A Natural High

Hello! :)

Do you want to hear something good for a change?

I am feeling high. The reason is that my surgeon came to see me today. He flew in and out of London just for me. Isn't that nice of him? He does care, after all! :)

Of course it's taken a very public email to make him act, but I was beyond myself with anger at the continuing PBs and lack of weight loss.

We had the chance to discuss my progress and he agreed that by now I should have lost about 30 kgs, not just 20. He said that some people do not do well with the gastric band. Some constitutions just have a bad reaction to it. And about 15% of the patients do not have a successful progress. Success, according to my surgeon, is losing 65-75% of your excess body weight in the first year. In my case that would be a minimum of 65 kgs. (Which only leaves me with 45 kgs to lose in the next 6 months if I am stubborn enough. LOL. Now let's see... 45 kgs / 6 = 7.5 kgs per month. Hmm.)

We talked about gastric by-pass (biliopancreatic by-pass). I am still not convinced that is the best way forward as it is drastic, it does affect your body in the sense that you no longer take the vitamins and minerals from your food naturally but have to rely on taking supplements for the rest of your life and of course hair loss is almost guaranteed with a by-pass.

I want to give the band another chance. I want to understand it better and make it work for me. I love a good challenge!

My theory is this: the band was too tight, causing many episodes of PB. Out of fear of malnutrition, I would eat after a PB, but not necessarily the best foods for me, only foods that were guaranteed to go down without problem. So this could be the reason I was not losing weight - or rather, losing it and putting it back on. Now that the surgeon has loosened the band a bit (he removed 0.5 ml), I should be able to eat fruit easier as well as meat, poultry or fish. I want to eat more raw salads, too, as I enjoy the texture and taste. Eating properly should kickstart my metabolism again. Well, at least I can try my theory out, can't I?

Also from today I started using the pedometer again. Today I made 4000 steps (311 calories) and that was mainly indoors and in the supermarket. I should aim to burn 750 calories a day but goodness me, that sounds an impossible feat! What is that? Nearly 10,000 steps?

My surgeon suggested I go on Xenical for 3 months to help myself but I still recall the oily patches I used to leave everywhere and the number of knickers that were beyond salvation. He also suggested I take a walk everyday (groan, groan! me? walk?) I guess I could do that by going to the shops. However, too much exercise is bad for my knees and hips and I must stop when I feel tired - doctor's orders! But surely there is a golden mean. I just have to find what it is that will work for me.

Will you join me with your best wishes for success? I really need this, not for beauty or anything vain, but to be able to walk easily and play with my little girl and be there for her.

Thank you doctor, thank you forum members who put up with me, thank you readers. :)