More about my check-up

This post is for Brent who wanted to know a little more about my check-up..

I didn't just "pop" in for a visit. This was booked in for the 9 month check-up. I also had a 3 and 6 month check-up as well. It's kind of included in my "plan" for the year, were doctor visits are built into my 1 year program with the band. After my first year, I can go back when I feel I need to - ie, when I get a fill, or I think that I need help with weight loss, or if I need to get fill removed. The point of the check-up is to take bloods and see how I'm doing on the inside. it's also a chance for the patient to talk about any food issues they are having.

I hope this helps! Not sure if you have a band, but I went through a full multidisciplinary team at the circle of care at Baulkham Hills in Sydney, Australia - dietitian, psychologist and physio, as well as the surgeon and follow-up doctor.

Cheers,

LBG xx

Lab Results say more than Weight Loss EVER will

So I went to visit my doctor for a check-up and to see how I'm going with the band. He was absolutely without a doubt extremely pleased with my rate of weight loss and how much I'd lost to date. He said that I was BANG on target for my weight loss goals, and the fact that I was losing weight at a constant slow rate meant that I wasn't going to put it all back on again if I had the band loosened at all. That made me feel a heap better considering the crap that I've been getting on my blog for the past few posts from Anonymous.

I've now lost 20cm off my waist, and 26cm off my hips, 12 cm off each of my thighs, 2cm off my neck (I didn't know you could loose weight off your neck?!?! How random!) and 2cm off my calves. Totally stoked! My Dr put the tape measure around my waist with the 20cm added on and I nearly swore... I was saying "shut up, you are kidding me"... it was a bit mind blowing seeing the cm's I'd lost as well.

Most importantly, I had bloods taken and I received my results today. My doctor is again, over the moon... I have HALVED my fasting insulin levels from 70 (pre-diabetic) to 33 - NORMAL levels! My Cholesterol has gone from 5.2mmol/L to 4.1mmol/L - now completely NORMAL without the use for statins or other cholesterol lowering medication, and my Iron status has gone from 9.0 at boarderline anaemic to 15.0mg, which is in the normal ranges! And I was worried that I wasn't eating enough meat with the band.

I was so happy with the results today. It just proves (again) that this band isn't just about losing as much weight as possible, I have more than halved my risk factors for stroke and heart attacks just by losing "only" 18kg in 9 months. I think that's pretty freaking good! (don't you?)

From one very healthy bandit!

LBG xx

P.S. I was 91kg on the doctor's scales and I'm OK with that! (and so was my doctor!)

Crazy!

Freaking busy! That's all I can say. I'm out of the country every two weeks from now until Christmas time, and I barely have time to scratch my own butt let alone attend to my blog. *sigh* Unfortunately, my weight loss has taken a back burner at the moment and I'm pretty much eating anything that won't get stuck, something I can inhale so that I don't have to waste time actually eating. Unfortunately, because I'm out so much, I don't get to control alot of what I eat. I'm at the mercy of room service (damn that delicious room service!) and anything that I can grab my hands on while I'm out that I know won't make me spew ten minutes into the meal. Consequently I have gained a kilo. Not to worry! I'll be back on board soon! Have bought my gym stuff with me this week to the hotel I'm staying at, and I plan to be at the gym before breakky every morning!

LBG xx

Dear Anonymous...

Another comment was left by anonymous (aka Gaye), it read as follows:

LBG – thanks for the enlightening info of WLS… I do believe you’re hiding behind the very bottom end of the WLS stats. I think the fact that you’re stopping yourself from eating much just to get to the 80’s for your next Dr’s visit is a bit melodramatic… but hey, each to their own and my name, just because you asked so noicely is Gaye. As for your little friend who thinks I’m an ass wipe and that I also “hit” her site, she got it wrong, never saw her site nor did I leave her any comments. But thanks for thinking of me…
November 6, 2007 4:00 PM

So Gaye, according to how much a person with a lapbad SHOULD be losing per week, from your last comment... you remember, 16kg in two months and all that, then getting into the 80's for my doctors visit this Friday should be doable... yet you are chosing to point out that the fact that I'm aiming to lose less than 1 kilo this week is melodramatic??? What's the deal? Do you think I should be dropping massive amounts of weight each week or not? Make up your mind...

Secondly, I'm not hiding behind any weight loss stats... I AM one of those weight loss stats - so what if I'm down the bottom? Someone has to be... I'm not sure if I made myself clear during my last post, but I'm PERFECTLY HAPPY with my rate of weight loss.

Fuck off Gaye... really..

1kg to go until I'm an 80's girl!

Stepped on the scales this morning for my weekly weigh-in and I shocked myself. I thought I'd only be down maybe half a kilo this week, but I dropped 1.4kg, and am now at 90.9kg! YAY! Only 1 friggen kilo separates me from being a 90's girl and being an 80's girl. OMG! I reaaaaaally want to be in the 80's for the next time I see my doctor.. which is next Friday 9th November, and if I keep this up... I Just might!

I have a feeling that my weight loss this week was a little premature. I have been feeling quite off the past couple of days, and I haven't felt like eating. Yesterday, all I had was a Protein Shake for Breakky, half a small slice of turkish bread and some salad for lunch, and a le snak just before bed. I felt naseous all afternoon and every time I thought about eating I wanted to hurl. Even water was difficult for me to get down. So the fact that I didn't have dinner last night may have been the reason why I dropped such a huge amount of weight this week. Today I did a spin class this morning (1 hour!!), drank a bottle of water and then had a coffee and 1/4 of a bran muffin and that's all I've had since 10am (it's now 3pm). I'm feeling sick right now but I think that's because I haven't eaten. I know my band is going to be tight if I eat anything right now, but I have to have something! Maybe a hot drink will do the trick.

Will let you all know when I hit the sweet sweet 80's!

Thanks for reading!

LBG xx

Bring it on!!!

It's really great to get comments from people. I love reading that I am inspiring people on their own journey, or I am providing advice to people who are thinking of having surgery. I received my first negative comment today... from Anonymous (typical.... scared to leave your name or contact details???)
So the comment read like this:

Anonymous said...
i can't believe there is a Dr in Australia who would operate on you given you weren't even morbidly obese... i think it's quite telling that you still eat icecream and chocolate sauce and sausage rolls etc - 16.2 kgs in 8 months with lap band surgery, most patients lose that in 2 months... or then some...
October 30, 2007 3:41 PM

Ok Anonymous, I really don't give a flying fuck what you think... but I just want to clear up a few facts which you seem to (in my opinion) have wrong! They are as follows:

1. My BMI was 35 when I was banded. That makes me obese. That also makes me 10 x more like to suffer the effects of a stroke, heart attack or develop diabetes. I would consider it quite unethical for any Doctor NOT to operate on me. In fact, the fact that I wasn't Morbidly obese meant that I wasn't at high risk for complications during the surgery... hrmm, maybe I should have gained 20kg just to get into the morbidly obese category???

2. According to literature published on the success of the lapband, the band is meant to help you lose between 50-80% of your excess weight in 18months to 2 years . I had 40kg excess weight, and I've now lost 16.4kg of that in 8 months. Lets see... 40 divided by 24 is just under 2kg a month. According to the literature and studies done, I should be losing approx 2kg per month... which... let me do the maths here... 2 x 8 is... hang on.. it's 16!!! I'm 400g in front, buddy.

3. If you're losing 16kg in 2 months (8kg / month or 2kg / week) then you've got to have alot of weight to start with... I'm talking 200kg plus. I was 109kg when I was banded... you do the math here..

4. Losing 16kg in 2 months is unhealthy. Fucked if I want to see my hair fall out and develop anaemia from losing weight too quickly. I don't really fancy Vitamin B12 shots in my ass thanks very much.

5. I can't eat sausage rolls, but I do eat ice cream. I have 1 scoop, with calorie free chocolate sauce, and it goes down a treat.

6. I exercise. That builds muscle. Muscle weighs heavier than fat... sorry, is this getting too technical for you?


Most importantly, Anonymous, I am PERFECTLY HAPPY with my rate of weight loss. If I continue on my current weight loss, I will be at goal weight in 6 months.

I invite you to continue to follow my journey, but please... if you're going to post another comment like the one you left yesterday, grow some balls and leave your name.

My band has a mind of it's own..

I still get extremely frustrated with my band. It's like it is a fussy eater and can't make up it's mind. Like one day I'll be able to eat bread (ok, half a slice.. not much I know) and then the other day I'll spew up the first mouthful. Like tonight, I made pasta ravioli with lite sun-dried tomato sauce... only ate about 3 pieces of the pasta and I was done. Even an hour later, I can still feel a lump in my throat... like it hasn't gone through... yet, on the way back from NZ, I had pasta on the plane... ate it slowly and It was all good.. although I couldn't fit the bread roll or the salad in...
Today, I had half a croissant for breakky... didn't eat again until 4pm... just wasn't hungry. I ate the croissant over the space of around 1.5 hours cos I was in a training meeting and didn't want to have an accident... but just wasn't interested in food for the rest of the day. Normally, like clock-work) I'll feel hungry at lunch.. but I just kept working through, had a couple of meetings in the afternoon (Pepsi Max to drink) and then before I knew it, it was 4pm and I realised I hadn't eaten.

Anyhoo, what else? Oh yeah, during my trip to NZ I had a bit of a scare with my band. I went for a walk for dinner and picked up some Japanese take-away... They had soups and sushi and rice dishes... silly me forgot that she had a band and ordered the Pork Katsu curry dish- deep fried pork cutlet, onions, egg on rice.. hardly any sauce. I really should have gone for a ramen soup.. but no.. I thought I could handle it... Got back to my room.... ate a couple of mouthfuls and up it came... and up it came again.... and again... I managed to fill a whole teacup full of clear stuff that didn't even have bits in it. That's when I realised that something was obviously stuck. So, toddled off to the bathroom where I hacked my guts up, and yep... there was something blocking it. Instant relief once I got it out... and then my chest was sore and I could barely sip on water without wanting to gag... *sigh* there marks the end of my love for yummy Japanese rice dishes...

