anon

LOL!! No more chocolate!! I think that a little of what you fancy does you good... a handful is hardly going to break the diet! What is important is that you get all the good foods your body needs.... then treats if there's room! Well

nope sorry I'm a Paris girl myself!! Good luck with your banding journey, I await your feedback on the facilities, treatment and doctors though, please post on your return! I have to say that my biggest surprise was the fact that the procedureis so minor! I had my first fill yesterday (8 weeks post op) and I have to say I didn't quite believe I'd really had anything done until I saw my band on the xray as it was being filled!

Carol your food sounds really lovely.... (I'm such a food addict... I love cooking, baking, cake decorating, and I really love the food porn on TV AkA UKTV Food!) Today my food is as follows B;100g cottage cheese 50g pineapple L; poached salmon with mixed salad S: Cambridge bar (for the fibre more than anything else tbh!) D; Spicy pork chop 100g jersey royal potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli I've not eaten dinner yet. I'll let you know how I go on with the chop after my fill yesterday! Brandychick... come on record your food! It's good for the soul!

The exercise is going really good We're halfway through week 4 of the 6 mornings of working out a week..... My weight is coming off (although no loss last week for the obvious reasons if you read the eating thread!) I'm feeling so much fitter..... when I started doing the cardio (20 minutes) I was only burning 210 cals in the time..... because the workout is based on my own perception of intensity, I've trained more vigorously and today in 20 minutes I burned 300 calories! So my fitness is certainly improving with the interval training! Because I keep a diet and exercise diary and record my workouts including how hard I think I've worked, calories burned (machine readings) and what I'm going to do next time I can see the improvements and it's keeping me motivated.... two more weeks and we will be changing our routines, to keep the muscles improving at the same rate ( apparently you have to change your routines regularly as the body gets more efficient at the same exercises and burns less calories !!! Dunno how that works, maybe you can ask Jonnie?) Getting up in the morning and exercising has really improved my health and temper!

Hey Suzy what you eat is your choice.... (yes, I can't resist offering advice:o it's my motherly nature!) It's just important (IMHO) to record your food, examine it and look for ways to improve your diet..... I know that if I get in what I need to get in then I've no room (well not anymore, since my fill yesterday!) for the crapola I lurve sooo much! Trust me, when I say that I'm no angel... my restriction left me last week and I ate loads of it!!! Ben and Jerry's ice cream, thorntons Choccies ( chocolate covered biscuit things) Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Sausages, bacon, loads of curry (I have one every week but had only been managing around 1/3 of a portion.... last weekend I ate almost a whole serving, plus naan bread:o :guess ) and lets not forget my Chinese meal!! So as you can see, we, none of us are perfect.... I do try, because being thin is so fresh in my mind I know how much better I'm going to feel as every kg leaves my body I know that it's not coming back and that has spurred me on to keep with eating healthy choices first,... Crapola later.... thank Goodness I've had a fill and the status Quo has been resumed! Lastly.... it's great to have you back on the forum!!! I for one have really missed your posts!

OH is doing really well, 1 stone off in 3 weeks so he's happy! Struggling this morning with my brekkie, have it sat beside me as I type 150g cottage cheese and 100 fresh chopped pineapple.... I've managed about half of the fruit and 2/3 of the cheese..... I have 7 more minutes to finish what's there, if there's any left, after 20 minutes I shouldn't even try to eat it (more bandster rules!) I don't think I'm going to manage any more at the moment! Had a really 'wet' dinner (griddled salmon and ratatouille) last night so that slipped down quite easily.... Pork chops for dinner.... Dunno how that's going to go, but I have to

Had a wee fill today, hope that it makes a difference to my restriction!

An experience 'filler' will be able to find your port and tell when the restriction is right for you with iced Water (you can feel that going down) Please bear in mind that XRays are not good for you all the time, so if you can get a successful fill without XRay it is better for your health. Saying that I'm off for my first fill tomorrow and that will be under XRay, as the fill provided did not do my surgery, she wants to make sure that everything is in the right position.

