Jachut

Wow, so you had to do the liquid diet to mushies to solids and didnt lose any weight? That sucks - although I too am below goal, I always want to lose more weight, lol. Not that I'm scheduled for revision surgery but I've always wondered if you would lose a ton of weight you didnt need to lose. I guess now that I think of it though, its extremely hard to drop weight now.

I love the heat now. No sweat rash, no thigh chafing, confident wearing shoe string straps and short shorts and a bikini and cute dresses, no rolls of fat to accumulate heat. I definitely handle the heat with ease now (dont ask me about my hair and humidity though). However, the downside of that is the cold. I live in Melbourne, very temperate, average winter day at this time of year is about 13, 14 degrees celcius - it never gets to snowing temperatures and I am freaking freezing all the time. Bone cold, painfully cold. I'm a teacher and schools arent warm places, I turn the heater on to blasting when I get to work, and the kids are all moaning and complaining and I have to turn it off - I have an "inside coat" which I never take off - a light, fleece lined trench and an outside coat - a big fat thick parka which I add on top of my inside coat for yard duty or even to go to the staffroom! I would absolutely die in some of the temperatures you get over there. Everyday I get home from school at the moment, I'm that frozen that I have to have a hot bath to warm up.

Sorry, lack of restriction. I really feel for you, the way your System works with health insurance linked to your employment. If i were you Id move heaven and earth to get to the doc (or a closer one). Otherwise its just down to diet and exercise. Although we ll have to face that at times, you cant jst go tighter everytime you gain a little!

Sorry to say but if you cant go to the doc regularly and get fills when you need them then you may as well not have a band - it simply will not work without that restriction. Even seven years out i m in regular contact and occasionlly have top up fills. Just curious, so many people seem to end up in your position - do financial circumstances change (which cant be helped) or do you not understand this commitment going in? I dont mean to be negative, but the only real answer is to see your doc if its a ack f restriction, which you dont make clear but it sounds that way.

Yes, i cant handle milky coffees anymore, cheese and yogurt are fine, and cold skim milk in amounts such as a bowl of cereal, but warmed, ugh. Nausea followed by gas.

Hald a tub of plain yogurt, a big spoonful of LSA mix, a smll handful of wlnuts abd some berries, mmmm

It really is important for me to include protein AND good carbs (like brown rice or quinoa) at each meal. If I skip the carbs too many meals in a row, I eventually WILL break down and scoff a packet of biscuits.

I've never been tight in the morning, if anything, I tend to eat a lot up until lunchtime and then am tighter in the evenng.

I couldnt survive without it. It was particularly valuable during cancer treatment. I used that time to mull stuff over and reflect.

Been there, sorta still there. It seemed the more I filled, the less restriction I felt! Had a barium swallow finally and yes, doc said VERY tight. He let me go but I recently unfilled a bit due to heartburn. You do just graze and graze and graze and never get that satisfied feeling. The small unfill I had, I certainly didnt begin noticeably eating more and certainly havent gained weight from it. Didnt lose either, but I have none to lose anymore.

Beach in the summer is a huge one for us - and my daughter makes sure I actually swim. She can go all day. We pick a dog beach and take the doggie too. My boys as teenagers are way too cool to be seen at the beach with their geriatric mother in a bikini, sigh.

I think you could confidently work on a cup.

Oh, mmmmmm Peanut Butter, drooool. As I am finally learning, now that I have to be wheat free, lactose free and low fodmap, there are SO many really good (and very healthy) treats to make, you seriously dont need that white flour crap. I dont even buy gluten free alternatives to bread, Cookies etc because they're just as crap as the wheat products! I made some pancakes today with oat flour (I ground it in my Vitamix) and LSA mix and they were fantastic!

