WilliamK

Have set a few tbh:-

1.To get into "normal cloths shopping!"

2.To climb triglav mountain in Slovenia

3.To fit into all the rides in Florida next year

4.Run 16kms with backpack in less than 2hrs

Point 1 will take time but i have lost 4" off my waist already and have to buy new jeans this week.

Point 2 i am starting already. I have climbed to Krvavec(1800meters) and Triglav is (2,900meters) so i have some way to get used to it yet.

Point 3 i am sure i will be fine on the few rides that i had to walk ashamed away from. The Mummy ride was worst..lol WALKING THE MILE as my wife said "get off fatty no matter how much you breath in or move seat you aint getting in"..LOL this was infact my turning point and reason i started looking at the band.

Point 4 i will have to build up to and work hard on. This again will come in time as i get fitter i think. The more weight i get off the better i will get. 2hrs is my magic figure, i did it faster when i was in the armed forces but thats an ok target to aim for.

Sorry i didnt see this post.

I had the easyband on May16th 2009. As per the rest of you TAGB guys had a quick recovery, Flew up from bristol to Manchester on the Friday night, had op on Saturday and then flew back to Bristol a day later. Was working from home on Tuesday and flew back to work in europe on the sunday.

Not had any issues with the band, didnt have any restriction until 16th July 2009 and its still only specific food i get it with.

Am 3lbs short of 4 stone weight loss so far, pretty much based on a lifestyle change and some SELF ASS KICKING when i need it.

I have a simple diet regeme which i stick to and some food buying things that i do, so that i do not cheat/over eat or tempt myself. The most important thing over the diet and band and anything else is EXERCISE.

You just need to do a small amount every day, be that walking, housework, cleaning the car, anything that has you on your feet and active will provide results.

The bottom line with any of the bands is this, eat less calories than you burn each day and you will loose weight 100%.

I keep a diary and blog over at fathappends but if you want to ask anything just PM me or post here i don't mind either way.

For me i didnt want a bypass or anything else where body parts are cut out or not used.

Reference to the ports/infection etc i had the TAGB band fitted which does not have any ports or injections to be done. Its a telemetric signal that opens or closes the band. Thus i dont have any Fluid in the band and dont get any effect from pressure increases(bubbles in the fluid) ie flights/swimming in deep Water etc etc.

For me my issues were bad routines and not changing my lifestyle enough and the band helped that. I think having bypass which has a much higher mortality rate than banding is a no brainer either. My friend has a bypass and the lady in the next bed to her died the night before her OP so as you can imagine she was in a state about what to do.

Its all a personal choice but dont think the bypass is something to compare to the band. Its a massively different operation with different side effects and possible complications internally. 45min op with 5 almost invisible scars has done me good so far. Same goes for the gastric Sleeve, cutting things off a stomach is not the same as restricting what goes into a full stomach.

Cheers kevin will do. Got a gym today thats close to my work which i took out a membership for. Am gonna try doing the 7-8am workout as i can then get showered and just go to work.

Will stick to far burning first anyways, wont try to many situps t start with anyways as been 2yrs since i really last trained hard enough to feel shattered.

Bought some Protein shake mix(tastless)to help with shorterm burnable energy as the diet wont provide enough i think as i am being quite strict on the calorie count, i should know if i get tired or my workout starts to drop off at the end of 1hour.

Will start and see how it goes, at the time i am going there from what i understand the posers are still in BED...lol Poser gym time is after 4pm there. They also got a pool so i will start on that after the renovation(2months).

Will be in touch m8 thanks.

Well done Keving its really nice to see your back playing rugby. I think i am at the start of that exact same process. I was same played rugby since Mini rugby(8) up till i was 28(RAF). Over time i just put it on and being a happily married man i didnt give a hoot about it until i found enough was enough(Disney florida holiday).

Any tips on the exercise front? Especially from a blokes prospective? I am starting back this week with mainly fat burning for first 2-3 weeks(cycle, treadmill,rowing) then will work on toning, as long as i can stop myself adding weight to the machines...

Anyways well done and i look forwards to anything near your success.

rgds

William

When i chatted with my Doc He said to wait until i had got to my goal weight and then decide. He said that most people on their way to goal think about it but that only 30% go through with it due to the size of the operation and the possible complications after the operation. He said 20% of people regret having it.

