Another monday another weigh in

Well its Monday again and I got on my scales first thing and I am now ...... 97.9kg's that's another good loss for the week 1.1kg's so Im really pleased to see the scales showing lower numbers so far I have lost 5.1kgs in 3 weeks.

Last week was a interesting week the family and I all have the flue which hasn't been nice but it still has not stopped me from my daily walks... I also now do not fit into 3 pairs of my track pants they are so big on me that they fall off and the black pants I wore in the photo at 103kgs now fall off me also so I now need to sort out my clothing and get rid of them because I am not going back.

Well I am hoping for a quiet week this week again so I can continue on my weight loss and I need to get my website done ( my cartoon doll site). well the pic is my new hair cut and color its so easy to look after !

Forgot to add that I measured my self for the first time to see the inch's come off....

waist 41 inch's

Hips 46 inch's

Chest 44.3 inch's

What is the lap-band

So you may be asking your self what is the lap-band well I thought since this is whats assisted me in loosing the weight that I should tell you about it.

The Adjustable Gastric Lap-Band is a restrictive operation where a small pouch is formed at the top of your stomach with the gastric band, connected to the band is your port where saline can be put into the band which causes the band to tighten which slows down the amount of food you can fit into your stomach.

This means you loose weight by restricting the amount of food you can fit in and makes you feel fuller longer. The other great thing is the band is done by key hole surgery so its less evasive than other weight loss operations also means you get back to normal quicker.

The lap band can also be removed if you wish and your stomach will go back to its normal size but You do not need to have the band removed instead you can have the saline removed from the band which allows you to fit more in and if you start putting weight back on you can have more put in which helps you keep the weight off in the long run.

The band is Available in all Australian States and is usually covered with private health cover if you have had it in 12 months or more.... The weight you loose will depend on you and the choices you make.... the band is no easy way out and it will only work if you are willing to put the hard work in and eat healthy and keep active.

I hope this helps those that are looking at having the lap band done there is allot of web sites out there that give information but i just thought a little write up may assist others in knowing what the lap-band is and why its such a positive approach to weight loss if you feel you have tried every thing else and failed. The diagram on the left is what the band looks like when its on a person.

Went and got a new do

Well on Tuesday I went to collonades to get my new scales and got some fat/water/weight ones for $39.95 at Big W, I dont mind them though they are 1kg heavier than the chemist ones. While out I decided to get my hair cut and its short again but it looks much better and very slimming to my face I will get a photo taken to show you all.

On Sunday We are getting Joshua dedicated at my parents church and after we are going to try and get that photo with joel and Joshy and I and hopefully joel will behave.... if that is possible he is just full of beans ( as you can see from the photo).

Well its 5am and freezing cold so I might go hop back into bed , I have a busy day today a appointment with centrelink and then food shopping which I have not done in 2 weeks, when your loosing weight I find that we dont need to buy as much.

That photo and other thoughts

Well here is that photo I promised as I said he was not happy at all what can I say he had a bad day..... he seems to be coming down with the cold and has 3 more teeth coming through my poor baby boy it was a nice try though.

I thought I would mention that this blog is very helpful I have always planned to have one and hell if no one reads it so be it at least Its where I can keep up with my progress and see the changes in my self and if others read it great.

I feel really positive about reaching my goal weight by October the 28th which is my 30th birthday I really want to be looking trim for my birthday but even if I'm half way there by my birthday I will still fill very proud of what I have been able to achieve.

well bed time for me night night and sweet dreams.

Week 2 weigh in day

Another week has gone and well yes time to weigh my self but I never got around to getting those scales so I did go on the chemist ones again and I weigh 98kgs I'm finally under 100kgs ( does a little dance).

Today my Dad who is a photographer took some photo's of me and my boys but Joel would not behave he screamed the house down I will post that photo I promise its very um funny.