I didnt have a tummy tuck until I was about three years past hitting my goal weight. I didnt really need one for cosmetic reasons due to weight loss, I could easily have lived with the small amount of loose skin I had, I even wore a bikini quite happily. But I had bowel surgery and an ileostomy which left hernias and a really ugly scar, so I had a tummy tuck to fix all that up. In fact, I had so little loose skin that my tummy tuck scar had to be pretty high, only "just" low enough for a bikini bottom, the surgeon simply could not pull my skin any tighter and its taking me a loooooong time to get rid of the tightness, numbness and swelling. Wow, Karen, that port IS huge. No wonder you want to do something about it. Mine was similar but not quite as bad, and when the surgeon fixed it up, he told me it was all unstitched and tilted anyway, although my doc never had any trouble filling first go. Once mine had the back off it, was moved to a better location and stitched down firmly, it because barely visible.

Well, all that would definitely be nice without that lump on your belly! Good luck with it I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the results. I got an erosion in my pouch too - not of the band but an ulcer due to taking Iron tablets for four months! I have had the most painful, horrible heartburn but without any reflux and finally had a gastroscopy and there it was. I thought the iron tablets burned a little when I was taking them! But luckily my doc thinks a month on Nexium will heal that damage.

Im so used to my band after nearly seven years that i think it doesnt work so well anymore. Ive lost perpective because every now and then i tice what someone else puts away and i realise how much less i eat.

I do way better when I dont snack! I've never struggled to get enough calories, still have always had to work to keep the level reasonable. I mean, i cant eat 3000 calories in a day anymore without resorting to drinking pure cream and melted chcolate but i can certainly get in 1800 with ease if I snack. And even maintaining, that tends to make me 10lb heavier than I like to be. My magic bullet level to stay at 140lb (5ft 10) is about 1400 calories a day. And to do that, I pretty much dont snack. That's three good healthy square meals (bandster sized but containing all food groups).

Go out for a big long run in the fresh air - never fails to make me feel less bloated and toxic after I've overeaten. similar to how it feels when you're soooooo dog tired, its the last thing you want to do but exercise always picks you up! I dont WANT to run when I'm full of crap food but i always always feel better when I do. The keys to me - fresh air and really working up a sweat. You could do that with hard, fast walking if you're not a runner. But it needs to be sort of punishment lol. I guess I get those endorphins going and it blows away the guilt and disappointment of having eaten the wrong things. I also need the mental relief of knowing I've burned like 700 or 800 calories. That really does undo most pig outs for me.

Given that they all taste chalky to me - none. And given that I'm now wheat free, gluten free, lactose free, soy free and anything ending in "ol" free, that pretty much rules out ANY Protein shake on the market here, lol. That's not helpful, really, lol. I do however manage to get all the protein I need with food.

Well, this is the way I think too, so I've never hidden it from anyone. Also, someone at some stage may very well have thought I eat weird, or very little, or whatever, but nobody's been rude enough to say anything. I would also have no intention of going on a vacation and not relaxing and having a drink and one or two sometimes foods! I sit on one drink for ages, nobody counts you know! I'm only a wine drinker and thought I often get cajoled, I wont do shots or anything like that, not because of my band but because I hate getting drunk and feeling like crap. I also loathe pizza and McDonalds (other than fries) and will sit and not eat when others are purely because I really dislike those foods. If I'm pressed to eat fast food in that sort of situation, I just make the best of whatever's on offer without fuss. However, I'm sorry you appear to have gone away with a bunch of b*tches. Seriously, where does anyone get off questionin people like that about what they eat? That is not normal behavious. I went away for a weekend recently, but it was with FRIENDS. People that support me. OK, they all eat crap, and the whole weekend was about sculling margaritas and stuffing down junk food. I dont do that. I hate the way i feel when I do. I dont abuse my body in that way - and it has little to do with my actual WEIGHT these days. But everyone knows I have a lapband and nobody is threatened by the fact that I'm not chowing down to the same degree. Did I have a drink - YES. Did I eat chips - YES. But not to excess. Sseriously, this is LIFE, not a diet and you're in for a seriously miserable time if you stress this much over a week away. We dont all eat perfect all of the time, its not all or nothing. You can go away, eat at people's houses and such and just eat what's on offer without going hog wild and stuffing your face you know! Just stick to small portions. All or nothing thinking leads to big downfalls. Its a vital skill to learn, how to negotiate real life and real eating situations without the security of "safe" foods or a menu plan. Just go and enjoy yourself and dont overeat - including some of the tactics you have already employed. And I would suggest, although it is difficult when people are pushy like that regarding food, you just need to develop a thick skin.