I believe that Shaw Somers is happy to provide fills for patients who have had surgery in other areas... google him for his contact details. He also provides fills for NHS patients who are unable to get fills as they need them (he charges for this of course!) I believe he is West Sussex! Hope this helps Sharon Bates and the Avon Obesity service also provide aftercare for patients who had their band fitted abroad, they are based in Bristol and provide my aftercare. Hx

Hi Cookies! I get between 70 and 100g per day, although the recommended amount for the UK is 40g of Protein for women and 50 for men as a minimum. I keep mine higher because I'm trying to build some muscle mass in the gym. My training programme recommends 1g of protein per kg of body weight.... I don't get enough according to those calculations, because I'm stil a biffer!!!

Nope I was banded in Paris with Dr Anfroy, because of the cost issue. I believe that Dr Dillemans is a very skilled surgeon, but be prepared for him to say that you might do better with an RNY (Gastric bypass) so do a bit of homework before you go and be sure that you're making the right decision for you. Hx

My restriction has just left me high and dry!! B; fromage frais with strawberries L; rye crispbread, cottage cheese, mixed salad Snack; loads of nuts, dried apricots, and about 40g of 70% cocoa chocolate D; lamb chump chop and homemade ratatouille I've noticed my restriction has almost completely disappeared, so I've booked a fill for next Wednesday! We'll see how that goes........

If you employ people, who are non smokers... is it fair to ask them to put their health at risk? Would you ask a man to clean out a cyanide tank without proper protection? So, I guess the answer for business is to provide respiratory equipment for staff!!! Sensible?!? I think not! Practical.... Hell NO! would it be easier stop others around them hurting them..... Hmmmmmm..... let me think about that..... YES! Guess what? In England Everybody has to quit smoking in public places on July 1st! :clap2:

Today May 8th 2007 B: cambridge pack Snack; small apple Lunch: 1 rye crispbread, 100g cottage cheese, 1 small salad Snack: handful almonds Planned for later: Dinner; fresh tuna steak with oriental marinade( chilli, lime, corriander, red onion, lemongrass) new potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli. Late night snack; fromage frais Been to the gym today and did weight training (upper body today)

I have no distance.... I do the 20 minute cardio solution on the body for life challenge 3 times a week and 3 sessions of weight training too.... I take Saturdays off.... Can't get down all the meals that they want, but I'm happy that I'm making really good progress with my aerobic capacity....my distance started off as 2.4km for the 20 minutes... this morning.... 7th session I did 3.18km in my 20 minutes.... the good thing about it is that it will always be challenging, because it's about my perception of exhertion, not what the machine says it should be.... you can look at the cardio plan at http://www.bodyforlife.com/exercise/cardiotraining.asp

Hi there, I'm from England..... There is already a ban on smoking in public places in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire, and Wales..... we will be following suit on July 1st 2007! I don't smoke, I've never smoked... other people's personal choice has never bothered me at all. We in the UK have the NHS, we don't have to pay for our healthcare... Cigarettes cost around $11.00 per pack here to pay for treatment for smokers with health problems.... the government has come to the conclusion they can live without the extra revenue, as less smoking will lead to less..... Coronary heart disease, chronic lung disease, strokes, Deep vein Thombosis', Erectile dysfunction (yes, that's right, around 10% of all cases are caused by smoking, apparently!) So the money not bought in will be offset by the healthcare savings made by our National Health Service. I'm quite looking forward to going to the pub, coming home and not smelling of stale tobacco smoke! Yes, there has been some initial loss in revenue by business, in Scotland.... but 12 months on and the bars, restaurants, pubs etc. all say that business is back to the 'pre ban' levels now that everyone has gotten used to it!