Other than that I feel very good i am now fitting into size 18's not the plus sized 18's the real store bought ones! I am very happy. I had expected the weight to come of faster since I have given up on icecream, icedcoffee, chocolate but i have still lost allot of weight.

Oh and tomorrow I am off to get those new scales ! and the photo is from the photo shoot today i cannot believe how different I look from the other photo's. I also posted a full bodied photo and in 2 weeks I do look smaller just a tiny bit but still smaller.

Week 1 since having my fill

The first week after my fill went farely well I have not wanted to eat much at all in fact I have not been able to handle solids and when I tried I was very sick, I am not used to the restriction.

I have walked every day and tried to keep to Nick's eating plan but had soups instead of the solids.... I did find my reflux has gotten worse and the tablets my doctor gave me Nexium have not helped so I went and got some liquid zantac which has helped.

I have also found I am so tired I am having a hard time keeping awake or getting up even so I started taking centrum and its working slowly but working I am feeling more awake again.

I also realized my scales lie...... On my scales I weighed 95kgs but on my parents I weighed 101kgs and on the scales at the chemist I weighed 101kgs also so I am going to toss my scales out and get some new ones...... so I will put down that I am 101kgs this week.

I also found another lovely photo this time it is me when I was 15 years old I never realized how big I looked back then.

Time for a fresh start

Though I can not turn back time I have not always been great with the band I have found since having Joshua that I wanted to get to my Goal weight of 75kg's and so there is no time like the present so I phoned Dr J Toouli.

I went and saw him on the 6th of May 2008 after not seeing him for 5 years he didn't recognize me and said he was so happy with the weight loss and that I should be proud. I got on his scales and I weighed 103 kg's still not under 100 kg's but close. He filled up my band and was surprised that I had only ever had 1 other fill in the whole 7 years and that it looked as if it had been done yesterday. He said he would see me in 2 months time. I also saw my dietitian Nick Wray for a recap and I did admit that my addiction had been farmers union iced coffee and that is why I may of not lost more weight and he told me that in 1 ltr of farmers union iced coffee there was 16g of fat and 800 cal and in a day I should only have 1000 cal so ouch ! no wonder I have been having a hard time with the weight again.

I also found this old pic taken of me in 1999 before my asthma attack I weighed 165kgs when this photo was taken ouch ! but I still love that photo and think I didn't look to bad.

Having children after being Banded

Sometimes people dream of being doctors, movie stars or models but I always wanted children and for me it was a important thing in life.

In 2004 after getting married we decided to start our family and so I had my implant removed and within 4 months I found out i was pregnant. The pregnancy was perfect and we were both so happy I was 16 weeks along when i woke one morning to find I was bleeding. Sadly on the 18th of October 2004 I suffered my first miscarriage, it was such a painful experience that just broke my heart and it took me a long time to get over it.

In 2005 I fell pregnant again but again it ended in a miscarriage but they had done 4 ultrasounds and had noticed that I had 5cm cysts on my ovaries and many more small ones both sides. I went searching to find out why I had both miscarriages but the doctors said they could not tell me anything unless I had 3 and for me that was not a option.

I went to visit the doctor that had delivered me Dr Barry Shultz who knew my family history he took blood tests noticed the cysts and told me I had "PCOS" I had never heard of it before , he put me on diaformin and on a low GI eating plan and again within 4 months I fell pregnant again.I weighed 115kgs at the time of falling pregnant and though it went well until 29 weeks he moved up and i couldn't handle it and had another asthma attack, this time I was in iccu over 9 days and in the ward 4 weeks, I also had a blood transfusion due to low iron but I soon got better. I came out of hospital weighing 97kgs due to being sick.

On the 23rd of Dec 2006 I gave birth to Joel Barry Cotter he was such a blessing and so wanted I could not of wished for a better Christmas present as he was. I decided to breastfeed and was doing farelly well with the help of tablets but my weight started to go on again I soon had gone back up to 120kgs. One day while out shopping I started to feel very sick and though my husband and I had not planned another baby so soon and I was not on diaformin this time I found out I was pregnant again. This pregnancy went so well and the funny thing is all I wanted was cucumber and lettuce the whole time .

