getting any better, that last few lb is not going to make the difference, lol. Very best of luck, hope its easy to recover from, and I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the results.

There are pkenty of low carbers around ho will tell you ketosis is a good thing and the way your body is meant to run. Now you know just how dangerous and stupid tha is. You cannot live on protein alone, you need good carbs too and at this stage even yogurt, pudding and custard are acceptable. Blend som frui into purprotein shakes for example.