It all boils down to your self esteem/age/skin elasticity and if you want another op with months of recovery? There are some that recover quick while others dont.

Check out Tummy tuck: is it worth it? Cost & results from 281 reviews, it has some pictures and some not so nice pictures of TT's that went well and those that didnt.

Good luck Agnes, keep in touch and make sure the hubby gives you lots of time and space to recover.

This is getting like judge Judy...where is the evidence SIR!! LOL you guys are getting way to into this basic of basic threads. Agnes 8 pages ago just wanted advice on if she was making the right decision and she now knows she is. The subsequent dragging of ones laundry out in public as it feels is a waste of thread space. Hopefully the thread will be locked before someone really throws a teddy out of their pram...

Agnes its ok, people can only judge what you said based on what you wrote. Its easy to be judgmental when you base what you write from someone you dont know.

I think its obvious from what you have written you are making the right choice as i said before if i could have had the band yrs ago i would have not waiting till i was 41 to get it done. 10yrs wasted because i thought i could struggle through the gym and dieting. Making myself unhappy when the solution was available all the time.

Stop worrying yourself with it all, you have made your decision, just keep in touch with how it goes ok and good for you. Forget stressing yourself and look forwards to changing your life.

I dont understand why people have a problem with this.

Everyone here has dieted and lost and then regained? Everyone here has been to the gym and tried fad diets and regained?

How many times do you see the comment here "I WISH I HAD DONE THE BAND YRS AGO". Well its because you were not as big as you are now thats the reason.

If i was 17stone an getting the band 10yrs ago people would have said i was stupid. Well i can tell you(10yrs and 8 stone later)I wish like others i had it done yrs ago and stop wasting all those precious times when my weight affected my enjoyment of life.

What it boils down to is she is unhappy with her weight has lost and gained like us all and wants some advise. Just because she is not BMI 40+ should not mean comments like "not supporting you" and "vanity before health" etc are used.

Her money, her decision and perhaps when people can talk tp her about what this Operation really means to them she might think twice or fully decide 100% that that band is for her or not.

See your doc if your unsure as already stated. Some things sound familiar:-

1.Gas is due to the air pumped into you to raise the stomach wall, thus allowing easier access to the organs. When you are stitched up there is still a lot of air in there which will come out in burps and farts(no easy way to put it).

2.The breathing can be affected by the tighness still because of the air post op, also remember you have scar tissue and its a major op after all still.

3.Walking is good but dont try to push it take it slow. The ironic thing is the walking does help speed up the recovery but start off slow and build each week on the time duration of your walking.

Each person is different in their recovery but your not alone. Read your post operation booklets which will provide you the information on why you feel tight chested and out of breath/tired. Most of all if your not happy speak straight off with your aftercare support, who will advise you.

If you dont - when you wake up it will be done for you anyways. As they say though if you want something done well, do it yourself

Its entirely up to you tbh.

Maybe because i don't believe at this stage. I only go to church for wedding/death/christenings. I once went to church but after listening to the speech the vicar gave i couldn't help thinking if i stayed i would be lying that i believed what he said was true.

I wont ever be untrue to myself in work/family/life and sure wont sit with someone who i lie to when they say about belief. I will just stay happy, respectful, helpful and generally a good person, until it comes to the time i have to worry about confessing sins.

I am sure that a child thats knocked over by a car and killed that has not confessed to any sins is still let into heaven? At the end of the day if there is a god then as i say he will see in your heart what sort of person you are., as he will know us all.

You do put up a very good view of God if there is one, i think as i said above i would be hypocritical if i sat there when i just dont believe in what i am listening to.

Thankyou patty. Thats the question i needed answering properly. I think i had been preached to by someone trying to sell me a product.

What you have said makes sense.

So to cut a long story short i can live without god in my life and ask for forgiveness before entering heaven. If there is a god then he will see whats in your heart and forgive you.

So its all good.

Good example of double standards in a following. The same christian friend i knew(past) was born again christian. He didnt however act like one. He went to church all the time, said he found god, helped the parish etc but outside of that group he acts totally different.

He was greedy, selfish, rude and never really did well for his family. Yet he goes to church and professes he has done well and supported his family and served his god.

