Here’s the thing. I loved my time of wearing Invisalign only at night. Loved it. I didn’t miss them one bit in the day, and would trot happily from my computer to the cookie jar and back without a single thought about brushing or flossing or flouride mouthwashes.
The only problem was that I got just a little too friendly with the cookie jar. Whilst in my last post I called this extra weight that I’m currently humping around my “Christmas weight” the truth is that I started putting a bit extra on at Christmas and then piled a WHOLE lot more on during my break from Invisalign. Nine pounds extra to be exact, and a nine pounds that I need to lose if I want to get my jeans back on before winter is over. (Australian winter is June, July and August)
The good news is that now I am back in invisalign and on the Invisalign diet that that entails I have a feeling that that weight will come off reasonably quickly. The bad news is that the reason I think that is because I am starving. There hasn’t been a moment in the last week since I got these new trays that I haven’t been sat at my desk, watching the clock and counting the hours until my next meal.
There was a point last year when my mum came over to visit from the UK and I remember her declaring that I looked thin and that I had lost loads of weight. At the time I thought it was because of some medication I had been taking for my crohns disease, it didn’t occur to me until I stopped wearing the Invisalign that it was my braces that were keeping my weight down.
In past years I have tried Atkins, CSIRO, low GI; you name a diet, I’ve tried it. What I hadn’t tried before last year was the Invisalign diet. The funny thing is, that long term it’s turned out to be the most effective one of all of them. (Until you stop wearing them and make friends with the cookie jar!)
In three months my brother is getting married in the UK and every relative and friend that I have known since childhood will be there. Vain though it is, I would really like it if I could be both slim(ish) and have great teeth for that day. Let’s hope Invisalign can deliver on both fronts!
Other than the near starvation, the aligners aren’t giving me too many problems. The lower ones are very hard to get in and out because of the area with the gap and the wonky tooth. (see pic below)
I am terrified of breaking my trays again so I now have to remove the lower ones very gingerly. I was contemplating an aligner hook, but as they aren’t readily available in Australia I’m not sure whether it is worth actually importing one all the way from the US. My fingernails are capable of doing the job, it just takes a little while.
Other than that everything is going well. I keep forgetting to take my little washbag with toothbrush, paste and case out with me, but that just means I can’t eat whilst I’m out so is almost certainly a good thing.
I also keep forgetting to put them back in quickly enough after eating- something I need to improve upon if I am to keep up the 22 hours a day wear. I expected difficulties with Invisalign – all of the cleaning and brushing and having to remove them to eat. Whilst all of those have actually turned out to be easier than anticipated it is the compliance that has been the hardest thing. For people thinking about Invisalign that is probably the thing that you should consider. I would never be put off by fear of pain or how they look- I haven’t found these things to be issues at all. I would, however, say to think very carefully before getting Invisalign if you don’t trust yourself to wear them properly, because although that isn’t such a problem at the beginning, it gets harder and harder to discipline yourself as time goes on. As the potential world record holder for the most aligners ever that is something I am really struggling with.
Still, the Invisalign Diet-it’s worth it for great teeth and a skinny butt, right?!
When I got my first set of aligners last week my ortho said to me “A lot of people lose weight while they’re on Invisalign.” I’m looking forward to it. hahaha~ Actually I’m not the type to sit down and eat meals. I generally just snack whenever I get hungry. Now this isn’t a problem when I’m at home since it’s easy to brush my teeth at home but it’s definitely going to be a struggle when I go out. I love getting cheap street food while I’m out and constantly having tons of small snacks throughout the day. It’ll be interesting to see how my eating habits change during treatment and if they stay changed when I’m done.
Maria- That would be great, thank you. Please let me know the address of your blog- I’d love to read it.
Bec- that is a lot of attachments, but it does get easier honestly! I seem to be managing mine at the moment, but when I change to my next set I may just give the crochet hook a go.
Glad to hear that you have found the weight loss easy kaz. I agree that it works like a dream, the only problem is that I’m so hungry! I can’t remember being this hungry the first time around so I hope I get used to it soon….
Thanks to you all for reading.
I totally agree that the Invisalign diet is better than any other. My own weight loss has seemed effortless as I don’t feel like I’m eating any less, but foregoing all those little snacks because of the cleanup hassle must be what has made the difference. I can’t count the number of times in the last 12 months I have said that I can’t be bothered eating! Amber is right, Invisalign should include a “low cal” tray as a permanent optional extra.
Bec – It will get easier. My attachments have been there from day one so I have no comparison of with and without and I only have 5 uppers and 4 lowers. I did however find them very scratchy at first but over time things settled and I hardly notice them now. I’m sure that they do make removal more difficult but after a day or so of each new tray I quickly developed a technique to flick the tray off. I tried a crochet hook a couple of times but found my finger nails much easier (my nails are pretty strong but I did break one right down to the quick on my first day – ouch!).
Hi!
I’m creating my own blog about my own invisalign adventure.
I really enjoyed reading yours and I was wondering if I could put a link to it in mine to share it with other people.
Thanks.
Oh, I hear you! My weight has been roughly the same all of my life, and Invisalign is literally the only thing that’s ever made me lose weight – I have no idea why they don’t market it as a diet aid, they could probably make a killing 🙂
I’m currently on vacation in the US, and so far it’s been the hardest time of all in terms of the compliance thing. Like you, I have no problems at all with how it looks, etc, but we’re eating out all the time and all of that brushing/flossing in public restrooms has been a little hard to manage. I think I’ve done pretty well, all things considered, but it’s made me look forward to the end of the treatment even more!
Hi, I love reading about your experiences.
I’ve just started recently and am on my third set of aligners (total 49 for lower and 39 for upper). Yesterday I had attachements on for the first time and my ortho tells me I have a LOT of them. Today I counted 9 for the upper and 12 for the lower arch. What are your experiences with attachments? This morning it took me 20 mins to remove my aligners and 10 minutes tonight.
BTW, I notice you mentioned aligner hooks – my ortho gave me a crochet needle (1.5mm size) and that’s what I’m using to help remove my aligners. they seem to work so maybe you should give that a go.
Anyway, I am really hoping that someone can tell me that the aligners will get easier to remove in time because my mouth hurts from all the tugging and pulling.