Jachut

I agree with several comments above. Like you say, I wasnt fat because I was constantly hungry and I cant really identify with being starving 2 hours after eating a large meal. I just plain overate. The quantities I ate werent startling, they were like what most other people put away but I would then go and eat chocolate, or biscuits an hour after a meal, just because. I ate from boredom and I know I eat to relieve stress. But like Froggie said above, its amazing how once you're very UNhungry its amazing how that sort of behaviour declines. The band makes me feel like I always just ate a large meal and am very much not hungry yet. But I do still eat for unhungry reasons and have to constantly work on that. There IS willpower involved. However, when you do break out, you dont do that much damage either.

At the moment, ummmmm white bread wholegrain bread butter (never margarine) skim milk (never buy juice or soft drinks at all) greek yogurt 2 bottles of wine various condiments and sauces (a lot of Asian ingredients, love Thai cooking) a big container of broccoli cheese Soup that I made for tomorrow night's dinner a container of bolognaise sauce I made for tonight's dinner ham, various cheeses (camembert, chedder, blue, goats) cheese sticks minced garlic and ginger prunes canned beetroot strawberries, spinach, tomatoes, parsley, coriander, avocadoes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, onions, zucchini, leeks, mushrooms, broccoli, cauli, snow peas, baby cucumbers,eggplant, blueberries, apples, oranges. Freezer various meats - steak, sausages, a leg of lamb, 2 legs of pork, 2 chickens, chicken breasts, mince, salmon and barramundi fillets 3 lamb shank casseroles loads of zucchini and leek and thai pumpkin soup in small containers frozen vegies frozen fruit for shakes and smoothies (oranges, bananas, strawberries) pies and sausage rolls pastry frozen vegies a couple of lean cuisines that are probably 2 years old bolognaise sauce 2 home made lasagnes chicken stock In the pantry there's not a LOT of food. Baking ingredients such as flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, canned goods (baked Beans, Soups, tomatoes, coconut milk, condensed milk dry goods (pastas and noodles) All the glasses/mugs/large appliances such as slow cooker cat food - wet and dry bags, tupperware, general mess spreads - vegemite, Peanut Butter, nuttella cereals that nobody ever eats and I should throw out tuna and chicken bottled Pasta sauces recipe bases On TOP of the fridge is all the snack foods - atm there's pretzels, nuts of various types, bread sticks, plus barbecue shapes, tim tams (both aussie delicacies), chips and some almond roca (i try to never get started on that stuff), plus an opened bottle of red wine

Well, I need some advice, lol. I'm having one 11 August, similar family history of polyps, plus I've been having issues all year. I've never had a colonoscopy, this is my first. What I'd like to know is this: will one day off work be sufficient (its only light sedation isnt it) and how soon before do you need to start doing the bowel prep - I'm a teacher, I cant run off to the toilet every five minutes! I know I'll get the instructions when I pick up the bowel prep the week before but I need to put in my application for sick leave asap, and I want to know if I need to start the prep like 24 hours before, as I'd need to take that day off work too. I know my grade sixes would be highly entertained by the sight of me in intestinal distress, lol, but I'd rather avoid it!

I'm almost five years out and still going great, I've been at goal for about 2 and a half years now. My band is very stable and dependable, its never given me a moment's trouble and I've never needed to be unfilled. I dont have it very tight though. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I've not heard anyone with a troublesome band who has converted to a sleeve say they're sorry to have done it though, so best of luck with that.

I just dont eat that little. I still eat a healthy balanced diet, its just that 1500 calories a day makes me very satisfied now, whereas I would have been hungry before. But if I drop too low, my body lets me know it needs food with symptoms not as bad as shaking and sweating, more like intense cravings. Its a balance you work out yourself, your restriction level v minimum calorie needs.

I doubt you've lost 50lb of muscle. But its a certainty, for ALL of us, that on a low calorie diet, our weight loss is going to consist of Water, fat AND muscle. YOu cant avoid it, your job is just to keep as much muscle on your body as possible. Weight loss and muscle building together are pretty impossible for women to manage, because for muscle growth, you need lots of Protein and CALORIES. You just cant really do it with a calorie deficit. But you can get stronger and have more endurance and tweak the ratio of fat/water/muscle so that you lose mainly fat, however, at the end of the day you just dont need as much muscle to carry a 150lb body as you do a 300lb one and your body is going to adjust to that. There's also the strong possibility that your workout DOESNT burn 800 calories a time. I've done workouts where I'm sure I have burned that much and boy, I am absolutely wrecked and require a day or two to recover. I've done 8km runs which the charts SAY burn that much and I'm ready to do something else in an hour. I know I havent really burned 800 calories. It also depends on so many factors - size, intensity, fitness (you can burn more calories if you're fitter), your metabolism, etc. You just cant ever really know.