So I ordered a smoothie for breakfast while in NZ. Delicious, they were! Blueberry and honey, with protein powder and skim milk. Filled me up, and kept me going right up until lunch. it was perfect. So, on the second morning I was there, I waited patiently for my breakky arrive. The door bell to my room rang and I opened it, only to have a waitress present me with my smoothie... AND... some danishes. I told her I didn't order that... and she said that "they didn't think I had ordered enough food and so they bought this up" and that was followed quickly by "don't worry, it's complementary". I looked at her and said, yes... thank you ... but I don't want them. She looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language... I then thought.. bugger this... and I said to her - I have a silicon band that is wrapped around my stomach, I physically will not be able to eat these. Please take them away - another blank stare. So I replied - I've had gastric banding surgery - I can't eat solids before lunch. Not saying anything, just nodding and smiling, she backed her trolley slowly away and I closed the door. Why did they feel the need to decide what I should and shouldn't have for breakfast? In the comments card I wrote something like "I am on a diet, so to be offered danishes when I clearly didn't order them was extremely annoying and frustrating"...

What else? Oh... yeah... I'm now only 1.5kg heaver than my other half. Considering at one stage I was closer to 20kg heaver than him, this truely is an important milestone for me. He's sitting on around 91kg at the moment, and I'm at 92.4kg... so not long to go until I'm lighter than my other half! What a great day that will be :)

Peace out xx

LBG xx

Loving my band..

I'm not sure if I've mentioned recently that I love my band. Well I do... it is the best thing I could have possibly done for myself. Sure, it hasn't been easy, and I still have to work at losing weight... but after all is said and done, I wouldn't have changed it for the world. I keep on thinking that I should be losing weight more quickly, and I am still disappointed in myself that in the 8.5 months I've had this band, I've lost almost 16kg.. Ok, Ok, I know... that's around 2kg a month... and considering I was out of action with my exercise for around 3 months because of my back AND I changed jobs twice... I have to keep telling myself that I'm doing pretty darn good!

Anyhoo, I weighed in at 92.9kg the other day. YAY! I'm in the 92's and looking straight down the barrel of the 80's... I thought I'd be excited when I got into the 90's, fuck, I don't know how I'm going to react when I see that sweet sweet number 8 replace "that's so 90's" number 9. I will cry... I am totally going to cry.

I had to reschedule my check up with my surgeon until 9th November just cos I can't make my 2nd November appointment anymore... and so that gives me 3.5 weeks to get into the 80's. I told my doctor that the next time he saw me I'd be in the 80's and dammit, that's what is going to happen!! 3.0kg to go.... bring it on!

LBG xx

So close I can taste it!

I'm 500g away from reaching 20% weight loss. That's right peoples, I have lost 1/5th of me. Truely amazing. I'm still stuck on the same weight I was last week (93.3kg). But happy none the less as I was eating at weird times while I was travelling last week and wasn't exercising at all. Planning to put in a bit more effort this week as I am at home and have a more regular routine.

Nothing much else to report. I'm kind of inbetween sizes at the moment. Some size 18 clothes fit me really well, some are too loose and some are too tight.. go figure eh?

Take care!

LBG xx

Travelling.. and the band

The 3 hour time change from Sydney to New Zealand has really fucked me up. I'm hungry at the weirdest times. I was up at 5am sydney time (8am local NZ time) and wasn't hungry, but got a smoothie from room service to tie me over. Meanwhile, "lunch" was at 9:30am sydney time (12:30 pm local time) had half of a small sausage role and puked it back up, yet it's now 4:30pm local time (1:25pm sydney time) and I'm STARVING!!

I'm happy with my weight loss at the moment. It's slowed down a little... 300g down in 5 days.. I'm looking forward to seeing the 80's on the scales soon! But I'm feeling good, have loads of energy and am loving the fact that my size 18 work skirt is comfortable to the point of being a tad loose! *go me!*

I'm not sure if I should visit the mini bar for a snack, or just wait the 1.5 hours until dinner.. cos if I eat something now, I won't be hungry come dinner, but if I wait until dinner, then I might eat too quickly and have a "mishap". Decisions, decisions..

LBG xx

15kg... GONE!

It's taken a while, but I've finally hit my 15kg weight loss mark. This is almost the halfway point for my weight loss goals. I would like to lose another 17-18kg... before I reasses. I'm STOKED!

I see my doctor on 2nd November, just under 1 month for a check-up and blood test. I promised him that I would be in the 80's by the time I saw him. So that's 3.7kg to lose in 4 weeks. Definitely doable...

I've realised that the head hunger will never disappear, I just have learnt to manage it better by eating foods that I know are going to make me full and not vomit. I've also learnt that if I'm not hungry, I don't have to eat... even if it is "time" to according to the clock. I'm also happy to have smaller portions where as before I would try to eat as much as I could and deal myself out a larger portion. 8 months on and I'm still learning things about my band ...

LBG xx

P.S I LOVE my band :)

Weight loss has picked up!

Down to 93.8kg this weigh in. Definitely comes down to the increased amount of exercise I am doing now that I'm fully recovered from my surgery.

I went out to dinner with my family last night. My family don't know about my band. All being very health conscious they were asking me what I was doing to lose the weight. "Smaller Portions and Exercising" is my usual reply. I'm not telling a lie, I'm just not mentioning that I have something that helps me along a little. I feel bad lying to them, especially when I am now 12kg lighter than my sister (I've always been the largest sister). But, I feel like this is my journey and I need to do this on my own. I will tell them eventually, but I don't feel ready at the moment. I think I still need to prove to myself that I can do it, lose the weight, get down to my goal weight and keep it off for a while.

But seeing my sister last night made my heart ache for her (she's gained 7kg since I last saw her in May!). Knowing that I could but won't give her the information and advice she desparately needs to help her lose weight was making me feel really guilty. I hate seeing her overweight and miserable, but I couldn't bring myself to confide in her about my lap band, because my family is so close I KNOW it will get out even if I ask her not to say anything to Mum and Dad.

One day I'll tell them... just not now :) and I'm OK with that.

200g to go until I've lost 15kg since the banding... bring on the 80's!!!

LBG xx

I LOVE my band

Sometimes I love my band, sometimes I hate my band... at the moment, I am totally loving my band, and if I could... I would open myself up and kiss my lovely piece of silicon that's wrapped around my stomach... Hrmm. Ok, maybe not...

I weighed in at 95.4kg today. I know, I'm becoming a little scales obsessed but I just can't help it. I love seeing the numbers drop every couple of days. When I don't lose weight, the scales are my enemy and I put them away and only weigh in once a week.. but when I'm going through a good drop, I can be known to weigh in 2-3 times a day..

Just to give you an idea of what I'm eating at the moment:
BF: nothing, or a protein shake. (always have a berocca performance, iron tablet and fish oil when I first wake up and then a cuppa tea when I first get to work)
MT: half an apple or half an orange
L: Can of tuna, half a tomato, few slices of avocado, cucumber and capsicum (normally don't get through it all) or one of those small healthy choice twin pack frozen meals or a toasted cheese sandwich (normally leave the crusts so probably eat around 3/4 of it)
MT: the other half of the piece of fruit I was eating, or a can of coke zero if I'm not particularly hungry, or a Le snack or a cup a soup
D: 1 cup of something. I have these small ramiken dishes that I put my meals into now... or on a bread and butter plate... sometimes my band won't like what I've eaten, so it's normally with extra sauce
S: Cup of tea with or without 2 chocolate chip bikkies or 1 scoop icecream with chocolate sauce.

Averaging 1000 cals/day and exercising 5 times during the week burning around 500 cals per session.

I feel like I've gotten control of the band a little bit now and am working it to my advantage. It also really helps that I have some awesome bandit friends who I can turn to for advice or a bit of a whinge.

Speaking of which, one of my bandit mates and gym buddies is going into hospital on Tuesday to have a TUMMY TUCK after losing over 40kg. GOOD LUCK HONEY!!!

Enough from me. Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Will post soon.

LBG xx

Goodness gracious me!

What a month! My back totally fucked up at the end of August and I ended up having a partial discectomy to remove the piece of disc pressing on a nerve running down my leg. So, no exercise for this little chicken and consequently no weight loss either. I even had to cancel my fill appointment with Dr B as I was in hospital at the time.

4 weeks later and I'm back at the gym and feeling fantastic. NO MORE PAIN!! I'm even down to 96.1kg which is 100g off 20kg lost (since my heaviest).

I've been concentrating on foods that I know will make me feel fuller eating less of it, so chocolate is a no-no. Things like fruit and veges and lean protein (no surprises there!). Not PB'ing as much at the moment, only on the odd occasion when I get REALLY hungry and wolf something down and then think "Oh-Oh" as I know the inevitable is going to happen. Up it comes and I'm good again.

Will post more now that I'm back on the weight loss bandwagon again.

Cheers,

LBG xx

Biting the bullet...

I'm going back for another fill. I've plateaued since my last doctors appointment and I can't take it anymore! It's so weird, cos some days I'm tight as and can hardly get anything down, and some days I can eat quite a bit and it will hardly touch the sides. It's really frustrating. So, I booked in for another fill next Monday.

Other than that, everything is going OK. Have been PB'ing once every second day or so... normally cos I eat too fast and don't chew properly...Hopefully this fill will give me a bit of a boost for my weight lost because it's starting to be a bit depressing that I've undergone major surgery for weight loss and I'm not losing any weight...

LBG xx

No, not the steak!!

Tonight I went round to Mum and Dad's for dinner. I love it cos I miss mum's cooking. They don't know about the band, and have told them that I am furiously losing weight for the wedding, so please only serve me food on a bread and butter plate. Mum asked if I wanted to stay for dinner. "What are we having?" I ask... She replies: "Steak..". I start to feel this sick nauseated feeling in my stomach. I haven't attempted steak since I had my band (hence the reason why I'm boarderline anaemic!). She brought out the steak from the fridge. I had my fingers silently crossed that this steak would be small minute steak that I could attempt to get down... No, these were the biggest mother-fucking chunks of meat I had ever seen in my life. It looked as though each peice was the side of a cow. It would have been at least an inch deep and probably about 20 cm in length. I seriously did not know how I was going to be able to eat a third of that, let alone the whole thing. Thank god Mum asked me if I wanted to share a piece with her... I said yes.

Now, I love my meat... but I have come to the sad realisation that I will never be able to enjoy a nice barbequed piece of steak ever again... and I'm OK with that, really I am. This meat was cooked to perfection, with a nice thin edge of fat that gave it it's juicy goodness... I looked at my plate like I was mourning the death of an old friend. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get two bites down, let alone the rest of the stuff on the plate (coleslaw, potato bake and salsa). Dad (or as we call him, the BBQ beef master) was very proud of his efforts to cook my steak to my liking (Medium) and was totally devastated when I left more than 3/4 of it! He kept on asking me why I wasn't eating it and if I liked it. I felt so bad, you could see the look of complete sadness from my Dad that I wasn't enjoying this hunk of cow... so I avoided eye contact with him for the whole meal, but I could tell he was watching me.