I was not surprised to hear that his wife divorced him or that he lost his job but to me this is the exact example when you say about what god wants us to follow to get into heaven.

I put my family first, am a very happy person and am at peace. I treat everyone with respect, as i would expect them to treat me. If i died tomorrow i have no regrets at all, have no wishes for myself, except that my family move on after and are also happy.

So when we get to the gates will i get in or will the person who wasnt a nice person who left his family alone but who served god get in? Its a double standard tbh. Do we grade entry into heaven? As i didnt realise there were different levels of access.

Surely as god forgives murderers and child killers that someone who has lived a good life is not considered unworthy to enter heaven? Seems a bit like your telling me to follow god and the bible or i wont get into heaven.

This is one of the reasons people loose interest in faiths. At a young age your told the 10 commandments. Then you ask why give them if nobody listens to them? Then you check and find that the 10 commandments have been re-written 3 times

Exodus 20:2–17 Deuteronomy 5:6–21 Exodus 34:11–27

Each time the words change, this is because we change. We change with the times. The church now has not.

I think that the more people worry less about god the better. The more people take responsibility for their actions own actions and not a god or a spirit made them do it the better.

I asked a simple question of a christian friend i had. If god is such an all powerfull and caring god, why does he let children die in pain of disease/famin/injury etc. The answer was from him that we are all gods children and that we need to learn ourselves how to deal with these things. What he ment was - i have no idea but its down to ourselves either way not gods as he's a bystander.

Do i believe in God..mmmm i hope there is something after life but i am not waiting to find out thats for sure.

I live my life here as best and honestly as i can. I enjoy my time whole heartedly with my family and friends and actually enjoy my work. As long as i am happy that is all that counts. Do i need a god for this..no - do i need to be born again to be happy and fullfilled, no.

I define religion as an old system of guidelines which you "CAN" live by or choose not to live by. As you can see my guidelines are just sensible/happy ones. When i am sad i dont turn to god i turn to comfort from my family and friends.

If religion was such a god thing then why do we have Wars based on it. Why do we have catholic priests molesting kids for yrs and then appologising for it yrs later when they are supposed to be the guides in that religion. Why do we have leaders elected based partly on the fact they believe in 1 religion or another?

Religion for me causes to many arguements/world wide dissagreements/wars and deaths. This is due to Man's interpretation of writings from books only a few thousand yrs old. The world has been here Millions of yrs.

Bottom line for me is, no i dont beleive in a god, but yes i hope there is something after this life but i live my life fully until that time comes with support of family/friends not a god.

Thats ok BillOh each person is different. I must say though that times are different from what they used to be. Everyone watches the TV shows with people getting the WLS and a lot know about it.

All i know is i feel so much better that everyone knows to be honest. I did feel that trying to make an excuse would backfire when any of my friends asked me what was up as it would mean digging the lie that bit further, also i am terrible at lying.

The reaction though of my work/friends/family is by far the best thing i did by telling.

When your obese and everyone can see you need help how or why would anyone want criticise you for getting the help. I dont have any health issues associated with being over weight but its only a matter of time.

I just wanted to point out that you should not be afraid, you can be honest about what you have done. Its a positive thing for everyone that had WLS that your doing something about your weight - not just sitting there feeling sorry for yourself and blaming metabalism or family genes or other crap, and still putting the crap food in your mouth.

I think everyone that has WLS deserves to be supported by their family/friends/work as it will benefit them all in their relationships with you. Sorry to rant...

Yep, Posted in mens room about this. With no fill being done yet for another 4 weeks from band insertion i felt ok by day 5 of the OP so just got to be carefull during this period. Thanks to the boards here have kept weightloss going. Not going to solids of any kind till week 4 as i did try and felt bloated and knowing that feeling means no weightloss. So staying with following as am loosing quite well so far, Usual day is not time dependent, its hunger dependent but have basically:-

1.Mulitvitamin tablet + Actimal drink

2.Home made Soup(any) or Heinz if i havt shopped

3.Light Yoghurt Drink(1.3%fat 500g - through day as i feel hungry as its filling)

3.Depending how full i feel either Protein Shake/Home made Soup(any) or Heinz if i havnt shopped

So far am still loosing before first fill. Just got to keep going and not expect an unadjusted band to do it for you.

