lellow

Welcome lou! I know it's hard to imagine being that much smaller, but it can be done! How tall are you? I think it's a good idea to have graduated goals - get to 99kgs first, then reassess and see how you're going. You may find at that point, losing that remaining 30kgs won't seem so impossible! I was also banded by Steve Watson, and I have to say, I am grateful every single day for having taken the step. Good luck with the Optifast diet too - the first three days are the worst, and then it gets easier to bear.

I'm scheduled for the 2nd of April, Jeni. I'm nervous but seeing how well you've come through it emotionally has helped me heaps!

Thanks mrgrta, I can't believe I'm only two weeks away, either! I went to give a unit of my own blood yesterday and discovered I'm borderline anaemic and have low blood pressure. They ended up taking 300cc from me anyway (instead of the 450cc they originally wanted) and are now saying that they're not sure I'll be able to donate the 2nd unit next week, JIC I end up with too low a blood count for surgery. Am feeling a bit fatigued today because of the donation, too. I hope this doesn't affect my ability to actually have the surgery. I would be devastated if after all this, it got postponed. Still haven't finished my shopping for the surgery either. Spent most of yesterday in bed after the blood donation, so didn't get anything done. Still can't exercise due to my injured inner thigh muscle, too, so am feeling a little low at the moment.

Thanks lapbandtalker! It was a real anti-climax actually! Lol! And even though I haven't been exercising due to my injury, I'm still losing, so I don't think my body's quite done yet.

Excellent news Juli (well except the paying part! Lol!) My surgeon said I could start exercising slowly from 2 weeks post op too, building up to my normal regime by 6 weeks post op. And yeah, no more crunches for me ever again, he reckons! Not long now for us! I'm super excited! I keep wobbling my jelly belly and saying to my DH, you better take one long last look, it's going to be gone soon!

Congratulations Katy! That is really something to be proud of! I too had a slightly higher BMI as my goal weight, a goal set by my Dr, but I'm still losing too (albeit slower, but still losing!).

Jeni, it's great to see you posting with such positivity so soon after surgery! How is the swelling? Can you see what you will look like once it all goes down?

I too don't think I'll get to goal this challenge, but will try my best. I only have 2 and a half weeks to get there, and with my injured inner thigh muscle, I don't know how I'll go. Start: 158.4lbs Now: 153.3lbs Lost: 5.2lbs To go: 3.3lbs ktork, I hope the plateau breaks for you soon! It's the most frustrating thing to do all the right things but not see that the numbers on those scales are moving down! Heartfire, I hope you feel better soon. You've been ill for ages!

Definitely would have it done again. Got to goal in 7 and a half months and am the lightest I've been since I was 16, which was over 13 years ago.

I actually found quite a lot of support here online. Not just in the August threads but out there in the general threads too. If I needed some motivation, there usually was someone happy to remind me of the band rules, and how much exercise gets easier the more you do it etc etc. I think looking for a buddy here might be a good idea if you're too far from anything else. And there's nothing to stop you from joining WW too on top of that. The Friday weigh ins have been very motivational for me too - I hate posting that I've not lost, or lost only a little. I was absolutely miserable the one week I posted a gain. Knowing I have that Friday weigh in to be accountable for meant I worked hard to lose each week every week. I also set myself realistic small goals: I only every expect to lose approx 1-2lbs a week, and I rewarded myself each time I lost 10lbs, with 4 pieces of new clothing. And each time I lost 10lbs, I went down a size in my clothes, just about. THAT was incredibly motivational. So I do think you can find motivation even if you can't physcially get to a support group. Good luck, matey. I know it's not easy to get into the frame of mind, but it can be done.

Morning all, well I've finally hit (and surpassed) my Dr's goal. I officially have lost 100% of my excess weight. It was a bit of an anti-climax, actually! I would still like to get to 150lbs before my body lift on the 2nd of April, so will still be posting my losses every Friday until I get to that weight. Last week: 70.4kgs (154.9lbs) This week: 69.7kgs (153.3lbs) Loss: 0.7kgs (1.6lbs) Exercise: 1 X 1 hour bike ride around my neighbourhood on Saturday. I hurt my adductor muscle on that ride, and haven't been able to exercise since. I will try introducing exercise slowly again this weekend, depending on how the muscle has healed. Hope everyone managed good losses this week!

It's sooo normal that if you look around, you'll find tonnes of posts asking exacftly the same thing!