Didn't get the whole meal down, and I knew I wouldn't. I felt the familiar tightness in my chest and knew I had to excuse myself somehow. Now, a rule in our family is that you never get up to go to the toilet during a meal. I was up shit creek without a fucking paddle and the urgent need to relieve myself of the big chunk of cow that was lodged in my poor little stomach! I made up some pathetic excuse that I had something in my eye... that seemed to work.. So I made a quick exit to the bathroom to puke, came back and played with my food for the rest of the dinner.



My steak eating days are well and truely over!!! No word of a lie, this was the size of the piece of meat I had to attempt to eat tonight...

AWOL... not much to report

Nothing has been happening... absolutely nothing. I'm living with the band, it's getting easier every day, and there are days when I still slip up and have to visit to loo to relieve myself, but everything is fine and dandy.

I must admit, I have been stable with my weight since my last post. I think with winter and my back injury I've found it a little difficult to find the motivation to exercise in the cold... and warming comforting foods are... well.. they're warm and comforting.. and I'm eating them, and they're going down really easy - soups, casseroles and the like... things with sauces in them, where the meat is so tender it just melts in your mouth and thus slips through the band easily. Now you may be thinking, she needs a fill then. No, I don't... I've got good restriction.. and when I eat the right foods - wholegrains, veges, lean meats and fruit I get full on small portions, but I have to admit, I haven't felt like fruit salads and grilled chicken lately... I know which foods keep me full and I know which ones slip through the band... and I'm just choosing the latter more often than the former. It will get easier once we slip into the warmer weather...

Hope all is well with your band :)

LBG xx

Doctors Appointment Today!

Today I went to see my lapband surgeon for a check-up. The last time I saw him was 2 months ago. I was 103kg. Today I was 97.4kg on his scales... so that was a loss of 5.6kg in 2 months. Totally happy with that, and so was my surgeon. He wants to see me in 2 months to have my bloods done and another weight check. My cholesterol and BP is normal, my triglyceride levels were a little high and my iron levels a little low. I gave him a copy of my food diary, which he looked through and we discussed. He is really happy with my progress. I told him that I'll be in the 80's the next time I see him on September 10th! So I've really got to step it up now... 7.5kg in 2 months... that's 1.9kg more than the last 2 months!



Bring on the challenge!



He also did my measurements. I've lost 15cm off my waist and 7cm off my hips since the surgery. My surgeon said that because I was starting to get some loose skin now that it was more difficult to measure my waist properly but he was still happy with my progress.

I love my band :)



LBG xx

I got to 10% weight loss today at 97.7kg!! WooHoo! I was getting a little frustrated cos the scales weren't moving for a good few weeks and was wondering what was going on.

To be honest, I'm really happy with my level of restriction. It is definitely there and I know that when I push the boundries, my friend doesn't let me push them too far. I just need to make the right food choices. Anything that Melts or Dissolves will slip through the band... end of story. You don't see salad, vegetables and meat melting do you?? I know I'm not drinking enough water either.. but that's a whole other story. I've heard too many stories about stretching the band because people drank water too soon after they ate which meant that the water stretched the little tummy pouch. Since I eat every 2 hours, that doesn't give me alot of time inbetween to drink... and since I feel full most of the time, I'm not sure when a good time to drink is! I usually drink the most in the morning when I know the tummy pouch is empty and just before bed to flush it out.

Anyhoo, I am totally over the moon about my weight loss this morning... :) Once I hit 96kg I'll be down 20kg since my heaviest weight, then under 95kg (closer to 90 than to 100!) and then 93.6kg will see me as 15kg lost since the banding. Slowly but surely. 500g/week weight loss, I'm happy!

LBG xx

Another fill required?

I think I need another fill - I've been watching the portions creep up ever so slowly. The other night I ate about a cup of pasta plus spag bol sauce. The first few mouthfuls got stuck (I was hungry and didn't chew properly) so they came up, but after that I was able to eat the rest of the bowl. Last night we had left over spag bol, so I decided to have 1/2 cup pasta and some spag bol sauce, but that only took me about 15 mins to eat and then I was still hungry... so I had a lite apple pie with some lite ice cream which went down a treat... I'm seeing my band doctor on the 18th so I'll chat with him then... but for now, cos I'm not exercising as much I'm really having to watch what I eat..



Does anyone else have that problem, when the first few mouthfuls of dinner get stuck, once they clear (either go through the band or get brought up) then you find you can eat more?



Just curious...



LBG xx

Mikey Robins on Australian Story

I just watched the Australian Story about Mikey Robins, an Aussie comedian who, through the help of laproscopic lap banding, went from nearly 150kg to around 85kg... WOW! His story was really amazing and I related alot to him. He was honest and emotional. The good thing about the interview is that they didn't go on about the surgery too much, but more about his journey from being morbidly obese with all the associated problems that go with it, to the slim man that he is today with boundless amounts of energy. I was afraid that going into the detail about the surgery and what he can and can't eat now might of opened a can of worms and placed yet another negative connotation connected with weight loss surgery. They showed a couple of scenes of a surgery in progress and a snippet of Mikey discussing his progress with his weight loss surgeon, but it didn't focus on the surgery (the pros and the cons). I hope that this interview inspires more people to consider weight loss surgery.

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/

Where did that kg go?

Scale check and I'm at 98.3kg as of Saturday. Go me! I swiftly lost that kg I gained the week before that. I've realised that I have a doctors check up next month and would like to be at 95kg for the occasion.. 3.3kg to go..

Not much else to report. I'm really happy with my restriction at the moment. I've found a good balance between what I can and can't eat and am full with fairly small amounts of food without being so restricted that I limit my variety of foods. That's the point right? I think I could probably go for another 0.2ml to make it an even 9mL... but will talk to the doc when I see him next month.

Ok, all from me for now.

LBG xx

Oops! I had a gain..

I have to give back my 10kg lost badge for now as I managed to gain 900g this week. Oops! Not to worry, I'm hoping to lose the 600g in no time to get me back to 10kg lost.. I totally deserved the gain this week. I ate crap, didn't count my calories and didn't exercise... I knew I would gain. So I'm back up to 99.2kg. Still, I'm under 100kg which is good, and I don't plan on going back there ever again..

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post. I'm glad my little soap box rant about counting calories made sense. Cos, even though we've had weight loss surgery, it's not going to lose the weight for us. It will be our friend and make sure we don't over eat, but it won't tell us what we should and shouldn't put in our mouths... that's still our decision. I've also found that the healthier foods tend to make me feel fuller anyway. I PB'd on a pear yesterday.. it was gross.. but was FULL for like 3 hours afterwards. A large pear has the same calories as a 25g bag of chips. I can eat 4 of them in one sitting (believe me, I proved that last week.. ).. and still wasn't full. So not only did I eat 4 times as many calories as the pear, I was still hungry enough to eat more.

Ok, enough ranting from me. Enjoy your day!

LBG xx

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... I have photo's of my band.. yep, of my insides. I'm going to scan the photo in and post it up for you all to see. WooHoo!

Your brain isn't banded!

I've noticed alot of comments about how people with a lap band can stop losing weight (or even gain weight) because they find "ways' of getting certain foods through the band. This happened to me... and it was extremely frustrating. To go through something as extreme as weight loss surgery and STILL not lose weight was very discouraging. But I realised something... I realised that my brain isn't banded, and that my band is only a tool to help me lose weight. I read this countless times as I was doing my research, but never really understood what it meant. I always thought deep down that the band would be the answer and that I would never have to worry about dieting again, cos the band would do all the work. WRONG. A couple of things I found were:
1. If I really wanted to eat all of something, I would... it would just take me a little longer
2. Junk food goes down easy... it's the easiest thing to eat. It was easy to eat before, and it is easy to eat now.
3. My band LOVES healthy foods... small amounts make me feel full.
4. My brain is not banded. I still get the same head hunger I did before the band..

So, even though I've had weight loss surgery... I am COUNTING CALORIES. Yep that's right... I am keeping track of everything I am eating... and you know what? it's working. Having the band makes it sooooooooo much easier to stop eating, but by counting calories I am still in control of everything I eat. Since I started counting calories, I have lost the majority of my weight (6kg since april)... that's more weight lost than the first 3 months having the band... So for all of you out there frustrated because you've had surgery and aren't losing wieght... don't rely on that fill to top you up and possibly limit your variety of foods you can eat... try old fashioned dieting... your band will love it!

LBG xx

I love my band!

Not sure if I've mentioned this in the past few months, but even though my weight loss has been slower than I would have liked it, I am learning to live with my little plastic friend and I am FINALLY starting to see the results. I'm 10kg down, and I can fit so comfortably into a size 18. I feel like I am finally in control of my eating and my portions. I no longer get upset when I can't finish something. I get a sense of pride when I do eat smaller portions. I view my body as a machine that needs the best fuel possible to keep it going, therefore I only fuel my body with the healthiest foods and if I do eat junk food then I don't beat myself up over it. I weighed in at 98.3kg today. WooHoo!

I love my Band!

LBG xx

I've officially lost the first 10kg!

Stepped on the scales to reveal 98.4kg which means I'm now down a total of -10.4kg since the banding. I've hit the 10kg Mark!!! Ever since I have found the "sweet spot" the weight has just fallen off. I am feeling so great these day. I've been trying on clothes that I haven't been able to get into and I can fit into them now. I'm a comfortable size 18 now and am looking forward to being able to shop at "normal" stores like Suzanne's, Susan Grae, Jacquie E soon (when I have the money).


I had dinner with Mum and Dad last night and ate my smoked salmon and salad slowly, chewing lots, making sure that I didn't feel the need to PB. All went well and they didn't suspect a thing. My mum was talking to be about lap banding, cos she thinks it might be a good idea for my sister who is also overweight. I didn't say much at the time. She also said that My Dad wants her to "do it the hard way", like he thinks having a lap band is the easy way out. I just shut my mouth and didn't say anything. I don't know if I'll ever tell them that I have a lap band. I'm just not sure how they'd react. Number 1, they'd be disappointed in me for not telling them that I had gone into hospital and had surgery (which in itself is pretty crazy cos I tell my parents pretty much everything and we're really close) and Number 2, I think they'd think I had taken the easy way out and hadn't worked my butt off to lose the weight without help. I'm still in two minds about telling them. At the moment, I just want to prove to them that I can lose weight. Once I get to goal weight... I might re-consider, but for now, there is no way I could let them know. I feel bad for not revealing my big secret... but I'm afraid of their reaction. Does that makes sense??





