steveelea

Yes its hard to stick to but its so important.

This is similar to what I had and I know it's not much food at all (although after the sleeve it will be) but just think it's only for 2 weeks.

You will most likely lose a lot of weight fast at this stage which is a fantastic start.....

The countdown begins YAY

That's great that you can have 1 meal and 2 shakes a day....also Snacks

Let us know what you can have for meals and Snacks.< /p>

I couldn't do Optifast so I had food equiv substitutes and I was fine with that but it was a weird combination of food....mostly Proteins and low starch veg and only small amounts.

there was also half a banana and skim milk powder too

@@nerms wow you little jetsetter!!!!

Lucky you....wish I was going somewhere too lol

I have been up and down on the scales too. Sometimes Fluid can play a big part in that

@Bellarose100....not long to go now you must be so excited!!!!

How long do you have to do opti for??

So strange for someone to go through that surgery then cry for food all that time.

And yes weightloss surgery is not a cure or a quick fix its a helpful tool.....you still have to work bloody hard and hey 10kg is a huge amount!!!!

Was she just out of anesthetic?? I know people can say and do weird things when coming out of anesthetic

Every surgeon is different to what they prefer and what they are comfortable with.

I know with the sleeve they do say you can gain weight again if you are not careful as you can gradually eat more and more and sort of stretch your stomach again.

Not sure about bypass??

Oh wow what date is your Birthday??

Did her surgeon recommend bypass?

From memory you said she had a lap band and that had slipped or something??

Maybe it had damaged her stomach too much to have the sleeve??

Yes it's like winter not summer!!!

How exciting how old are you turning??

My eldest turns 21 this year in April so I have to start organizing his party very soon....have no idea what to do but he didn't have an 18th so it has to be big!!!!

What did your mum get done again was it bypass??

Glad to hear she is on the improve

Hey guys......Happy New Year to you all

I have been away and only just gotten home....wish I was still away but there you go and back to reality

@@nerms LOVE the tatt....just gorgeous!!!!

Way to go losing over the Summer break

@@Bellarose100 So excited for you to finally have your date....not long now.

I haven't lost anything at all so I am a bit disappointed but not surprised.

I think that I drank a lot of calories and wasn't as active.

Being away you eat a lot of foods that you don't at home and way too many carbs so at least I haven't gained.

Better get moving again to get this weight off as I don't like stalling.

I can't remember if I mentioned it but I have a new job starting when the kids go back to school

Starting at Subwey....so excited for this year

I haven't been out to work for the longest time and we so desperately need the money so looking forward to it

That's great to hear @nerms....it's not knowing that's hard and nerve wracking lol

So pleased for you that it went well xx

Thats right scars on the tummy are easy enough to cover up @@Bellarose100

Oh wow how exciting to meet your sister for the first time!!!!

I am sure it will go well. You both want to meet so that's the first hurdle over.

I have a feeling it will work out better than expected @@nerms xx

Is your mum excited??

Had a fabulous Christmas thanks. Couldn't eat much but ate what I loved so I was happy with that.

Every year I make the Christmas pudding with a recipe given to me from my Grandmother handed down from her Grandmother or Great Grandmother so it's been in the family for a long long time.

She taught me how to make it and every year I cook 2 in case 1 doesn't work out.

Well for years they have all worked out and I get to send one home with mum every year until this year.....Pudding Disaster!!!!

Christmas Eve when I was cooking them hubby was supposed to top the pots up as they boil in the cloth for 2 and a half hours.....he did but then turned one of them up to get it to boiling again and then walked away and forgot about it until I could see the smoke pouring out of the kitchen.....one gone, pot and all, burnt black (and just a reminder when you have burnt a pot, don't put it on something outside to cool down that is flammable and yes I did that too and it melted to the pot) So at least I have the second one right??

The next day went to boil it to heat it up and it was all mushy in the cloth....something had gone wrong with it and it was a disaster. So at 9pm that night I made another one. Can't have Christmas day without my Nanna's Christmas pudding.

Those of us that are die hard pudding fans ate it when it was cooked at about 11.45pm, but we still ate it Christmas Day so it counts. Also that gave my dinner heaps of time to go down so I got to eat a little peace with the vanilla custard that was her recipe too....Mmmmmmmm Yummmmmy

It was a fun and relaxed day with lots of eating, drinking and laughter....Best Day Of The Entire Year Always.

I am a Christmas Freak haha

Oh how was everyones Christmas??