I can't say exactly why our ex-Australian Prime Minister decided to send our troops to Iraq. I suspect, however, that it was more due to the fact that the US remains our biggest and strongest ally, and therefore sending troops into a war that an important ally wished to engage in seemed the diplomatic thing to do. Even as we were preparing to send troops, the feeling was that we were doing it to support the US, and very little was done to even try to convince the Australian public that Sadam had WMDs. In fact Australia in general wasn't imminent danger even if Sadam had WMDs. The popular consensus here in Australia, to be honest, was that we didn't want our troops being sent to a war for no other reason than our govt wanting to stay in favour with our ally. Because I don't think many Australians really believed we were doing it to protect the world from Sadam Hussein. So it was very likely a purely political move for Australia to send troops to assist our ally, than any belief that there may be WMDs.

I lost 7-9lbs a month, and 9lbs only in the months I flogged myself with exercise. At 7-9lbs a month, I lost 57lbs in 6 months. I don't know about you, but I'm personally delighted with those results! Even if you're losing 6lbs a month, in 6 short months you would have lost 36lbs. In 12 months, you'd have lost 72lbs! The other thing, of course, is if you would like to lose more each month, then the best thing for it is to exercise, exercise, exercise!

Thanks everyone. I guess for me, I believed that not being able to exercise meant that I'd stop losing. But I haven't - I hit goal this morning. It was a lot more anti-climatic than I thought it would be actually!

Actually breastmilk being the main source of nutrition until age one isn't an Australian idea, it's endorsed by the World Health Organisation. I also don't believe that my attitude means it's all about me, and I don't believe I'm being selfish in wanting the freedom to feed my child when he's hungry, without covering him up in shame. It's not a shameful act, and that you think it is and should be hidden is your prerogative. Not everyone shares your view. And just because I don't share your view doesn't make me selfish, or self-centred. In my opinion, intolerance of women doing what they have to do to feed their babies, and not giving them the freedom and support to do it without being demonised as breast-flashing hussies for doing something so natural and beneficial to their child, without having to be ashamed of it either, is the sort of attitude that makes this world the mess that it is. It isn't the mothers who just want to feed their children that's the problem. IMO it's the ones who view this natural and essential part of mothering as sexual and offensive that promotes intolerance against something that should be accepted as normal and nothing to be ashamed of. I (and many other women, and yes, men as well) simply cannot accept that feeding a child is offensive and needs to be hidden.

And you're entitled to your opinion, pattygreen. It seems to me that you generally view breasts as a sexual thing no matter the circumstance, and I don't share that view, especially when I'm breastfeeding, so obviously I would feel differently from you about it. And as someone who breastfed my 3 of my 4 children well into their 2nd year of life, I can assure you that sometimes a biscuit or some other food does not suffice for a toddler, esp when breastfeeding is also about comfort as well as nourishment. Some children depend on a pacifier, I was my children's pacifier. And until the age of 12 months, breastmilk remains their main source of nutrition. It is recommended that until that age, breastmilk is offered before solids, and this is what I adhered to, whether I was in my own home, or out in public. And with younger babies (esp newborn infants) learning to breastfeed is really hard on the new mother, and expecting someone to try to get the hang of it, and baby to get the hang of it, while trying to 'shield' your poor 'offending' breasts from prying eyes, is almost cruel and unusual punishment. No wonder so many mothers give up in despair. And as for 'suffocating' them, I would say that in a country like Australia where 40 degree days are commonplace, 'suffocating' them under a blanket is in fact a real possibility. But even if it wasn't, I would never put someone potentially being uncomfortable at the sight of me breastfeeding ahead of my son's comfort, especially when I just don't feel like I have anything to be ashamed of in feeding my son in the way nature intended. So I think this is where you and I will just have to agree to disagree. Breastfeeding is as natural as breathing for me. As it was for my son. I will never believe that it's something that should be hidden like some dirty secret.