Healthy weight ranges are just an average and there are variables. You might have much more muscle in which case you can weigh more and not be fatter than someone who weighs less with less muscle. However, most of those normal body variations are already taken into account by the fact that its a weight range, not a singular weight that you're aiming for with respect to health. But its up to you, its your body, your life, you should weigh what YOU want to and look the way YOU feel comfortable looking and it would be wrong for anyone to disagree with that. But the other side of that coin is that you do have to realise that it may still be considered overweight, and that you may have increased risk of disease as a result. Also that what you call "a bag of bones" might be to someone else a normal and attractive body shape. Its actually normal for collarbones, elbows, knees and hipbones to show and fairly normal to be able to see some ribs as well. I find it a bit baffling why that alarms some people so much, but I guess its the same as the way people associate blatantly fat toddlers with being "healthy". Its just a perception some of us have. the only person whose opinion really matters is your own.

I think it will probably work out over time, but I would be feeling uneasy about it too. As you condition your body, and gain muscle, your metabolism will probably take care of those extra calories. At the end of the day though, this is about health too and you're hardly stuffing yourself with rubbish - you're eating well and exercising. Logic would suggest that you simply wont get fatter from doing that. But you have to work out what suits your body too. I decided some months back that long hours of cardio were not what was going to get me to the really low weight I secretly wanted, I've backed off, doing way more strength training and REALLY making an effort to change my strong anti-high Protein beliefs. I've not lost any weight, in fact gained a pound or two and dont feel thinner. No, its not more muscle, I'm slightly puffier round the waist and tummy. I've given it a lot of thought and for MY body lots of cardio is what works. I do do strength training, I want to keep muscle on my body but without the long runs, I get fatter, end of story. I've readjusted my circuit style program to be a long run followed by a short sandbag session, and I feel better, fitter and thinner again. So you do need to listen to your body, and find what suits you, not necessary believe everything you google or are told by a trainer. the internet is a endless source of claims tht you can TORCH fat, burn MEGA fat in 20 minutes of interval training, my trainer says the same thing. I include intervals in my routine becuase they make me really fit, but experience has shown me that for me, long steady state cardio works the best and keeps me the trimmest. But it does take a few weeks or more to really see how something is working for you.

10 extra pound of fat is 10 extra pounds of fat! Its not going to really help a lot, just going to create wobble. Especially when you consider it took 100lb or more to fill out that excess skin. But a BMI of 24 isnt carrying 10 excess pounds of fat, its a normal weight and getting even skinnier probably wont help things past that point. I've certainly realised (finally) for me that getting right down to a BMI of 20 is not going to get rid of the small muffin top and saddlebags I have, those ARE my excess skin and the places my body is just not going to give up the fat without surgical help. I'm skeletel enough up top as it is already, so you're right, getting uber skinny is not necessarily the answer,especially when you're 43 and looking half decent in a bathing suit is enough of an achievement, let alone putting pressure on yourself to look like a 20 year old in it!.

I would insist dog and children are separated, and I dont think there's a lot else you can reasonably do in a family situation. I can understand someone not wanting to get rid of a cherished pet for a one off incidence, but I would not take the risk again, there are no second chances, and your daughter could have been scarred for life. So if she wont restrain the animal well away from the children for the time she has them, I would find alternative childcare. I entirely agree that childcare by grandparents is a blessing, my mum was always unwilling, much as she loves her grandchildren, to commit to entire days for their care, she's got her own life to lead and has done her time caring for young children. I always had to organise my own childcare. You cant insist anything in this situation, if you're not happy and secure with your children's safety then you have to find other childcare. But I personally would be seeing my mum without the dog, at my place. I wouldnt take my children near the dog again. i feel for you. We never had a dog in my family, and I'm not a dog lover. But my sister's DH always had a dog and they got one, and they had no babies until very late either, so they love love love that dog. When they want to visit from Sydney they want to bring the dog with them. My dad wont have a dog in the house and I wont have a dog in my house either (she asked if the dog could come here) and THAT causes enough friction, I can only imagine when its an issue of the dog actually going, it must be very emotional.

At the end of the day, its only too much food if you stop losing weight or begin to gain. it doesnt matter if you eat half a cow comfortably with your level of restriction, if you are losing weight then for you, you are not overeating. There is no medal for starving yourself either, if you can eat 2000 calories of healthy food and lose weight, and I can eat 600 calories of healthy food, who do you think is better nourished? The more food you can eat and still lose, the more likely you are to be meeting all of your nutritional requirements. Without a lot of restriction, your band will still let quite a lot of food thorugh and if it doesnt cause pain or overfullness, then you arent damaging it. You cant stuff yourself so full as to cause damage without noticing any sensations! I wouldnt worry, with restriction, you will eat less. You will get to the stage some years down the track where you look at a toddler's dinner plate and think that it looks like a reasonable meal!