Hope you all had a wonderful day xox

Thank you all for the compliments....made me a bit teary haha (Im such a sook lol)

It's so nice to hear something positive that others are noticing a difference

I am proud of what I have achieved and so is my family (the important ones anyway )

@Chez....OMG what a difference.You can see such an even weight loss all over...you are rockin it girl!!!! Just gorgeous!!!!

@@nerms You have done so well you can really tell the difference and it doesn't look like you have much more to go at all!

You must be almost at your goal?? Great Photo's

@@Bellarose100 have you checked out others scars from the same surgery....I am not even sure what ones of mine are from the sleeve as I have has so many surgeries with the lap band and all the port replacements then the band removal and they went in on a new site almost every time so I have them everywhere.

I have decided that when I get a body lift to get rid of the excess skin and that heals, I will get tattoos over and or around the scars so you can't see them as much!

@@nerms should be ok now I made it public it was set to friends only for some reason so see if it works now

Yes its a fine line between the right fill and a tight fill so they are overly cautious which is annoying I know...been there with that lol

So glad this is working for you and that you have hit that sweet spot with your fill.

You can still get more when you lose more weight as you have plenty of room left in your band for fills I would think with only 5mls in.....I was never ok at that so it never worked for me but I know plenty of people that are like you and once they hit that magic number of mls in their band they are on fire with weight loss

Well done again @@nerms your doing fantastically

Yes I have a short fuse too when it comes to the sort of crap dished out to me yesterday so hubby copped it for not sticking up for me while she was saying those things.

I really think she is just clueless but again she has never liked me so I guess she doesn't hold back....She has never been kind about my weight and every Christmas I cringe when I open her present as they are always Fat tops and she ALWAYS comments as she thinks they won't be big enough and likes to say it at the table in front of everyone

Oh and does anyone know why my ticker says 106.5kg lost????

haha how does it come to that conclusion????

Hey guys....not sure why but i got no emails to say anyone had posted then checked in ans saw lots of posts....whoops

You all sound like you are going so well and @@Bellarose100 not long now to go

@@nerms you hardly have any scars at all...WOW looking great and way to go on the weight loss too

OK so yesterday had Christmas lunch with the outlaws here.....well they always buy us clothes and I don't see them all that often,, maybe 10 times a year.

Anyway she got me an XL from mysize and said well I hope it's big enough for you...many words come to mind but instead I went in and put it on and came out in it....wish I had a photo it was like a TENT on me.

I said on I think this is just a little big.....she said oh it looks ok (Biatch)

YOU COULD HAVE FIT 2 OF ME IN IT!!!!

She doesn't know that I have had surgery and I would have thought that 40 almost 45kg was noticeable in a year but apparently not to her.

She then said well the lady in the shop tried it on and I would say she smaller than you and it fot her ok so I was worried it wouldn't fit you.....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

On the inside i was saying to myself...who cares I am not an XL in mysize anymore and not because they are too tight for me like they once were....they are massive on me.

I told her that I was now a size 18 as I have lost some weight and all she said to that was...Oh right ok

Don't be disheartened about people not noticing as I am sure they do but are just too jealous to say anything

I am 96.7kg now so I think I am losing about 0.5kg per week which is good.....would love to be losing 1kg per week but am happy with losing weight and will take what I can get.

First Christmas with the sleeve....Just wish I had an unfill button for Christmas time.....so hard seeing all the lovely food but only being able to have about 1 cup full....but hey I would rather be losing weight than stuffing my face any day

We are having Christmas lunch at our place this year so catering for a lot of people....luckily I don't get hungry when I cook so this is good for me this year

@ wombatski How are you going with the mushy foods??

Do you feel any restriction and can you fit less in??

Will give it a go @@Pilbara Girl

@@wombatski you said you were supposed to be on fluids for 2 weeks and you said your 17 days post op....so thats more than 2 weeks???

What foods are you supposed to be on now??

If you are concerned call the surgeons office and ask them. I am sure they have seen it all before and they are there to help you.

No point beating yourself up about it now it's done and just try to be strong and stick to what you are supposed to have.

Believe me I have heard of a lot worse and I am sure the dr's would have too.

Give them a call and try not to worry

@@Dislexicon I think I might try all three of those....thanks for that.

It's not comfortable but it is so much better than having the weight on thats for sure.

I paid for the lapband and thats all I have had to pay....any other surgery was covered by the group of surgeons that I go to....unfortunately that has now changed but I was lucky enough to go to them before they changed that.