So you are going to totally unfill your band voluntarily? Its virutally a given that people who lose their bands (which is the same as unfilling it totally) regain their weight, pretty darn quickly too. I too dont want to be offensive, I'm sure you've considered this in depth. Just have to ask though. The thing is, once you've trained your body to live on 1200 calories a day to lose the weight (or even less!) you pretty much have to live on that. You wont be able to eat what someone else of your height and weight can. You have to stay on a diet - forever. Which is why statistically people need their bands. I got my port moved and the back taken off it to reduce its profile during my tummy tuck. Now its just a very vague lump - and my BMI is 20 and my tummy very flat, so it doesnt HAVE to look freaky like mine did. But it still accessible.

At four months post tummy tuck the scar is VERY visible and most definitely more problematic than my tummy was (I had the TT for reconstructive purposes and to prevent further herniation after big abdominal surgeries, I had a pretty flat stomach anyway). But I had an awful twisted keloid scar that needed to be revised and when the colour has left my TT scar, it will not be a real problem. Its hidden in a bikini bottom. I truy dont know how you have a tumy tuck with almost no noticeable scars - its hip to hip! But it is a very flat, neat scar that when it loses it purple/red colouring will not be terribly ugly. And it would certainly be preferable to hanging flesh. I think if you're pale, you often scar better than olive skins - their scars tend to get that dark brown pigment. Us pale people get the red/purple colour that fades away to white. My lapband scars are totally white now.

It depends where you eat of course. As an Aussie, I avoid Sophias, La Porchetta etc coz the food is not only enormous, but its awful anyway. But pub meals are enormous and who doesnt love a good counter meal? A good one that is. My kids are not completely being brought up to think enormous sizes are normal, because I complain non stop about it, lol. And when I buy fish and chips for example - I buy three flake for five of us and cut them in half! I only ever buy the minimum of chips. I dont add potato cakes and dim sims to the order. Probably only the other Aussies will know what I'm talking about! 500 grams of mince for spaghetti sauce does the five of us (two of whom are teenage boys). I dont serve them huge meals and they dont find they're starving!

Well, you can control it, by unfilling a bit. But I'm hard pressed to believe that too thin happens to many people. Personally, speaking for how I want to look myself, a BMI of 19, 20 is good. I dont think its emaciated. And stuff anyone who does. I'm not really looking to please men who like curves either, I'm only pleasing myself. So I wanted to be model thin, and I like a few bones to show. But its not to everyone's taste. Bottom line is, I think you ahve to be guided (but not a slave to) BMI, for most people of normal musculature, somewhere in that healthy range is going to be OK, even if its at the bottom of it and some people think you're too thin. Obviously if your BMI is 10, you've gone too far. I personally wouldnt adjust my exercise and do less I'd eat more. If there's one thing I've learned, it feels great to not be hungry, not think about food, go all day with only a few Snacks. But it doesnt feel so great five years later when you find out you have osteopaenia, your ferritin levels are bottomed out and your kidney function is a little suspect. I realised that I needed to unfill and eat a bit more - quite separate from my weight. And Protein is not the only nutrient you need, we miss out on a LOT through not eating moderate amounts of wholegrains and such. If you think your diet is adequate long long term, you're happy with you you feel and how you look (I've never seen you fat and I thought you looked super healthy in your recent pics, not emaciated at all) and you know you're healthy, then dont worry about what anyone else says.

My cats and dog turn up their noses and wont eat them but they love chicken, so Id guess nit