Anyhoo, looking forward to a weekend at home with my Uni books to study for an exam next week. Hope you all have a great long weekend!





LBG xx

DOUBLE DIGITS!!! I did it!!!

Weighed in yesterday at 99.9kg.... GO ME!!!! I had to get on the scales a couple of times just to make sure that I wasn't seeing things... but 99.9 flashed up each time... WOOHOO!!!!!!!

This is a huge milestone for me, a really important one. To not be in triple figures anymore has given me a real boost and I feel like I'm finally on the weightloss train to skinnyness. Even though I have a long way to go... I have been kicking around at the low 100's for a while so to get past this hurdle has been fantastic. Especially cos I'm a bit down about my back pain and not being able to exercise at all.

Woohoo!!!!!!!

Total loss now is -8.7kg since being banded... only 1.3kg to go until I get to the 10kg weight loss.

Have a great day!

LBG xx

I've been MIA..

Not sure how many people read this blog, but for those who check up on me regularly you might have noticed that I've been AWOL.. Well, I had to go interstate for a bit for work, and when I got back I had University on the weekend, and then I've been in bed all week with my long suffering sciatica So I haven't been able to get to a computer to update for the last two weeks! Sorry!!

Today I went into hospital to have a steroid injection in my back to ease my pain so fingers are firmly crossed that I'll be back to normal soon.

Interestingly enough, because I was "sick" I didn't feel much like eating and my band felt extra tight. Which worked for me cos I couldn't exactly get up to go to the kitchen to fix myself something to eat!!!

I've lost 100g since last weigh in, after putting on 700g with the interstate trip, so I'm now at 101.5kg (on 30th May). I'll weigh in tomorrow for a more recent weight.

Anyhoo, hope you are all doing great... banded or soon-to-be banded!!!

Kylie - great news about your finding your sweet spot... you get it now eh? It makes it worth having the band.. and you get what the purpose of the band is, eh? Just remember, your brain isn't banded... and norti foods can still get through pretty easily!!! heheh

Take care all,

LBG xx

7kg gone!!!

Weighed in this morning and I'm now 101.6kg... Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! I finally feel like my weight loss is making a difference and I'm on the down hill slope to double digits. Especially since the last fill it has TOTALLY changed my portion sizes and rate of eating... It's like it's "hit the spot" which all your lap banders will know is that "sweet spot" that you try to find. Word of advice - if you still think you are eating too much, get another fill! I should of had this fill weeks ago...

I have my follow-up appointment with my doctor on Monday. this is the first time I would have seen him since my operation (other than for fills - which he does at the hospital). so I'll be able to sit down one on one with him and have a good chat about how I'm going. I'm not sure if he's going to be disappointed with my rate of weight loss.. I'm losing approx 500g / week and If I keep going the way I'm going I should lose another 15-20kg by the end of the year, possibly more..

I'm feeling great!

LBG xx

0.3mL, so tiny... yet so effective!

I now have 8.8mL in my band after visiting the doctor yesterday for another fill. I lost 2.2kg since I last had my fill, which was 5 weeks ago. The doctor was happy with my progress and said that he wants me to lose 500g /week which is what I'm doing right now... I still want it all to happen yesterday!!

So, I've got an additional 0.3mL in my band, and it's made a big difference. I was on liquids yesterday, and I made some potato and leek soup for dinner last night which took me aaaaaaaages to get through. Today is more of the same... perhaps I'll attempt some solids this afternoon... but for now, I'm happy and constantly full with small amounts of food. That's the whole point of the band right??

Why do I blog my lap band story?

I'm not sure how many people actually read this, but I do know that there are a few random people that leave messages telling me that they appreciate an "honest" account of what it's like to have a lap band. Big Hello to DARREN who stopped by yesterday to have a read and leave a comment! :)

I like to blog because I find it's a great way for me to think things through, journal my feelings and experiences and to keep myself accountable throughout my weight loss journey. If I didn't have this blog, I could easily keep my banding/weight loss a secret and no-one would know about it. I guess by putting it on here, I remain honest and truthful about my weight loss and also to give those of you thinking of getting a lap band an idea of what "real life" with a lap band is all about. I found (as Darren said) that alot of the weight loss surgery sites gave me a real positive impression about lap band surgery... that it would be easy, the weight would fall off and I would be at goal in a matter of months. But this hasn't been the case. It hasn't been easy. My brain is not banded, I'm constantly thinking about food, not only from a weight loss point of view but also because I have to figure out what I can and can't eat. I struggle each week to lose weight, because it is still sooooo easy to eat that chocolate, those chips, lollies, fast food cos it goes down so much easier. I have to work at eating a healthy balanced diet, watch my calorie intake and keep up a high level of exercise.

Do I regret getting the lap band done? Not at all, but it has taken me a long time to realise that the lap band is merely a tool and it will still take motivation, willpower and dedication to lose the weight. I hope those of you who are thinking about getting one done realise this, your weight problems will not be solved once you get a lap band - it will just make it a little easier and you can still cheat!!

On that note, I hope that I'm helping people make the right decision in their own mind to go down the surgery road - because once you go there, you can't go back - well, not easily anyway.

Have a great weekend!

LBG xx

Going to get another fill..

I can eat too much. I had lunch with Kat (another bandit), she barely got through her soup and I finished off 2 cups of salad. So while my meal was healthy, I can eat too much. So I'm going to ring the clinic today and book myself in for a fill ASAP. I hope they can fit me in for Monday! (just rang the clinic - booked in for Tuesday at 8am! Yay!)

Down to 102.3kg today, so that's 6.3kg lost in total. I want it to be more, but I guess I can't complain. I'm so close to double digits!!!

Today I'm going to Yum Cha for lunch today with work. Will be interesting to see what I can and can't eat, but at least it won't look sus that I'm not eating much because it's the whole pick off plates thing. I find that when that happens, everyone is too caught up in what they're eating to notice that I'm not eating much!!

Have a lovely weekend!

Erica xx

Back up to 103, but that's OK!

After a salt/pizza ladened weekend I expected to put on a kilo or so.. but it was only 100g, so I'm back up to 103.0kg and am aiming to go down this week. I keep remembering that my brain is not banded, so I need to constantly monitor what I'm eating (it's just like I wasn't banded!!!). I suppose I could do with another fill if I really wanted - but I find I've got enough restriction to eat a cup of food and feel full, sometimes I push the boundaries and force more in, which I know is totally wrong.. but I do pay for it sometimes. I continue to serve my meals on bread and butter plates which helps.

I am totally happy with my rate of weight loss at just under 500g/week. If I keep going the way I am going, I will reach goal by mid next year, which is totally ok with me.

Hope you are all doing well!

LBG xx

In the 102's!!!

Jumped on the scales to reveal 102.9kg... Go me!! That's 300g shy of 6kg I have lost since having the lap band operation. I've also worked out that I'm losing on average 500g/week which is what I wanted. Saturday is official weigh in, I would love to report 102.6kg tomorrow to make it an even 6kg lost in 12 weeks... wouldn't that be awesome??

Last night I ate some hot chips rather quickly... and needless to say my band didn't like it much... so I PB'd and was a little tender for the rest of the night. I had a delish smoked salmon salad (a small one!) and was full full full after that... It feels sooooooo good to be full. And I'm starting to get over the mental "getting upset when I can't finish a meal" thing... which is great.

Speak soon!

LBG xx

I've Cracked the 5kg mark!!! With 100g to spare!

Jumped on the scales this morning and I'm now on 103.5kg!!! That's 5.1kg down since the banding, and I'm now past my first goal of 5kg lost. It's taken a while but I'm happy with my progress so far.

My next goal is double digits - 99.9kg. Only 3.6kg to go!!

LBG xx

White bread = PB

Morning my fellow and soon-to-be fellow bandits reading my blog!

This weekend was an interesting one... I went out on Saturday night and had 1 small bite of a fresh white bread roll and immediately went to PB it up... that was it for me and food for the rest of the night. I realised that I hadn't eaten white bread since before the operation, so it looks as though White bread is a no go food for me from now on. Funny, because I managed a slice of Cape Seed Bakers Delight bread with no problems earlier that day. That bread is delish toasted and makes me soooooooooooo full! I've got a piece of that bread with a small tin of baked beans for lunch today. *yum*

And on scale related news, I dropped down to 103.8kg this weighin, the lightest I've been since the banding. 200g off 5kg lost. I really had hoped that I'd have lost enough this week to make that goal, but it wasn't meant to be... so I'm aiming for it for this weekend. At least the scale gods have blessed me this weigh in. It's funny how your whole mood relys on a tiny (or in my case, not-so-tiny) number on those scales...

Much love,

LBG xx

Feeling skinny today!

Jumped on the scales to see it flash at 104.1kg and I am coming up to TTOM which is normally the time I would gain a little weight because of fluid retention. I am planning to skip TTOM next week cos I've got a few things on and I so couldn't be bothered dealing with the crimson tide next week... so it will be interesting to see if my weight drops anymore without having TTOM.

Diet was great yesterday, managed to stay in some sort of routine - the public holiday was not going to give me license to eat whatever I liked. I even baked some chocolate chip muffins (99% fat free) and enjoyed one for afternoon tea. Must admit, it was tough to eat and took me around 30 mins with a cup of tea to get it down. Sticky perhaps?? Still delicious and made me real full. Actually I ate heaps yesterday - BF: Optifast and herbal tea, MT: dolmades and cupasoup, L: Lean Cuisine Lasagne, AT: Muffin with tea and Dinner was two pieces of pizza (1/4 of a 12" pizza) at 250kcal and I chopped up some carrot and cucumber to add some veges into the mix. Was real full after that. I even resisted a magnum just before bedtime!!! Go me!

Have a great day everyone! Thanks for the comment Reney!

LBG xx

Scales going back down?

Jumped on the scales for my mid week weigh in (I know, norti... ) but I was dying to see how I was going, cos I feel a little skinnier, and I'm happy to report that the scales are down to 104.3kg and I'm coming up to TTOM next week. Normally I stay around the same weight for 2-3 weeks and then drop a large amount just after TTOM. Sooooooo if my body keeps doing what it's supposed to be doing, then next weekend (5th May) I should receive a good result on the scales. I guess it's just so frustrating when you don't see a drop every week..