I was out of pocket about 5000 give or take...I honestly can't remember.

I think that the sleeve was about 6 or 7,000 out of pocket with them but not 100% sure.

I know all surgeons are different and I know that the group I went through have fabulous aftercare so I guess thats why they cost a little more than some, but to me it was worth it for sure!!!!

@@Pilbara Girl I know that this is a meeting page but it seems to be the only Aussie Melbourne page that is still active so we all post here so your in the right place!!!

Wow look at you shrinking....I love the before and after shots.

I might have to do that so I can try and see what I have lost.

I know I have lost 50kg's but when I look in the mirror I can't see it....and I haven't had a huge amount of comments from people either (except for some of my family that knows) so I guess it's all still sinking in and hard for me to believe and to see it in myself

I still have a fair way to go but maybe getting some old photo's out will help me to see where I have come from

Ok so I have been noticing an issue from weight loss......

My skin is too big for my body.

I have such saggy skin everywhere now.

I noticed my upper arms a while ago and of course my stomach lol, but now I am noticing it everywhere.

Under my arms (where my bra goes) my thighs and just everywhere.

I started noticing this lately as I have been clothes shopping. My older clothes just swim on me so I thought I would go and grab some summer clothing and I am having trouble with my clothing because of it.

Anyone else at this point or do I just have really shitty stretched skin

Small price to pay though but I know I will have to look into getting surgery for it as its just so bad.

I wont bother until I reach my proper goal weight which is still another 20 or 30 kg's, but has anyone else looked into getting surgery for this done and if so what have you found out??

I am also in between sizes at the moment and finding it hard to get something to fit properly.

Size 18 in the larger sizes are a little too big but size 18 in regular sizes are all low waisted hipsters....and I ain't got that type of body

I am only really shopping at Target, Kmart and BigW , but does anyone know of any other stores I could try to get a 16 to 18 that aren't for 16 and 18 year olds.....of course without looking like old lady clothing!!!!

Wow there has been a few posts....sorry havent been on guys been flat out and hey @@wombatski congrats on having your surgery.....sorry you have had a rough time. Have you gotten any better as yet??

As for the amount of weight loss I guess it's a wait and see thing.

The better foods you eat well the better chances you have of losing lots of weight.....and also the fact that you have gone through surgery to help you should make you want it more as it's not an easy thing to go through and you want it to be worth it all

@@Pilbara Girl yes stalls are normal and especially once you start eating again.....I found that after being on fluids and puree when I started to eat again I would stall but then it will start again.

I have been through stalls since the surgery but after the stall I would seem to drop what I would have if I was losing constantly and evenly. Dont stress too much.....they are a normal part of losing weight.

@@chez What amounts can you eat??

I am trying to think how to explain the amount I can eat......probably half to 3/4 of a bread and butter plate is what I can eat.....or (and this is not a good thing to admit but here goes) I could eat most but not all of a kids meal from macky D's ....not with a burger but with a small fries and a mini chicken wrap.....I can't eat it all but I can eat most of it . I have honestly only had about 4 of these since Feb so I don't think thats too bad and the seared chicken wraps are healthy anyway.....but I do love a couple of chips only very occasionally

I refuse to deprive myself of everything and I eat good food most of the time but like the occasional treat or have the occasional lazy meal, but it's so much easier for me to control now that I just don't get very hungry anymore.

I think the best part of the surgery has been the removal of the hormone producing thingy to help stop the hunger, and of course the small stomach to help make you feel full with eating not too much at all.

I know what you mean about people wondering when you go out....have you told everyone or are you keeping it between close friends and family.

My family know and 3 friends know also (1 of which I wish she didn't but thats a long story haha)

I had friends over on Saturday night for dinner and they didn't know. I thought how the hell am I going to handle this but I just put some food on my plate and had a bit at a time in between going into the kitchen to finish cooking and bringing more stuff out for everyone.

Lucky it was pretty cas and all the kids (teenagers and 20 year olds but I still call em kids haha) were wandering around so it wasn't a sit down formal type of thing.....I would have had to make up something...some excuse if it was.

I am a bit nervous about going out with friends that don't know about it TBH

Being that I am still overweight I guess it's probably easy for me to just say oh no I am watching what I eat and I am only going to have a little bit. Most of them probably would be so busy talking about everything (and some busy talking about themselves) that they would't notice anyway haha

Thanks @wombatski

THANKS CHEZZIE XOX.......WHOOP WHOOP INDEED hahahaha

Doin Ma Happy Dance