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!)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
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
LBG xx
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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..
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..
Saturday, November 3, 2007
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
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
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, October 26, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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
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
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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
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
Monday, October 8, 2007
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
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
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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 :)
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 :)
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