Its also important to remember that once your'e obese, most of the excess skin has ALREADY happened. That's why you cant provent it. Our fat hides it, but you either have it or you dont, and its there already. Losing weight doesnt cause the excess skin, getting fat does. You will feel worlds better than you do now, whatever the outcome. YOu can fix it if needs be.

I'm maintaining now, and my restriction has eased a little over the past year or two so the main difference is I eat a bit more than I did whilst losing. Breakfast: small serve oatmeal/organic granola or an egg on half a slice of wholegrain toast Mornign tea: cut up raw vegies - cucumber, snow peas, carrots, sugar snap peas, red capsicum. I have this every single day, about a cups worth. Lunch: small serve of soup or tuna on crackers, maybe a small salad with a Protein source, sometimes a very small salad sandwich, occasionally dinner leftover, no more than a cup's worth. Dinner: nearly always cooked from scratch, very often a basic meat and 3 veg meal like lamb loin chops, mashed potatoes and steamed vegies or a roast, substitute chicken or fish for the meat other nights, or a casserole of some description, usually with veg also. I try to avoid the Pasta meals or anything not commonly served with vegies, becuase we need our vegies!

I've had my band five years, and it doesnt hurt to eat with it, nor did it at first, BUT there are definitely "sensations" at every meal. Once banded, you are always aware of the feeling of eating, or I am anyway, it becomes second nature to stop, wait for assurance that bite has gone down, before going on. There's multiple small moments during a meal where you wait for something to subside. That's as near as I can describe it. I have to be honest, it doesnt feel like eating before, and sometimes I looka t one of my kids shoving something down their face and wish I could enjoy something like a donut with such abandon, just once, but I wouldnt change it for anything.

Hehe, now I'm quoting someone quoting me, but I had to agree. You dont need FLOUR, just some good complex carb energy - lentils, Beans etc are much more nutritious than flour. I have found that it was just best to train myself away from 'sweet' as much as possible so I dont eat Protein Bars or shakes or stuff like that becuase for me, keeping sweet in my diet, artificial or not, did keep the taste for those foods going. And although I have a band, I've never needed very tight restriction with it to lose weight but the downside of that is that if I want to break out I actually CAN do a fair bit of damage. So for me it was always important to get my appetite stable and controllable. I'd also agree that enough good fat is important too. I dont restrict fat at all.

For me, I lost sizes very slowly at first. Perhaps its because I didnt have a "problem area" and carried the weight very evenly. I started out with a BMI of *only* 36 and I had to lose a good 30lb before I was down a size. Now, if I lost 6lb, I'd be down a size.

No way! I always knew what I wanted from it, but I learned early on to keep it to myself as various people (health professionals included) would protest that it was unattainable, unmaintainable, not necessary. What exactly, may I ask is unattainable about aiming for a weight within the healthy range for my height? It baffles me. It wasnt like I wanted to weigh 100lb at 5ft 10. I remember my girlfriend of similar height to me saying "but I'm 80kg (180lb or so) and I'm the same height as you". I love her dearly, but I was privately thinking "yeah, and you're a bit fat!". I didnt say it of course, but to me, if you can pinch a roll on your middle (deflated weight loss tummies excepted of course), you've got a fair bit of weight to lose.

I think its one of those stats like "you only lose 60% of your excess weight" - its completely within your control. My DH is banded also. He got banded at a BMI of 36 and has gotten down to a BMI of about 29 or so. He's fine with that. He's not into how he looks much. Like a lot of men, he thinks he's fine how he is now and isnt motivated to do much more. Health risks down, check, buy clothes in normal stores, check. Fit in with the blokes, check. What else would he want? Were he a woman now, lol, well, we're always making sure we're thinner than the woman next to us, that we can fit into THIS latest fashion craze, that our nails, our hair, our make up is perfect. We're much vainer creatures by and large and probably willing to put ourselves through a lot more to get that "look" we're after. That's a generalisation of course and in no way does it apply to every man or every woman, but its also generally true that women do tend to be more compliant with doctor's advice and instructions by and large. There'd be no actual physical reason why the band would work better for a female and of course how hard you want to work is entirely within your control.

My weight loss just got slower and slower and eventually stopped, so I never did anything, I just kept the same restriction level. Over time, you lose Fluid from the band too, so twice in the two and a half years since I hit goal I have had a tiny top up fill. I definitely need some restriction to maintain, but it isnt tight restriction. I also have kept exercising just as much as when I was trying to lose.