Anyhoo, enough rambling. BIG thanks to Veronica who made me feel soooooooo much better from her comment she left. THANK YOU!

I overate last night. I had 1/2 a piece of garlic bread, 1 few chips (which reaaaaaaally seem to fill me up) and a plate of pasta. I really should have just had the pasta and no chips/bread.. but it was so long between entree and main I really couldn't wait... felt the need to PB a couple of times, but managed to keep it down.. but was in a bit of pain some of the time... I'm still learning to not eat as much, but as they keep saying, my brain hasn't been banded. It will take some time... but I am learning.. slowly.

Happy ANZAC day everyone.

Lest we forget

LBG xx

Nothing to Report

Been a bit AWOL this past week, but I've got nothing new to report. I managed to gain some weight so back up to 105kg, which is really disappointing, and I can also swallow tablets whole again, which means that I'm due for another fill. I'm going to give it my best shot with a low cal diet and increase my exercise until I see my doctor on 21st May. If I'm not under 100kg by then, I'm going to get another fill. My fill level is actually really good at the moment. I feel full after only a small plate of food, but I don't PB. In fact, I haven't PB'd in over a week! But I'm still eating too much crap, which fits through the band way too easily! That's why I've decided to track exactly what I'm eating and consume 1500kcal/day or less. To lose weight I'm supposed to consume 1800kcal/day and exercise for at least 30 mins.

Wish me luck!

Erika xx

Nearly back to the 103's!

Jumped on the scales this morning to be at 104.0kg exactly. Couldn't make myself do a number 2, which I normally do before stepping on the scales, so essentially I really COULD be back in the 103s again! *lol* OK, was that way too much information??

Think that I'm getting my band under control now. I haven't PB'd in 5 days now and every time I feel like I could be going down that road, I pull right back, wait and it goes down OK. I'm working out things I can and cannot eat. I'm also incorporating more veges into my diet, which are going down and keeping me full quite nicely.

I worked out today that I am losing on average 400g a week. I am totally happy with that! My diet is going well this week - although I did have some popcorn this afternoon (which went down way too easily - unfortunately!) I thought the pop corn would fill me up quite quickly, but it didn't - Infact, I feel more restriction with potato chips than with popcorn.. strange!

Take care,

LBG

Shaking things up...

So I gained this week - 400g, pushing me above the 104s (but not by much).

So time to shake things up again, I'm sick of my weight loss being so bloody slow! Ok, yeah.. I know it's a lifetime thing... but c'mon... I should be losing more weight that this!!!

So, this is what I'm doing different:
1. Optifast every morning
2. Salad/protein for lunch
3. Increased Exercise
4. Optifast with salad/veg for dinner every night.
5. Nuts or an egg as a snack

I'm going to do this for the 5 working days this week. My next weigh in is on Saturday.

And on a different note, I had half a bran muffin for breakky yesterday and was FULL until 3pm! But then I went and had some potato chips.... oops!

LBG xx

Restriction has lessened, but that's OK!

I've been reading on the Lap Banding Yahoo Message Boards that some people feel the restriction go about 2 weeks after a fill. Well, that's exactly what has happened to me. Good thing is, is that I'm still feeling the restriction there, but it's not in my face after every single mouthful. I think that this is where my restriction is meant to me. For lunch today I had a sushi role and was feeling every now and then the restriction. I also had a small pasta salad and was full. Yesterday I had half a pumpkin and fetta wrap - took 20mins to eat it, had a tiny bit of rocket and sundried tomato salad and was full as well. Last night I had 1 small piece of fish, 1/2 a cup of steamed veges and 2 small chat potatos and I was full. So I think for now, I'm going ok with my portion sizes. I am noticing though, that before, an up&go drink would fill me up for breakky, now i'm getting hungry about 1/2 an hour after I have it - which means I probably need to progress on to solids for breakky.

I'm thinking that instead of a carb rich breakky, like weetbix or cereal that I start having an egg in the morning, maybe some baked beans and some "veges" like tomato/avocado/cucumber. I'm still having my berocca every morning which is good because I know I'm at least getting SOME of my nutrients for the day! :) I've also started eating fruit. I was a bit scared about starting with fruit, because it was so fibrous - but I had an apple yesterday and even though it took me twice as long to get through, I didn't finish it and was full.

I'm also having gall bladder *pangs* which are quite painful on almost a daily basis. The Dr said that there was a chance that this could happen after the surgery, so I'm monitoring it to see how it goes. Seems to happen in the afternoon, around 3-5pm - so perhaps because I'm digesting my lunch at that time?? I will talk to my Doctor about it when I see him on 21st May.

And on crappy news, I've gained the kg I lost - must have been that easter weekend... I knew that chocolate would catch up with me - I'm now up to 104.6kg *argh*. I caught a glimpse of life in the 103's... I'm going to do my best to get down there (... and beyond...) again!! BUT - even though I've gained that weight back, I thinkI've said goodbye to the 105's forever... which is what I was sitting on for the longest time. And I figure that if the band does it's job and I lose between 50% - 75% of my excess weight (my excess weight being 40kg) within the first year then I'm well on my way to losing 20kg (50%)... this isn't a race anymore, this is life!

Happy lap banding!

LBG xx

Happy Easter!!

Hello Everyone!

Hope you all had a great easter. Living with the band this easter was really no big deal. I had some chocolate, not alot actually and ate my small meals each day. Seafood didn't agree with me on Saturday and I ended up PB'ing infront of my girlfriend (who knows about the band) only to have her almost throw up just at the sight of it all. Oh my goodness, it was totally embarrassing. Thank god she loves me regardless, we had a good laugh about it afterwards. I am still cringing at the thought of it. Mental Note: Do NOT order seafood (you know, the kind that you get from take away chinese) when out for lunch. I KNEW I should have stuck to a potato with cheese, so much easier to eat!!! Put me right off my food for the rest of the day. Today and yesterday were fine though, although I must admit, I am having a few problems with paying for a meal that I'm going to eat 3 mouthfuls of... very very Frustrating!!!

On a more positive note, I've cracked the 103's!, ok, 103.9kg... but that's still the 103's!! Yay me. I am FINALLY starting to see the weight drop off the scales. I've lost 1.5kg in just under 2 weeks, which is a total miracle for me because I've not lost alot of weight since I had the band put in. I'm finally figuring out that it is only NOW, once the band is filled, that I will start to see some results. Really frustrating when you go through having major surgery just to watch the scales move 4kg in 2 months... On my doctor's scales, I'd be 102.9kg... even closer to the elusive double digits! :)

Have a good one!

LBG xx

Another 600g - GONE!

Stepped on the scales this morning to note another 600g gone. WooHoo! No problems with the band today, haven't PB'd all week, so I think my band restriction has settled and I've got really good restriction now. Chocolate goes down way too easily so I'm going to have to work on that... but after easter. I've got a follow-up appointment with my doctor on 21st May, and my aim is to be at double digits by then... if not before.

Much Love,

LBG xx

All is well in the land of the band!

My band has fully settled down and I'm now back to eating normally, albiet much much smaller portions. I'm having approx 1 cup of food at a time and taking about 20 minutes to eat it. I get the "stuck" feeling which normally happens after I take a big bite of something, so I'm re learning how to eat slowly but surely. I'm enjoying my food much much more now that I'm not so scared of it. Hopefully this will be the start of some regular weight loss.

Have a happy easter!!! don't eat too much chocolate!

LBG xx

I think they've found my sweet spot

Over the past day or so my band restriction has calmed down alot, thank god, and I'm finding that I'm not struggling with my food anymore. I'm still getting the full full full feeling, but not the urge to vomit that was coming with every mouthful. I'm finding that my band is tighter in the morning, so I'm having a liquid breakfast (up&go and a coffee) which is going down well and keeping me full. It's almost like I'm learning how to eat again... I'm having to sample small amounts of everything to see what works and what doesn't!! On Sunday night, I tried some bread.. which didn't work at all. So I think bread is out. Yesterday I had some potato and rice.. and that went down fine (but eaten very very slowly!). I've got a small pasta meal for lunch today, and I will be trying that one. Just thinking of what to make for dinner tonight - I might boil an egg and mash it with some mayo and cook some veges to go with it. I'm also easing myself back into solids again - I am craving salads at the moment, but just not that game to try it out yet... maybe towards the end of the week! :)

So this is what I ate yesterday:
BF: Berocca Performance, Coffee, Up&Go Breakfast drink
MT: 4 rice crackers
L: 1/4 cup rice, 1/3 cup potato and gravy
AT: 25g salt and vinegar chips (surprisingly, they go down reaaaaaaaaally easily! Doh!)
D: 1/2 schnitzel, 3 potato gems, 1 tbsp veg
S: 1 fun sized chocolate bar

On the plus side, I've lost weight since my last post. Now at 105.1kg!! I've got another dietitians visit this afternoon, so it's weigh in time - I'm hoping I lost weight this week on their scales!! :)

Sorry for scaring everyone before with my crazy post about vomiting and stuff. It's really not that bad, I just think I pushed it a bit too much and really should have stuck to liquids for a day or so longer.

LBG xx

Overfilled?

I have had the most terrible weekend with my band. I'm not sure why there was a delayed reaction but I didn't feel overfilled until Friday, nearly 2 days since I'd had the band filled to 8.5mL.

It all started on Friday morning. I was out and about early heading off to the airport for a weekend get away. I bought myself a hungry jacks mcmuffin and hashbrown. Ate 1 bite and that was it, I had the urge to PB, which I did... several times. I started to panic because I was due to get on a flight within the hour. I spent most of the time in the bathroom, and when I was sure that I was feeling a little better, I ventured out to catch my flight. The whole flight I was PB'ing into a water bottle. Luckily I was at a window seat, so I could turn my head and no-one would see me. It hurt to swallow my own saliva. At this point I was getting worried, because if this continued there was a good chance I could end up in Emergency in a different place! Walking around helped, so when i got off the plane I walked around as much as I could before I collected my bags. The cab ride was long, because I was feeling ill.. thank goodness the Cab driver didn't want to chat! I was in no mood. I checked in to my room and went up and lay down for a good 3 hours. I think that helped also, because it took some pressure off the stoma hole. I felt alot better after I woke up and tried drinking a little then. It was painful, but at least I wasn't PB'ing.. which was a start! At least I wouldn't get dehydrated to the point where I had to be hospitalised. I figured if I could at least get down my liquids I'd be ok! Dinner was interesting. we went out for a meal - I chose the soup. Had 3 teaspoons full over the space of an hour and that was it! People were commenting on why I wasn't eating my dinner, with everyone else tucking into delicious salads, fish, chicken etc... I told them that I'd had a big lunch and wasn't very hungry!
Saturday I managed to get down a whole glass of berocca for breakfast which relieved me a bit cos at least I could get down liquids now, for lunch I had a scoop of icecream which took me absolutely ages to eat. Saturday night was a buffet dinner. I paid $40 to have half a plate of food and some soup, but at least I could eat again!!!