On the 3rd of January I went shopping with my husband , adien and joel and while my hubby went and got lunch i sat and waited I had just sat down when I felt a gush and my waters broke but I was only 33 weeks pregnant. I was taken to flinders medical centre where they kept me in and gave me needles to develop my babies lungs then on Jan 7th I was induced. I gave birth to Joshua James Cotter in the evening he weighed 2.222kgs and let out a huge scream he even breast fed straight away which they said was rare for a baby that age. He stayed in the neonatal ward for 3 weeks and those weeks were the hardest weeks for me but he is my little miracle and soon came home. Again I breastfed him but it was difficult to travel 2 hours by bus and then 2 hours home then pumping every 4 hours I just couldn't keep up even with tablets my milk just didn't satisfy him.

I am so thankful for the band I often wonder if I didn't have the band would I of had the chance to have children at the size I was I honestly do not think I would of. So with the Lap-Band and diaformin I was given such a wonderful gift my 2 beautiful sons who I love so much.

Meeting my prince charming

In 2001 , 3 months after having my Lap-band operation I was playing a online game called Everquest when I met a guy by the name of Tanvaras well that was his characters name.... at first i didn't like him much and I think the feeling was mutual but as I sat playing Tamica my own character I got to know him better.

Well one evening my mouth got the better of me and I said as a joke " One day you are going to marry me" I was so ashamed after and well what should I expect he told me to " get lost" but in more colorful aussie slang and well that would of been the end of that but we started chatting and.....

In September 2001 Tanvaras who's real name is Trent came to visit me in South Australia he was originally from NSW and well he never went home.I weighed at least 130kgs by this stage and he had seen photos of before when I wasn't banded and well he didn't judge me for my looks he said " he liked that I spoke my mind" and so I guess love works in weird ways at times because he sort of proposed in 2003 and what could I say..... I had fell deeply in love with this man.

On March the 6th 2004 we were married in a beautiful garden my son Adien walked me down the garden path with my father and we had my family and my close friends with me and it was a beautiful day. I wore a beautiful white wedding dress that Mum and I got off ebay from America for $170.00 dollers and I honestly felt like a princess for a day. We were taken by Limo to hyatt regency for our reception and at 12 we headed off to the hotel we had booked it well in advance 6 months in fact but they double booked us !!!! so at 12 at night Trent and I found another hotel to stay at for the weekend.... they treated us so well and even set up a romantic dinner with candles, heart chocolates and a special movie , so what nearly turned into a bad ending to a lovely day really turned out better than expected.

Once apon a time

Ok so this life of mine is no fairytale when not yet any way, My name is Lisa Cotter I am 29 and married with 3 beautiful sons Adien 11, Joel 15 months and Joshua 5 months old and I have a obesity problem.

Ok well I did have a obesity problem but after a near fatal asthma attack in 1999 I was told about the Lap-Band. I weighed 165kgs at the time and though it took me until 2000 to go and see Dr J Toouli I had decided long ago to do something. I met with Dr Toouli from Flinders private hospital here in Adelaide and then Nick Wray a dietitian and decided to go ahead with the operation.

2 days before easter 2001 I had my operation weighing 155kg's I was scared and what made it worst was a lady in the bed next to mine was having hers removed and telling me all the bad things.... I remember at 2 pm being taken down to the operation area to wait and seeing a women being wheeled out screaming well I so did not want to stay in that room I wanted to get up and run but the door was locked.... so i did my nervous giggle and went ahead with it and well I am glad I did.

My hope is that My blog will keep me motivated to loose the last of the weight and reach my goal of 75kgs and that it may also help others or keep you amused just maybe..... so if I have not scared you away already then keep reading.