I am so sorry that haven’t been updating my blog very often.

I would love to tell you that I have been really busy. Which if I did, it would be mostly true. I have been planning my next New York trip, i went to Perth, I have been doing heaps of freelance work and i have been working basically full time.

But business aside I would still have 5 minutes to update my blog.

And I haven’t! So why.

Well I guess I have been ashamed of myself. And while I am finding this hard to type, I have now decided that that I need to stop being ashamed of myself.

Why am I ashamed?
- It has been a year and a half since I got my band and I have not completely reached my goal weight.
- I want to exercise more than I do and I want to more routein with my exercise.
- I still eat some food that I shouldn’t, more regularly than I should.

Reasons why I should not be ashamed?
- I have lost the major bulk of my weight and I should be proud of myself, well I am proud.
- I exercise much much much much more than I used to.
- I don’t eat ‘bad’ food nearly as much as I used to and I don’t eat huge portions, because I can’t.
- The fact that I am ashamed is keeping me from achieiveing the last part of my weight loss.

Alright so what do I need to do..
- Like most people I need to watch what I eat and eat food that power my body, so that I can exercise. I need to restrict myself to one day a week that I can have bad food.
- i need to celebrate my exercise. Be excited about obtaining regularity with exercise.

So there you have it.

So I got my band mid dec 2006. So my deadline is Dec 15th 2008, barring any excess skin that needs to be removed, which i could have done now, but i want to make sure i have lost all the weight i can, so that the skin doesn’t need to be removed again and again.

So my mantra is now… I am so proud of myself (and my lap band) and I can’t wait to see what what we can do together now!

My scales are on the blink so I can’t tell you about my fitness process. but I am going to buy a new set and a good tape measure for my measurements. So I will try and update you tomorrow.

Anyway i just wanted to shout out to Tara. I have been in your situation, and it really freaked me out. I went and got a barium swallow and everything was fine. I know it’s yuck and costs money, but as far as i know, it’s the only way.

Stressing out that the band has moved will just get to you… go ahead and do it.

Also, so Ginger perhaps you should do a fun walk in the name of your brother? It could be a nice way to celebrate his life?

I am so sorry, I am a bad blogger. But you know what it’s hard to find the time. Sounds insane. Mainly because I spend hours and hours wasting time, but I always forget to wast time on here…

But I have BIG News… So I thought I would share it. So if you are someone looking for some inspiration hopefully you are inspired by what I did on the weekend.

I live in Melbourne - Australia, anyway, so in Melbourne last weekend there was a 14.14 Km (that’s almost 9 miles) Fun run/ Walk….

So… Me the girl that was once Morbidly Obese…. welll I finished that damn thing!

Anyway I have another 25 kgs that I want to lose. I have decided to do this in the next 6 months.

So I will now be updating my profile every Friday… with my status… gotta keep myself in check.

Will have to log on tomorrow with my details… cos I can’t be bothered weighing myself now…

let’s take a trip together.

post your stats on the comments and we can work together!

X

I am sorry that it has been so long. I was working on my thesis and then celebrating doing so.

I am doing well. I went to the doctors and I had lost 2 kgs in a month. Which is slightly below what I would like, but I have been working out, which means i probably gained some muscles. Anyway, then I pulled a tummy muscle and got worried it was band related. I went straight on to liquids and ended up losing another two kgs… so four down.

Anyway i should answer a question - someone asked how much the out of pocket cost was. I have the highest level of health insur, with medibank private, so aside from that the surgery fee was $4,500.

yes i would recommend it. It doesn’t happen as quickley as Gastric By Pass, but I think it’s better for you. So far I have lost 32 kgs (it has been a year since the surgery) some people do better than that and some do worse. And that’s fine. your body will take it’s own time… but it’s really about learning the right way to live. the way to live that is good for you.

#1 reason why the Lap Band has changed my life… I am going to the USA next week. I will be flying for 27 hours without any concern for DVT, I will fit comfortably in the seat and when i arrive in NYC i will walk up and down that damn island… just cos i can.

then i will buy a million pieces of clothing, again just because i can…

i am off to hung out the washing on the line - yes that’s easier too.

speak to you in three weeks. .

will be back to the blog in 2 weeks.

sorry about the delay.