Sunday I stuck with an up and go for breakfast, was safe with that and could get it down with not much difficulty. I had a piece of sushi that didn't find it's way to the toilet bowl and at 3pm I had another piece of sushi. Dinner was a few maccas chips and some McChicken pattie - no bread!

Today I'm doing heaps better. My sweet friend Kat came round to work and bought me band-friendly mashed potato and rice for lunch and my liquids are going down alot easier now. So I think I'm doing heaps better than before. I can't do bread, but I can do potato and rice... tiny tiny amounts though. not sure about pasta - might give that a go tomorrow for lunch.

But do you want to know what topped off my weekend? I got on the scales thinking that I'd lost a couple of kilos for sure, and I was exactly the same as what I was on Friday... What the..? *argh* What is it going to take for me to lose this friggen weight??? :)

All the best,

LBG xx

P.S. A big Hooray to Cate who has finally joined the Lapband Club! Well done matey, glad to hear you're doing ok! :)

Fill #3 done!

I've now got 8.5mL in my 10mL band, and I can definitely feel the difference. It wasn't as tight as I thought it was going to be, but I'm gurgling again when I drink and it's taking me aaages to drink anything so something must of happened! On my doctors scales I was 105.2kg (and that's with clothes on during the middle of the day). I weighed myself yesterday morning and I was 106.2kg (without clothes), and today I'm down to 105.4kg - WooHoo! 800g down from yesterday! Yay! Also makes me think that my scales are weighing a bit heavier than the doctors scales, so technically I could be as low as 104kg (on the dr's scales). Also, I'm coming up to TTOM, where I always carry a bit of extra fluid so take another kg off that and I could be as low as 103.something... Still, I'm going by my scales at home (which I visit way too often!), and so if I'm 105.4kg, then that's what I am. :)

My doctor wasn't very happy that I'd only dropped a measily 200g since my last visit with him. He wanted to know EVERYTHING that I ate... so I told him... he said that he wants me to be able to eat only HALF a LC meal and be full... at the moment I'm eating a full one with room to spare. He also said that I was to come back in a week or so if I wasn't getting much restriction for yet another fill *eek*.

So all is well for the moment, my restriction is good again and hopefully it will stay there rather than disappearing like it did last week.

Much love,

LBG xx

P.S Thanks Libby and Kylie for your words of encouragement. Good luck with your fill Libby! Let me know how you get on with "learning to eat" again :)

Expecting too much?

Here is hoping that this fill is "third time lucky" for me as I am definitely eating more than I did last week. Just to give you an idea, last night for dinner I had:

1 chicken crumbed thing (about a cup size worth) - had chicken mournay surrounded by mashed potato and crumbed - quite tasty!
2 baby potatos
3 tbsp greens
2 scoops of ice cream (eaten about an hour later)

Was quite full after the meal, but I noticed that the feeling of fullness didn't stay around for very long. I also didn't get any feelings of food being "stuck" even though I was taking quite big bites and I can take tablets whole again - a sure sign that I am due for a fill!

On the one hand I'm looking forward to my fill, but on the other, I'm dreading going as I have to be weighed and I know my doctor is going to be soooooooo disappointed in me for not losing any more weight ... :\ I've only lost 3kg since the operation... which is pretty pathetic really. I was expecting more from myself, expecting more from the band. Perhaps I was expecting too much??

LBG xx

Not much to report today!

Had a fairly non-eventful weekend. Went to see a fellow banster for dinner on Friday night. We shared a couple of indian take away dishes, it was funny listening to her Gurgle... because now I know what I sound like to other people when I gurgle! Saturday and Sunday were relaxing, no problems with PB'ing except for a small episode with a ham and salad wrap where I ate too fast and burped up some lettuce... Yumm Yumm!

Looking forward to my next fill on Wednesday. Will report back when it's been done and let you know how I'm going. I put on 800g this week, not happy!

Big Hooray for Cate who is getting banded on Wednesday as well! Thanks for reading my blog and GOOD LUCK for the big day - let me know how you do! :)

LBG xx

Thank God it's Friday!

WooHoo! I always love Fridays. End of the week, beginning of the weekend with no work. Yay! Not much to report with the band. My portion sizes have gone up. I had a piece of fish, cup of pasta and 2 tbsp veges last night for dinner, which is too much... so looking forward to next Wednesday - Fill #3 day! My weight is also stabilized now, which I'm a bit peeved about... especially cos I've been exercising my butt off too. Oh well.

Catching up with a fellow bandit tonight. We're going to share a take away *lol*

Have a great weekend everyone!

LBG xx

Need Another Fill

Over the past couple of days I've been getting hungry on the portions I've been eating. Yesterday for dinner I had a rissole, 2 tbsp steamed veges and 1/2 cup pasta and I probably could have eaten more afterwards (which I did - 2 scoops ice cream). I was also extremely hungry during the day - I even had 2 slices of toast for afternoon tea that didn't even touch the sides! Which brings me to the conclusion that after my 2nd fill last week, my stomach became a bit irritated from the band inflating and became a little swollen. Over the past week, the swelling has gone down and the fill that is in the band isn't quite enough to provide the restriction that I need - so bring on Fill Number 3!!! I've also noticed that I am able to drink bigger gulps of liquids and don't feel the same gurgling effect that I felt last week. I don't think that my band is leaking because I still feel *some* restriction - but it's definitely less than last week!

Have a good day!

LBG xx

Getting hungry again?

I'm thinking that I possibly need another fill. I have been having my weet bix and bran every day for BF and today, only 1 hour after my breakfast, I am hungry again. I have had some water since breakfast, possibly it has "washed" away the food that was in the pouch? Last night I was able to eat 1 tablespoon steamed veges, half a rissole and half a bread roll and I was full and I didn't overeat yesterday. Will see how I go for the rest of the day.

Good luck to Heidi who is going in for her operation today!!!!!! How exciting. Fingers are firmly crossed for a speedy recovery!

Cheers,

LBG xx

How to describe a PB?

Bunny asked me to describe a PB (productive burp) which I can also describe as something getting stuck in the small opening at the bottom of my stomach pouch which my lap band has created. I'm not sure how big my opening is, but at the moment, I'm having to cut tablets up into 1/4 size to take, approx 5mm, so if that is any indication??? I am definitely relearning how to eat. I eat on a bread and butter plate with a teaspoon, if I eat anything bigger than my thumb nail, then I sometimes get a little uncomfortableness as it goes down. It's all a big learning curve... but I am loving the amount that I'm no eating, I still amaze myself every day!! But I digress...

For me, when something gets stuck and isn't moving through the band it's like a really deep pain just to the left of the middle of my boobs, but the feeling radiates throughout my oesophagus and into my throat. When the food passes through, I get instant relief, just like it never happened. But, when my band decides that the piece of food isn't going to go through, the pain will get more intense and radiate up my throat. It's not pain exactly, mostly uncomfortable. I can't talk, my eyes start to water and I produce more saliva which I can't physically swallow. The only solution for me is to try and get out whatever is stuck. Sometimes I'll just reject it automatically... through a quick PB, and a couple of times I've had to stick my fingers down my throat to help it along. Not nice I know, but the relief you get afterwards is fantastic!

I'm not sure if I've explained myself well. I must admit that I have read what a PB is supposed to feel like, and no-one did it justice... but let me tell you, you'll know when it happens!!!

As for my PB incident on Saturday, Cate asked me if it was possibly the McMuffin that could of started it off. I actually felt fine eating the McMuffin. I don't think I've got a problem with bread... I think it's the pasta that I had for lunch - it was really gluggy cos it was the tortellini with the filling and that's when the fun and games started. I think I'm good with bread, but I think that pasta isn't so good for me. With the cheeseburger in the afternoon, I think that because I'd had such a time with the pasta at lunch, my stomach had swollen a bit and wasn't letting anything through!

Thanks for reading everyone!

LBG xx

My day of PB'ing

Good morning fellow or soon-to-be bandsters. On Saturday, I had a terrible time with what seemed to be everything that I ate. It was pretty awful. I was in alot of pain and ended up giving up on eating by the end of the day. I started my day with a cup of tea and a berocca performance tablet. Then, as I was attending some lectures I stopped off at Macca's on the way to get some breakfast. Instead of my usualy 2 hashbrowns, 2 sausage McMuffins and large vanilla thickshake, I had 1 hashbrown and 1 mcmuffin. After finishing my hashbrown, I was full, so put my muffin away for later. I had my mcmuffin around 10:30am, which I ate slowly (took around 20 mins to eat). Felt fine.

Lunch was provided consisting of pasta, salad and pizza. I had 1 small spoonful of pasta, 1 slice of pizza and 1 small amount of salad. I only ate probably two pieces of pasta when I got the "pain" again, and so had to excuse myself to burp the contents of my stomach up. I then developed the hickups... which didn't stop for 2 hours!!!

Finally the hickups stopped and I was hungry ... because I'd hardly had any lunch. So I picked up a cheese burger on the way home. One bite and I was back to hickupping and PB'ing. Thank god I had a maccas bag in the car, because I PB'd into that while driving!!! NASTY! (imagine having to explain that to the cops!!!)

That was the end of food for me for the day. I think from all the PB'ing and hickupping my stomach was swollen and nothing was getting through, so I decided to just drink liquids for the rest of the day. Strange thing was, the next day I was back to normal with my food. I have no idea why my band was playing up so much on Saturday.

On the upside, I lost 500g this week! *lol*

Ok, that's it from me for today.

LBG xx

Gurgling and portion sizes

Ever since I had my second fill, everytime I drink something I gurgle. It's not a quite a burp, but it's loud enough for people to hear.. and if my mouth is open, it sounds quite strange. Perhaps one of the drawbacks of the band?? *lol*

Just to give you an idea of what foods and the amounts of foods I am eating at the moment, here is what I ate yesterday:

BF: 1 weet bix, 2 tsp bran, skim milk (eaten over 1 hour)
MT: nothing
L: Chicken Pasta Lean Cuisine (eaten over 1 hour)
AT: 1 tub fruit (eaten over 20 mins)
D: 1/4 schnitzel, 1/2 slice bread, 1/3 cup pesto pasta (soooooooooo full afterwards - even that was probably too much for me!)