After reading some of the boards here i can see that even after the first fill if i havnt hit the sweet spot where the band and my food is balanced i think i will still have to be carefull once i get to solids.

Think i am following the usual path of no restriction following banding. I get my first fill on 11th June so not to far away. Just got to keep my liquid diet going i think as i have full appetite back and i feel i can eat anything at present without issue. Anyone else find that?

If you havn't had a fill like me i can actually eat anything at the moment but i was told by my surgeon not to go to the gym until past my first fill. Purly walking for the first months because gym's promote muscle development. As muscle weighs more than fat your weight will not reduce as fast but your inches will.

So i am sticking to my diet although i could eat anything and tuff it out till first fill. Remember banding is 60% the band and 40% you still. You need to make a mental change in how you deal with food first off then start slow gym work.

Slow weight loss is more beneficial than fast weight loss due to the skin elasticity takes time to recover. I am sure if you ask someone with excess skin and fast weight loss if they wished it went slower with less excess skin, they would agree slow is better, dont worry and wait for the fills to catch you at the right restriction. Dont worry so much about the gym first off, whats more important is yes regular exercise(aerobic not cardio) and concentrating on managing the dietry side of the banding. Finding what works for you on the food front i half the battle.

KayVee the thing i dont understand is why you think people would be food police? The whole reason you tell people is not so that they should know or have an opinion about it. Its done in my eyes because those people are there to help and support you all the way, if they are real friends.

There is nothing worse than having a real bad day - taking it out on someone because you cant tell them why you feel ill or why you cant eat something or worse why you just been sick. It happens.

Your true friends and family are there to help you on your journey and like mine some have already helped me.

Work got me a Gym membership, my friends wife asked me over as i wanted some recipes and she is going to show me some home made Soups and other goodies for my diet.

I just think that the reason people whisper behind peoples back or act differently to you etc is that they think your not telling them the truth, or that they are upset that you cant be honest with them. Most people wont even care what your doing as they have their own lives to live, its only us fatties that think they will talk about us or that they will think a certain way as thats the way we think about ourselves.

2 Weeks pre-op diet? Dam, my surgeon said i only needed 5 days. Just use your common sense when it comes to eating and drinking.

I was sent Soups and shakes and told to eat 5 portions of fruit and drink 1.5ltrs of fluids + per day. As both shakes and soups tasted crap i substituted them for equivalent mainstreams with same calorie content and they tasted nice. Then i ate my 5 potions of fruit between meals and drank only Water for the 5 days as i felt i wanted it. There is no set times or periods to stick to some people dont eat early some do. Some eat later some not. Its all personal to you.

All i know is i didn't stuggle with the pre-op and was looking forwards to the OP,lost 17LBS in the week went from weight in 24st 10lbs to 23st 7Lbs pre-op weigh in.

Its all down to you to accept the pre-op is the start of your new life and readying your stomach for the reduction in processing of food. During this time i was also taking multi Vitamin tablets and actimal drinks in the morning when i got up which i do still take now as routine.

Some people keep things secret some dont but this boils down to certain attitudes of the people that are around you.

I am lucky that everyone around me is positive about weightloss and the fact that i am trying to help myself be that with a band or a diet.

I have yoyo dieted for some 10years loose 50Lbs here and there bu overtime i always put it back on.

When i decided on the op i told my family/friends and work mates. Since doing this i have had nothing but support including from work who have setup a gym membership for me. I dont associate with people that have no respect for what i am doing. At the end of the day i have put up with 20yrs of peoples looks and jokes about weight and now i am loosing weight they get jealous and say i am cheating...well FU to be honest. I dont hang around with anyone that has an issue with what i am doing, i have more things to worry about than your petty thoughts on banding.

So tbh if you have a good family and social group tell them. If you dont - keep it a secret and you'll never feel your 100% honest with anyone of them.

For me i want to be able to talk about how i feel to my friends and family and not have to think - watch my mouth and i cant say that or you cant say this.

be positive, surround yourself with positive people and loosing weight is a whole lot easier.

Hi,

Banded on Saturday 16th may in Manchester. Flew back to bristol on Monday, back to work on Tuesday. Did you guys get a fill straight off with the band?