Bebrie

Yes, it was so hard to not cheat. But hang in there as it gets easier. Today is my last day of the pre-op diet - getting banded tomorrow (yea!) and even last night I had to finally go to bed because I had so many cravings. Use this time to your advantage. For example, I never thought I was an emotional eater and during my pre-op diet I realized that food provides me comfort. I never really understood this and now I will look for other ways to find comfort. I rarely ever let people comfort me because I am so "strong". Now I know that I either have to find other ways to comfort myself or let my family be the ones to comfort me when I need it. I am so thankful that I now understand this. I have been trying for years to find out why I eat.
There were also times where I wanted to give up, especially since my pre-op diet was over Christmas and New Years. I have 3 other friends who went through lapband surgery over 1 year ago and neither of them regret their decision, so this kept my eye on the prize. Good luck on the 13th!

HI everyone! Well, I did it! Had my surgery yesterday! I was starting to get really nervous the day before the surgery. I kept asking myself, "is this really what I want to do"? I happened to stumble on some YouTube videos of people who have documented their lap band journey and I became so encouraged and excited! Check out BandedWendy on Youtube - she documented from her pre-op diet to reaching and maintaining her weight. There were lots of others on there who also shared their stories and gave excellent tips and advice. I think I will make this a habit to review these videos throughout my journey. I finally feel like I can do this and finally lose and keep the weight off.
So, you probably want to know how the surgery went. I had to go into the centre 1 hour prior to my surgery where they weighed me, took my vitals, had me change into a gown, and started an IV. Everybody was so excellent and everything happened so fast that I didn't have a lot of time to be scared or anxious. They had me walk to the surgery room and as soon as I walked in there I started to panic. They had me lay on the bed and within seconds they told me that they were going to give me some oxygen and I remember trying to stay awake as long as possible so that there was no mistake that I was really out. lol...I remember thinking that I am not going to fall asleep and the next thing I remember I was in the recovery room. The surgery couldn't have went better in my opinion. There was very little time to start talking myself out of it or build up any further fear - it was quick and best of all no pain what so ever. But as eoon as I woke up, I felt burning on my stomach and was in pain. All I can tell you is the the pain was bearable and it got better as time passed and even today I went out shopping a bit. I can't believe how quickly I am healing! I have been through the hardest part and am excited to start working on my health. Something BandedWendy shared on one of her videos was that the band only looks after 40% of the weight loss and you must look after the other 60% through good choices and exercise. I am ready to do this and want to encourage other to continue on their journey - we can do this and finally end our obesity!

Hello fellow January Banders!!
Looks like I might be one of the first ones in this group to become banded as my date of surgery is January 4th!! Yikes!!! I now only have 4 days left of my pre-op diet left and just wanted to tell you guys that it does get easier as time goes by. I am on the 2 week Protein Shake diet for pre-op and it was very hard over Christmas. It was actually unbearable. What was the hardest for me is knowing that I couldn't eat like I used to over Christmas. Even though I know I can still enjoy alot of the same foods, the thought of losing that control of over how much I could eat really scared me and opened my eyes to maybe why I am overweight. I never thought I was an emotional eater but there must be something there that food does for me - I think it just provides so much comfort. But, as much comfort as it has provided it has provided far more discomfort for me and this is what I need to remember. If you ever feel like cheating while on the pre-op I encourage you to come back to this forum as it really helped me to stay on track. Also, I had several headaches over the first week days and was really tired. There were also lots of days that I just wanted to give up surgery just so i could eat and try to do it on my own. But again, I guess this is why I am here. I always gave up just to give into the temptation. Good luck everyone and if you need any encouragement don't hesitate to contact me!!!

Hello fellow January Banders!!
Looks like I might be one of the first ones in this group to become banded as my date of surgery is January 4th!! Yikes!!! I now only have 4 days left of my pre-op diet left and just wanted to tell you guys that it does get easier as time goes by. I am on the 2 week Protein Shake diet for pre-op and it was very hard over Christmas. It was actually unbearable. What was the hardest for me is knowing that I couldn't eat like I used to over Christmas. Even though I know I can still enjoy alot of the same foods, the thought of losing that control of over how much I could eat really scared me and opened my eyes to maybe why I am overweight. I never thought I was an emotional eater but there must be something there that food does for me - I think it just provides so much comfort. But, as much comfort as it has provided it has provided far more discomfort for me and this is what I need to remember. If you ever feel like cheating while on the pre-op I encourage you to come back to this forum as it really helped me to stay on track. Also, I had several headaches over the first week days and was really tired. There were also lots of days that I just wanted to give up surgery just so i could eat and try to do it on my own. But again, I guess this is why I am here. I always gave up just to give into the temptation. Good luck everyone and if you need any encouragement don't hesitate to contact me!!!