I'm actually really happy with eating that amount, actually I think excited is more the word. I remember, pre-band that a LC meal would not even touch the sides and I'd be hungry an hour afterwards and dinner would consist of the whole schnitzel, 2 slices of bread and 2 cups of pasta with dessert on top of that. It's quite liberating for me that I'm not eating those size portions anymore. I LOVE my band! :)

Have a great weekend!

LBG xx

P.S. Hello to LIBBY who visited my blog. Thanks for leaving a comment, and I hope that your weight loss picks up again!!! :)
P.P.S. Thanks to anonymous who also left a message! Come back soon! :)

2nd Fill - what a difference!!

So I had my second fill yesterday. I had 2.5mL put in, so now I've got 7.5mL in a 10mL band = 3/4 restriction. My goodness, I can definitely feel the difference now.. it's GREAT! Even liquids, even though they are still going down, they're taking alot longer to go down. I'm also gurgling a bit more which my fiancee thinks is absolutely hilarious! I'm sitting here at the moment trying to finish 1 weet bix. I'm on my second mouthful, and I don't think I will be able to get much more down - FANTASTIC! *lol*

Also doing alot more chew chew chewing, and thank goodness I haven't had another PB episode! I am so stoked at my level of restriction now.. now the weight loss will well and truely begin (fingers are firmly crossed).

Good news also, between my first fill (last thursday 8/3) and my second fill (yesterday 14/3) I lost 1 kg, which I am really happy with because I'm (only) losing 500g a week at the moment. My Dr said that he's going to aim for a restriction that provides 1-1.5kg/week weight loss. 1.5kg a week loss every week would be like my dream come true!!!

Next fill is on 28/3... Yay!

Ok, that's it from me. Will update soon!

LBG xx

P.S Hello to Lauren who's left me a lovely comment on my blog! Good luck with setting that date for your surgery!!!

My first PB!

PB = Productive Burp, according to the Lap Band Yahoo Message Boards, and I had my first on last night. NOT PLEASANT! I ate some chinese food a little too quickly and before I knew it I had that chest pain again. Then I could feel the food come up, so I swallowed and it went back down.. then I felt the pain again, then the food came up so I swallowed again.. this game went on for about 5 minutes until finally my band had had enough and decided that this food was not going to stay down, so I regurgitated it into the sink! YUMMY! How much better did I feel afterwards though... soooooo much better.

It got me thinking though, what if that happens to me while I'm out and about... I had heard tales of PB'ing in public and I always though, that will never happen to me... but after last night's episode... it just might! *eek*

Moral of this story: Chew your Food, it really is important!

LBG xx

Restriction! Glorious Restriction!

The fill yesterday was nothing less than Fanshmabulous! I'll start from the beginning so you get an idea of what goes on.

I got to the hospital and went straight to the "band clinic" where I had some paperwork filled out. I had my wristband given to me and I was taken into a "waiting room" where there were 3 other lovely ladies all getting a fill too. We sat and chatted as each one of us was "called up". While we were waiting we all had our BPs measured. Mine was unusually high and even though I wasn't nervous, I must have been a little anxious. I got weighed - down 600g from my previous recorded weight, put some theatre "shoes" on and waited until my name was called. I was brought into a room that had an x-ray machine. I was greeted by my fantastic doctor and a nurse. My doctor asked me questions about how much I was currently eating. I think he was asking to assess how much fill I needed. After that, I was told to lie on the bed while they took an x-ray to find the port. Coolest thing was, that the x-ray showed my actual BAND too! So I could see that it was perfectly positioned and hadn't slipped like I'd been stressing over previously *lol*. So while my doctor was distracting me, he slipped a local anaesthetic in and it all went numb. Then he poked a massive needle in me with some saline. Really really weird feeling, and I actually felt the *pop* of the needle going into the port. He filled the band, and then took some out to make sure that the line hadn't kinked. He said that everything was fine and that the fill went perfectly. He took the needle out, bandaided me up and sent me back to the waiting room. I was made to drink 2 small cups of water - probably around 400mL before I was allowed to leave. It felt different when I drunk the water. I could feel the water "sitting" in my throat and oesophagus before "draining" through. No other way to describe it.

Now the restriction has begun. I was on fluids for the rest of the day, it took me 1.5 hours to drink a mug of strawberry milk!!! I've been conscious of my water intake as well so I've bought a bottle of water to work today.

I've had an up and go and a coffee today and I am feeling pleasantly full! It's great!

Next fill is only a week away, I'm sure that will be different still! I've got dinner plans tonight, so that will be interesting to see how I'll cope!

Enough from me, enjoy your weekend everyone! Thanks for reading!

LBG xx

First Fill Today!

Ok, so it really is officially my first fill today. *yay* I am looking forward to it HEAPS. Not too worried about the needles and stuff. One of my bandster friends (Kat) had a fill on Tuesday and she said she is having a few problems with dehydration and not being able to drink enough. So I've really got to be aware of my water intake and start taking a bottle of water with me wherever I go.

I had a bit of a revalation last night. My fiance took me out for dinner and we just happened to go to the same please he took me the night before my surgery. The night before my surgery I ate 2 spring rolls and a Laksa. I ate the whole thing, cleaned up the bowl! I was definitely full, but not too uncomfortable. Last night however, I ordered 1 spring roll and the laksa. I ate the spring roll and ate only 1/3 of my laksa. I was so impressed that even before a fill I still had some restriction. There was still a part of me that was disappointed that I physically couldn't eat. I know this is something I'm going to have to deal with again and again, so I'd better start getting used to it!

I weighed in this morning at 106.9kg. That was before I'd done a number 2 - so I'm probably a couple of hundred grams less now!!! *lol*! I thought I'd better weigh myself now so I get a good idea of my weight loss once I have some restriction. The scales have gone up a little since beginning of Feb, but I'm still down 1.7kg from my weight the day of the surgery. On the doctors scales I'm down 2.6kg but I'm going by my scales, cos I'm weighing at the same time and with no clothes on, so it's probably a little more accurate. But I digress..

Will post back later today with how my first fill went!

Love to all..

LBG xx

First Fill Tomorrow!!!

Got my fill date rebooked for tomorrow at 12:15pm. Thank god! I don't think I could have gone a whole other week without going for a fill. I was majorly disappointed on Monday, that combined with baring my soul at the psychologist session and coming up to TTOM I was very emotional and not a happy chappy. But now that I've managed to re-book and know that it's definite *touch wood* I am happier again! :)

My exercise is also getting alot better. I'm completely back to normal now. This week I've done:

Monday 5/3: Aqua Aerobics Class (45 mins)
Tuesday 6/3: Spin Class (45 mins) Upper body Weights (30 mins)
Wednesday 7/3: Spin Class (45 mins) Pilates Class (1 hour)
Thursday 8/3: Rest Day
Friday 9/3: Cardio (30 mins) Upper body weights (30 mins)
Saturday 10/3: Spin Class
Sunday 11/3: Cardio (30 mins) Upper body weights (30 mins)

*phew*

Ok, will post tomorrow when I've had my first fill! Wish me luck! :)

LBG xx

First Fill - Cancelled... :(

Yep, my doctor has the flu, so my fill today has been cancelled. I have to say I am really disappointed cos I was so looking forward to having my first fill today. *sigh*. My next appointment isn't until NEXT monday... so I've got to wait until then before I start getting any restriction. Dammit! I was so excited..

I had my psychologist appointment today, and I must admit, it was a bit of an eye-opening experience for me!

Ok, one very disappointed bandster... signing off..

LBG xx

First Fill Today!

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I am so excited today cos I'm having my first fill. *yay* This is the day I have been waiting for. I have been banded for 4 weeks and 3 days and I'm pretty much eating normally again (which is great... but not so great). I can definitely feel a little restriction but not exactly what I was expecting and so I have been a little disappointed that I haven't had much weight loss since the first two weeks after the op. I know that the first 4 weeks is about healing and that weight loss is secondary to that... but I'm still a little disappointed with myself.

So I think that is why today is so important and exciting. Today I will be getting 5mL put into my band. My first fill. I'm not worried at all about the pain of the needle or anything like that. I just want to have a fill so I can get on with losing weight!! *lol* Impatient buggar aren't I!! I'm looking forward to experiencing REAL restriction, to be able to leave food on my plate and not feel like I'm missing out on the eating experience!! I'm looking forward to watching the kg's drop off week after week!

I also have a psychologists appointment today! I'm looking forward to that as well, maybe she/he will uncover some deep dark secret as to why I'm fat. *lol* I think it's just because I love food, I love the physical act of eating, love feeling full, feeling contented, love flavours, love trying new things, love cooking... love EVERYTHING food! I think mentally I'm going to feel like I'm missing out when I physically can't eat food that I want to eat... that's going to be hard to me.. to look at the left over food on my plate, or the buffet table knowing I haven't tried everything at least once...

So, I'm sure some of you might be interested in what foods I'm eating now that I'm banded, 4 weeks in and with no fill:

BF: 1 wb, 1 tbs unprocessed bran, skim milk (fairly mushy/milky) and large coffee
MT: cup-a-soup or small packet of chips (25g) or fruit cup
L: 1 sandwich and fruit or 2 cups left overs from the night before
AT: This varies... depends on how much I eat for lunch
D: 1 cup rice/pasta, 3 tbs sauce and veges, 100g meat (before I would of had at leat 2 cups of rice/pasta) - or 2 slices of pizza (vegetarian is my fave), 2 pieces garlic bread (before I could eat 4-5 peices before the band plus half a long garlic bread!!!)
S: strawberry milk or icecream 1-2 scoops (depends, normally I'm not that hungry after dinner)

It will be very interesting to see how much I will be able to eat after I have my first fill. Can't wait!! Will post tomorrow and let you know how it all goes!!! :) On fluids for 24 hours after the fill too, so will get out my optifast again :)

Much Love ...

LBG xx

P.S. Good luck Shelley for your surgery at the end of the month! Keep in touch and let me know how you do! :)

Baaaaaad Experience with an egg sandwich!