Well it has been a bank holiday but will fill in as best I can! Saturday: Junk day as usual! B; Cambridge shake L; fried egg on seeded batch bread toasted Snack; loved the toast so much had another.... with butter on! D: chicken saag balti about 1/3 of the portion, couple of bites of keema naan, couple of bits of Saag paneer, 250ml wine and 1 after eight mint! total calories 1169... not bad, but I was alarmed at the amount of food I managed at dinner! Sunday: B: Poached egg on toast, managed 1/4 slice of the toast! L;Cambridge bar and 50g grapes in the cinema D: out at a pub ordered lamb tagine with rice and roasted veg.... didn't eat any rice, had half the meat and a couple of pieces of veg.... total calories 593! Way too little! Monday: B: Cambridge diet shake L; baked sweet potato with homemade leftover turkey chilli, put salad on the plate, but couldn't manage it~! D: 60g roast beef, 50g potatoes, 1 broccoli spear, 1 floret of cauli, spn of carrots Snack 200g cottage cheese, 100g pineapple. All went down without too much trouble! Total calories: 1095! Better than yesterday, but I'm not feeling as restricted as I have previously..... Still going for it in the gym though, so I hope that I'll be able to stick with the plan, for a few more weeks!

OK today has been a tightish day... 20mins cardio this morning B: Cambridge diet shake L: Cambridge diet bar Snack cottage cheese with chopped pear Dinner: Chilli con carni.... homemade, no rice Total calories 946 Not a bad day!

Well, only managed 1/2 the salmon and couldn't eat the rice and veg stir fry, yesterday was, indeed tight.... I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the aerobic exercise I take, on Mon, Wed, Fri? I'm not worried because I still ate enough calories. Today so far: B; 1 black coffee and biscotti, (met with friend) L; 2/3 of a 2 egg omlette with ham and tomato few bits of salad Planned for later: Snack: Cottage cheese and apple Dinner; Sirloin steak homemade ratatouille ( can you tell I made a massive batch? ) Total planned calories: 930ish! total protein will be around 70g if I can get the steak down!!!

OK today has been a tight day. B: 100g cottage cheese with 1 chopped kiwi fruit that was hard.... maybe I shoudn't eat at that time??? S: apple.... pb'd Well it was only 10.30 so maybe review morning eating. L: homemade ratatouille with 100g chopped chicken breast S: mandarin Kept that down! Plan for dinner is as follows: 1 Hot smoked salmon fillet from Aldi with 100 boiled rice stirfried with vegetables Total calories for the day = 785 Might have to eat something else to bring up the Protein... I'm on 70g so far!

Yes! my hair did grow back, it's lovely and shiny now! I'm only 6 weeks post op, so if it's going to happen then it'll take at least another 6 weeks to start and possibly another month until I notice... I'm not very observant!

Ooooh fancy your salad... can you PM me the recipe?

thought I'd bump this up for those who missed it the first time.... Any chance of making it a sticky???

Glad to be of assistance..... Sometimes it's only a reminder of what has happened before.... I too lost lots of weight on lighterlife.... 7 1/2 stone my hair fell out, but I persevered because I'd never managed to lose that much in one go! Unfortunately it all came back on and I decided in Oct 2006 that I was going to have a band. It took me until Feb to save the money and persuade OH that it wouldn't mean that I lived on liquids forever more! Had the op on 21st March 2007.... Have lost 26lbs in 6 weeks no fill at all, but I have restriction.... which I'm surprised, delighted, and frustrated to experience! I started out at 21st so similar! Although I have to admit that when I decided that I was going to have op I was only 18st 9lb! 6lb more and I'll be back there.... My only regret is that I didn't have it done when I first thought about it, instead of having 4 1/2 months of 'last suppers'

If you eat a lot less calories than you need for 3 or so months then hair loss can happen. It's quite common in people who do VLCD's (LighterLife, Cambridge diet etc..) The good news is that you won't go bald, just thinner and it will start to grow back after around 2 months of normal eating (although you will still be 'molting' until your body is sure you're going to carry on eating!) The body sees hair growth/maintenance as 'non essential' if your calories are very low. You can either live with it until you reach your desired weight or live with slightly slower weight loss, have more hair and eat a bit more!