So my hypochondria reached a new high yesterday. I had some pains in my tummy or chest but I wasn’t sure which. I rang the bariatric centre who said it was best to just come down. And check everything out.

I do have to say that the bariatric centre and the Avenue hospital were fantastic. If you live in Melbourne and your thinking about getting a Lap Band - go there. The postoperative support is absolutely fantastic.

So I went down there and explained that I have a pain, but since I had the operation, I have had a fear of my band slipping.

My doctor thought it was best that I eased my fears and double-checked that everything is fine by getting an X-ray.

The X-ray is called a Barium Swallow / Meal. Which means that you drink this chalkie tasting liquid and they have a look at what happens when you swallow through an X-ray. I have had one before - a few hours after surgery. It was interesting being in the same room in a completely different state.

So I got the X ray and went back to the Bariatric centre (about four doors away) and saw the doctor again.

She had a look and said that everything is fine and that pretty much all of it seemed to be in my head. Otherwise maybe I had some chest pain, but I would be silly to not mention that the pain all but disappeared after she said my band was fine… in my head I think.

So I am going on record now saying that because I have ruled out pretty much all of my health fears it’s time to announce that I am a hypochondria addict … no more! I will no longer obsess over these things anymore… time to get on with my life.

So I am fine, lap band’s fine and so is every other part I have had tested…

For the past three weeks I have been absolutely convinced that I am dying. This is probably because my cat died and I guess I sort of wanted to be with him… not like suicidal thoughts… just thoughts.

Then for the past week I have been convinced that I am dying of skin cancer. For the first few days I thought it was skin cancer as I had some moles that started looking funny. Then a few days later it was stomach cancer. Mainly because when you have a lap band you are aware of stomach. So in my insane state I concentrated on it.

So i booked a doctors appointment for this morning.

However I went to bed and woke up and things became very clear… all of my concerns were realised when i woke up with symptematic realisations… it isn’t cancer…..not heart disease… not a stroke…

IT WAS A COLD!

Anyway so i went to the doctor and the moles are fine… just a broken heart i guess and the sniffles.

Weigh in is not for two weeks - I am really hoping to have lost 3 kgs.

So since the doctors I have gone about convincing myself that my band is slipping. It’s realy not. I mostly know that… because i test the theory and it’s not like I can eat more…

I guess my brain really wants to believe that billy wasn’t the only one who was sick…

i feel like there is a giant hole in my heart and i really can’t see anything healing it.

i used to have a network set up that helped me deal with things. but you get older, you make mistakes and you do things you regret.

Did i do something bad. I just don’t understand why he had to die. What did I do to the world to have this happen. I feel so guilty. Pooor billy. he was so wonderful.

i miss you billy. i love you billy

www.ilovedmypet.com/billybooboo

Anyway… my lap band has proved to be quite useful for stress and tears.. I used to overeat when I was sad. I would hole myself up with food.. food made me feel better. but instead of that.. this time I went off my food. I still ate enough to survive and all that, but there was no snacking. there was no late night coke cans… all good.

So two days after billy died, i went to the doctors and I had lost 4.5 kgs that month. Some of if would have been lost before billy died but overall it was a great docs visit.

So I am going well. I do however need to get back into exercise so I am off now to make an exercise plan.. has anyone got any tips?

Before I go I have noticed that some people have been getting to my website by searching things like “meal plan for lap bands”. Just a quick note on that.

1. Once you are done with the mushie stage and all of that, you should eat wholesome food that makes you feel good. Basically you can eat fatty/sugary foods. but you can’t eat enough of them to sustain your body. So you will feel much better eating some vegies or fruit.

2. Never eat foods that make you get a “productive burp” (burp that brings your food back). It will just upset you. You will need to find foods that do this because it’s different for everyone. For me it’s only really bread (more than a slice), rice and some stir frys. But for you it might be beans… who knows…

3. NEVER NEVER NEVER drink with food. It washes food through the food and you won’t loose weight.

4. I have found that a great breakfast is yogurt, frozen fruit and musli - just a little of each. A great lunch, two Ryvita’s with ham cheese or tomato (although the more you put on the ryvita the more chance you will have of only eating one of them). For dinner I just have what everyone else is having but a small ammount of.

Does anyone have any questions about lap bands?

c ya