So I was just about to hit the gym last night when I unwrapped my curried egg sandwich (left over from lunch). I was fairly hungry, so I took big bites. I swallowed, and it was then that I felt like the mouthful was stuck. I kept swallowing, but it was still there. It felt like I wanted to do a really big burp, or hiccup or something. I thought that I'd better have some water, so I took a gulp but I physically couldn't swallow it. So I was holding water in my mouth as a wave of nausea came over me. I thought, here we go, I'm going to throw up... *eek*. I just kept breathing and forced myself to swallow that water I had in my mouth. When I finally did, I still felt really sick... so I held out the plastic bag that I had my sandwich in... then I felt it: The relief of the food getting unstuck... It felt soooooooooo good! Obviously the water had really helped!!! The funniest thing about this was that I was in my car, in the car park when it happened, so I must have looked a right mess!!!

Moral of the story - Curried Egg sandwiches should be avoided!

LBG xx

First Fill Soon!!

I am so hanging out for my first fill. While I'm not eating nearly the same sized portions as I used to, I'm kinda feeling a little frustrated with how much I can eat at the moment. I must admit, I am definitely feeling a different kind of fullness, it's like I can feel food piling up if I get too full.

I've realised that this is definitely a mental challenge for me also. I went to a buffet dinner on the weekend, piled my plate with food, and ate only a quarter of it. I REALLY wanted to eat more, and as much as I tried, I got to the stage where one more mouthful would have been enough to make me feel sick and possibly throw up, yet in my mind I was sooooo disappointed that I couldn't eat anymore!! Strange eh? I'm also not chewing my food as well as I should, and really should get into that habit before I get my first (and subsequent) fills if I don't want to get anything stuck. It's almost like I don't have a band in at all!!!

I am back to my level of fitness before having the surgery, which I am really pleased about. last night I did a spin class and an aqua aerobics class back to back and felt great. Tonight I'm off to do a cardio session at the gym, Thursday I'm going to do a step class and Saturday will be another spin class.

I have a dietitian's appointment on Thursday, for more information on Soft food and transition eating (whatever that is!!). I'm not looking forward to jumping on the scales, as I don't think I would have lost anything since last visit. I know they say that the point of the first few weeks is for healing, but when you go to such an extreme to lose weight (like having surgery) you expect a bit more from yourself. By the end of march I would of had 3 fills... so hopefully I'll be losing weight steadily by then.

Happy losing everyone!!!

LBG xx

P.S A big hello to Veronica who stumbled across my blog and left a comment. Good luck for your first appointment next month!!! Keep in touch and let me know how you do!! :)

3 weeks Banded! Back to normal!

3 weeks ago I was lying in a hospital bed feeling sorry for myself. Now, I'm practically back to normal now. My scars are healing really nicely. You can hardly notice the small ones on my tummy. The large one near my bra line is the most noticeable, but its a nice pink colour and not an angry red colour anymore. I definitely know where my port is, and I find that I'm still having trouble sleeping on my tummy. I can feel it pulling and it really does hurt alot when I twist my body in bed to turn around. I understand that once the scar tissue builds up around the port area then it will not hurt as much, but at the moment that is the only thing that is still reminding me that I have a band wrapped around my stomach!!!

I'm not losing weight at the moment, which is a bit of a bummer. I'm looking forward to when i get my first (and subsequent fills) cos then the real restriction begins. I remember in the first few days after only being able to eat really small amounts and feeling ever so full afterwards, and that's the feeling I want again. I can't wait!!!

Ok, that's enough from me. Happy losing everyone!

LBG xx

P.S. Congratulations to KYLIE who has hit DOUBLE DIGITS. Well done!!! She started at 111.0kg and is now a svelt 99.0kg! Yay Kylie!

Puree Stage

So I started on the Puree'd diet stage of my diet and I have to say that this has been one of the most difficult stages. I do believe that I am fully healed and I have no more swelling. I also believe that I am one of these people who have been able to eat the same amount since before the lap band as I am constantly hungry on the portions that I have been told to have. I am pretty much eating normally now, and I do feel a tiny bit of restriction after a larger meal, but I definitely can handle more than half a cup of puree at each meal. I'm still worried that my band may have slipped and that's the reason why I can eat more at this stage. Only time will tell.

I have my second Dietitian appointment next week and then the first fill on Monday 5th March.

LBG xx

2 weeks Banded - How time flies!

My goodness, I can hardly believe that I had my operation two weeks ago. Time really does fly. I really hope the next couple of weeks fly as I'm not liking the puree'd stage very much. Always, so hungry... nothing seems to get me full!!!

I had my first dietitian appointment yesterday. She spoke about the transition from Fluids to Puree. How I should be having half cups of puree every 2 hours or so, 6 times a day. I am looking forward to having my first fill as I'm tired of feeling hungry! (as I thought the point of the band was to make me feel fuller quicker for longer!!)

Ok, so maybe it's lack of sustanence that's making me a bit cranky.. *lol* I really do love my band.

Just a quick shout out to Lizzie, Reney and Laura who seem to stop in at my blog for a read! Glad to hear that I'm "inspiring" and helping you guys with your own weight loss surgery. Hard to believe that me *Miss Fatso 2006* is inspiring people! Yay me! Thanks for reading my story!!

LBG xx

First Dietitian Appointment Today!

2pm I have my first dietitian appointment which I am really looking forward to. I have started having more solid foods, which is really norti, but I can't stick to liquids as I am getting far far too hungry. I have also increased my level of exercise and find that I need MORE food to keep my energy levels up. So I'm hoping to get a bit of advice from the dietitian today.

Food Diary
BF: 1 weet bix, 2 tsp bran and skim milk
MT: 1 small coffee & a small tub of yoghurt
L: Soup (quite thick) or a very small serve of pasta with lots of sauce and pureed meat sauce
AT: Yo-go or custard
D: small serve of soft pasta, sauce and pureed meat or soup

Definitely less than what I have been eating before the operation, but I'm feeling a little anxious that I'm able to eat this food so soon after the op. I mean, I'm still meant to be on fluids at the moment!! What if the band has slipped out of position because of the food I've been eating??

Take Care!

LBG xx

Back to Work

After a good 10 days of being a lazy sloth, it is now time for me to get back to working. I definitely had a good break, but I was itching to get back into it, as I was getting very bored at home!!! Still, it wasn't nice to return to 300+ e-mails and have a million things to deal with.

Because I'm sitting at a computer, the slouching isn't helping and my tummy is a little sore. Also, my wound sites, even though they are healing nicely, are getting really itchy!!!

I'm also finding that I'm not getting full at all on the diet I am on and am constantly hungry!! Only a few days left and I'll be on Puree'd foods.. *YAY*

LBG xx

Week 2 Post op

Today I am 8 days post op. I'm pretty much feeling 100% better, just a little more tired than before and my wound sites are a little sore. But other than that, I'm doing pretty good.

I had a chat with a few lap banders, some have had their lap band for a while, and my mind was put at ease about the whole slippage thing. Basically, I'll know if my band has slipped and it would be only because if I vomited or ate too much too quickly, which I haven't been doing, so all is good.

Next week I am back at work, so looking forward to getting my mind onto something else instead of food. Even though I've had a good week off, my mind has been occupied with food (for obvious reasons) and it's starting to drive me a little nuts!!!

Thanks to Kylie and Monika who left a comment on my blog yesterday. Great Advice!!

LBG xx

1 week Banded!

Can't believe it's already been a week since my operation. This time last week I was lying in recovery wondering where the hell I was. Ah, Happy times.

I've got to stop weighing myself every day *smacks hand* I got a bit down today because I put on 200g. But in total I've lost 2.9kg this week, so freakin YAY! I'm going to start weighing myself every Saturday morning and NOT during the week cos I'm starting to get obsessive.

I'm a little paranoid that my band may have slipped. It's not that I've "felt" anything, had any pain, but I was reading my post op instructions and it was saying that if I had anything solid or lots of liquid at the one time that the stitches could rupture leading to slippage! I'm now able to have a good 250mL over 5-10mins with no problems and I am able to have small amounts of mushy puree foods. My instructions are to have thin liquids ONLY for 2 weeks. I'm starting to stress about it.

Question: Has anyone with a lapband experienced good recovery within the first week so that they were able to move on to mushies??
Question: Why do doctors have different instructions for their post op food intake? Dr Roy says liquids for 2 weeks, mushies for 2 weeks.. yet Dr Hughes allows his patients to go straight onto mushies... ???

Any advice would be great. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

LBG xx

Day 6 Post Op

Feeling great today! I have just got back from the gym, after doing 30 mins non stop on the bike. I was even able to lie on my tummy last night (al biet for a little while), it felt so good to lie in another position other than my tummy.

I think my stomach is getting close to being completely back to normal as I'm finding that I am needing bigger portions to fill me up now. In saying that, I've now lost a total of -3.1kg since the operation. Yay!!!

I have my first dietitians appointment on 15th February at 2pm. I'm looking forward to getting some advice on food and the band. I'm sure I'll come away with loads of interesting information. I have started eating more pureed thicker foods though. I know I'm only supposed to be on liquids for the first 2 weeks, but I feel ready to move on to thicker foods. I'm taking things very slowly, only having the smallest mouthfulls and chewing very very well before swallowing.

I'm a bit paranoid that my band has slipped already, but I think that's just me being stupid *lol*

Take care!

LBG xx

Day 5 Post Op

Today I got back to the gym for a bit of a work out. I could only do 10 mins on the treadmill at 4.5km/hr and 20mins on the bike at Level 2. So 30 mins all up.. pretty good I think! I'll definitely go to the gym for the rest of the week now and see if I can improve each day.

The steri-strips on my wounds are starting to come off a little now, and the wounds are pretty much pain free. I can press on them with no pain! Have started eating things that are a little thicker now, Yoghurt, pureed baked beans and vege soup. Good news, I've done my first proper bowel movement today (like I'm sure you wanted to hear about that). !! My movements have been squishy and very gassy so far, but today was a "good" movement. *lol*

Really missing just eating in general. You know, chewing something solid, the feeling of fullness, crunchy foods, chewy bready foods etc. At the moment, I am still feeling full, but it's a different type of full. Weird!

Still can't lie on my tummy, but I have been managing to sleep on my side if my tummy is supported by a pillow. My fiancee asked me last night when we can "resume activities" in his words!! *lol* I said when I felt comfortable.. which he was happy with. hehehe

The bruises on my legs from where they jabbed me with Heparin are turning a nice shade of greeny yellow, which is very attractive let me tell you.

Finally, I jumped on the scales to see how I was doing 5 days post op and I am pleased to report that I am now -2.5kg down from Friday!!!

Weight Pre-Op: 107.7kg
Weight day 5 post-op: 105.2kg

Yay! Speak soon!

LBG xx