As a function of being a mother to my son, one of the things I do is feed my baby. That is my right as well as my son's right - for me to feed him when he's hungry. That a man may sexualise my breasts while I'm using it for the pure function of feeding my child is honestly the problem of perception of the man, and nothing to do with my son or me. In my opinion, this 'man' needs to learn the difference between breasts for feeding and breasts for sex. I equated it to ankles because it shows that with society can learn to accept that a display of a women's body shouldn't automatically mean it should be sexualised. And to say that you believe it's 'normalised' and yet in the same breath say you think that it should be doing under wraps shows that it is in no way normalised at all. 'Normalised' would be that it is considered ordinary, normal and an everyday occurence that no one, not even the poor, lustful male, would bat an eyelid over. That's 'normalised' and from your posts alone, you prove it's not. I don't have a problem with breastfeeding in public. I don't feel that it is an issue of modesty. Neither, for that matter, does my husband. He feels no discomfort in women breastfeeding in front of him. Nor does he have any issue with me breastfeeding in public. I don't believe women breastfeeding are generally immodest about it at all either (which I expect is an assumption you made about me). In fact, and I would suggest that most women (including me) don't make a display of it. They just get on with the job at hand, they're not into flashing themselves to all and sundry, they just want to feed their baby quickly and without any fuss or disapproving eyes on them. And you know what? You may think it's no skin off my nose to throw a wrap over my son, but IMO to say my son SHOULD be under a wrap to eat is insinuating that I have something to be ashamed of. And I'm not ashamed, so why on earth would I use a wrap? To make someone else 'comfortable' because they may view my breasts as something by which they might get turned on? Maybe I should cover myself from head to toe then? Because apparently, if you're right, men have no control over their lust, and I wouldn't want someone with a foot fetish, or a hand fetish to get turned on, would I? Or perhaps I should just stay indoors all day? You know what's funniest about this? Once your baby is 'latched on' you show almost the same amount of breast a someone in a bikini. In fact, in my case, I would suggest I showed far less of my breast than someone in a low-cut top. In fact, you could barely see any of my breast at all behind my son's head. So I suspect it's more about the ACT of breastfeeding in public that people find offensive than the possibility of a breast being on display. So no, basically I don't feel responsible for people discomfort over my breastfeeding. I do what's right for my baby, and I will do it the best way I know how. I am not an exhibitionist, and I breastfeed my son in public only when he's hungry and needs a feed. I will not I put a blanket over his head as though I'm ashamed of what I'm doing, so that's he's sweaty and sticky from being under there, nor would I skulk away to feed him in some unsanitary toilet. I have my own very real motherly responsibilities without being lumbered with the responsibility of whether some pervert will stare at what little bit of my breasts are on display and get turned on.

Lol kareyquilts, I think I've been pretty successful at NOT thinking about it too much of the last few weeks, but now with anaesthetist appts, bloodwork and unfill appts etc all in the nest few weeks, it all seems real suddenly. I have to remember to take 'before' pics too!

Eep! Only 22 days until the big day!! Today I'll be undergoing the most painful part of the whole thing: I'm going to pay for my surgery! Also doing my bloodwork today. Then am donating my 2 units of blood over the next two weeks. Also going to order my kelo-cote silicone spray today and will pick up the toilet riser next week. <deep breaths>

I'm only 300 grams from 'goal', and last week hurt my adductor muscle (inner thigh) and have been told by my family dr to rest and not exercise for at least 2 weeks! I can't believe how frustrated I'm feeling, knowing that goal is just one measly lb away and I CAN'T EXERCISE! Just a vent. Can't do anything about it. Just peeved.

I regularly have wine at dinner. Just a glass but I don't consider alcohol taboo. But Restless Mokey is right - they are empty calories, so I try not to have too much.

I'm doing okay: Start: 158.4lbs Goal: 150lbs (by 1st April) Now: 154.7lbs To go: 4.7lbs I may get there, I might not, it depends on my my body decides to go from now on, I guess. Still, I think I'll be celebrating when I get to 154lbs anyway because I would have gotten to my Dr's goal and officially lost 100% of my excess weight at that point.

He quoted me for a TT and a body lift, and the TT was about $8k and the body lift (with vertical incision and body contouring) was $16000. His fees include the compression garment and 6 weeks of aftercare, and he said if i needed revision, he would make sure the cost would stay similar to the medicare rebate so it wouldn't cost me too much out of pocket (if anything). He also gave me item numbers for some of the procedures he's doing, so Medicare is rebating me about $2000 on his fees. The anaesthetists will cost me a maximum of $3500 (based on an 8 hours surgery, but if it takes less time, he will charge me less), of which half is rebatable by Medicare. My hospital fees will be covered by HBF because of the item numbers that were provided. Autologous fees are covered by medicare too. So altogether, after rebates, I'll be out of pocket about $16000k for everything. I decided on the body lift based on his recommendations. I figured if I was going to go ahead with surgery anyway, then I wanted to shoot for the best result I could have.

The main difference for me is this: I could always LOSE weight with exercise and portion control. I couldn't keep it off. Eating like a rabbit was something I couldn't sustain forever - my hunger always ensured I fell of the wagon and stayed off. With the band, I don't have to think about portion control, the band regulates my hunger, and restricts my portions. I still have 'bad' days but even my worst 'bad days are better than my good days pre-band. The band has also broken the relationship I have with food. I no longer look to food for comfort. I eat to live, not live to eat. Yes I worked hard to lose the weight, but the band helped immensely with my dependency on food. And most importantly, I know that the band will help me keep it off.