I definitely cycle through various levels of restriction, sometimes its good for weeks, sometimes its as if I can eat anything at all. Vomiting episodes can creep up and surprise me too, but for me, its nearly always user error, eating too fast etc. Restriction is a fickle thing and if for a while there's foods I cant eat easily, I just go with it. Its just how it is with a band. It changes over time, I can eat things now I couldnt imagine eating six months after surgery, yet I have three times as much Fluid in my band as I did back then. As long as you're able to generally eat well, lose weight or maintain if that's where you're at, eat something from all food groups and have energy, feel well, then there's not really any need to panic over what you can and cant eat at any given time. You also need to remain aware of whether you've vomited because you cant eat that food today and it caught you by surprise or whether you're so tight you're having trouble keeping foods down.

DH is having this trouble too, but the thing is, he's tried stopping the medication (with doctor approval) twice now and his BP shoots up high again after a couple of weeks, not REALLY high, 140/90 or so, but high enough that the doctor wants him medicated. Weight loss hasnt solved his blood pressure problems unfortunately, some people will have high BP no matter what they do, but with DH he's lost the weight purely through restriction and eating less and not through exercise, so I think that would really make a difference. So... at the moment he's in a dilemma, too high without medication, too low WITH medication. He's trying half a pill a day as he's already on the lowest dose of Micardis. I'd definitely think about trying without the meds and seeing what happens.

I dont really. Whole foods, in sensible portions, with good balance between the macronutrients, with only occasional treate. That's really all there is to it. There's no "system" or "secret" out there that will really, at the root of it, be any different to that. I really believe it has to come from YOU. That said, any self help books tht help you understand your mental processes have to be a help. But I'd put back any book that had menus or recipes in it.

Google Josh Henkin or sandbag training. For people like me for whom the mere mention of sets, reps and dumbells makes their eyes roll back into their head, its a great way to do strength training without the boredom and all the mental energy it takes to organise your routine. It gets your heartrate soaring, it makes every muscle in your body hurt, it will transform your core miraculously (I have a *just* visible six pack and I never ever do specific abdominal work) and its very functional fitness, you're training your balance and stabilisation as well. That means you can run without hurting your knees. I find it great fun and I love anything that makes me see stars and want to puke and you really can have a workout that leaves you trembling and really worked within 20 minutes. For cardio, I do like to use that as relaxation time and just listen to music, but I also use cardiocoach a lot. You can find that at www.cardiocoach.com. I find these programs really good for boosting fitness when I've slacked a little. I do enjoy my twice a week people contact at bootcamp or boxing too, we've become quite a close knit group. I'm not really into dvd's, I have a couple, but the cheesy music drives me nuts and I find they're just not hard enough, I cant bag a television (even though we have two) and I dont have the space, falling over kids schoolbags, cats, even kids! I've looked hard at Insanity, very tempted, that looks like my kind of thing, but its the tv/space/time issue for me. Often by the time everything is done and I have 'free' time, its 8pm bnoth tv's are being watched, etc.

If you're not walking because you're not feeling quite recovered and energetic, then no, you're not being lazy, you're being sensible. if you're not walking becuase its 100 degrees, that's a *little* lazy lol! Its that all summer here in Melbourne, if I let it stop me, I'd never get any exercise. But I'm joking a little, when you're overweight and not very fit, its a lot to ask of a healing body to sweat it out in the hot sun. Dont go out in the middle of the day in that sort of heat, that's nuts. You have to wait till its cooler and the sun's in a bit. Get up early or go at dusk. But its all about when you're ready and strong enough.

Hehehe, Andy, I'm no teenager, but I *CAN* tell you about busy. I work full time, ahve three children and am out four nights of the week at football or basketball training and the weekend is a haze of driving kids to social events, the actual football and basketball games, swimming lessons, grocery shopping and TRYING to catch up with family or friends occasionally. I never waste an opportunity. I began my banded life running long distances, my plan was that I knew that once I returned to work I would have only short bursts of time to exercise and that has proven true. So I am now fit enough to make half an hour really count, I can run 6kms in that time and burn 600 calories or so. I do sandbag workouts - meaning I hoik a 20kg sandbag through a range of full body exercises, breaking for little sprints on my treadmill, but that could just as easily be breaking to jump rope for 2 minutes. Google sandbag training and have a look, its SUPER intense and will really work up a sweat and burn mega calories in as little as 20 minutes. Walk wherever you can, as a student, that should be fairly doable. Break it up, if it has to be 20 mins in the morning and 20 at night, then do that. Where there's a will, there's a way and if its only 30 minutes, you just do it and its over and done with. The trick with short periods of time under 40 minutes is focus on INTENSITY. Make it count!