Another thread got me to thinking last night about how people view the band. Their posts seem to indicate (but I could be wrong) that they believe the band does the work...not the person. Just insert and voila! instant willpower and self-control. I have to admit that as much as I researched this band and went into this with eyes wide open, there was still a small part of me that must have looked at this in the same way. I kept waiting for restriction figuring that once I had *it*, all my problems were over and I was on the highway to skinnyville.

A little over a week ago I reached restriction and, over the past week, any delusions I may have had about the band doing the work? Well, they're gone. The band is just a tool. If I don't take small bites and chew slowly, I will get stuck. It tells me when I'm 'full' and if I'm stupid enough to take another bite, it will remind me with pain that I'm 'full'. Someone else may choose Jenny Craig as a tool. The meal is already measured and weighed and when they get to the end of that meal, it is their 'reminder' that they are done.

Either of us can keep on eating because (yes I was deliberately testing the limits of my band) if I drink Water with my meal, chew well and slowly and take small bites, well I can wash that meal right on through my band and keep eating...if I choose.

I already know that Cookies don't care if you have restriction or even if you're so tight you can't eat anything but Protein shakes. I can eat sweets nonstop...if I choose.

I can graze all day...if I choose.

In other words...the band is just a tool...just like Jenny Craig, WW, a fitness membership or anything else that we find useful in our battle with our weight. Each of us has to find the right tool, but it's still up to us to find the self-control, motivation and will power to use that tool...or tools...properly.

As we all know, the band does not work for everyone. You have to want it to work.

Kind of reminds me of those diet ads on tv that say if you take this little pill 3 times a day you can lose 5 pounds in a week. Then scrolling across the screen in smaller print it says "when combined with a 1000 calorie diet and exercise".

The band should come with that same warning, only in BIG print. "Get a band and you can lose this excess weight...*IF* you follow all of the rules." In other words, use the tool properly or it's just a useless piece of plastic.

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This is such a great post!

I recently came out as a bandster to some extended family on New Year's Eve, and that is exactly how I tried to explain it to them.

The quantity of food that I can consume at one time is restricted. However, I can almost always keep down Cookies and ice cream and an old favorite from the pre band days frappuccinos.

I am RESPONSIBLE for the quality of food that I consume

I am RESPONSIBLE for going to the gym 5 nights a week

I am RESPONSIBLE for getting myself back into the right mindset after losing my fill and regaining 40 lbs (I’ve since lost them again)

I am RESPONSIBLE for being able to differentiate between actual hunger and head hunger

Most importantly I’ve learned that this is a marathon and not a sprint !!

I was wise to wait so long to tell these extended family members who I see infrequently. They were not supportive but with more then 130 lbs lost it doesn’t really matter

Is everybody familiar with this article: http://www.fortworthlapband.com/public/forms/LAP-BAND_Golden_Rules.pdf?

It's written well but doesn't include what is the most important weight-loss tip ever: Drink plenty of Water.

A good article but I disagree with his 3 meals a day. Then again, I'm a diabetic and have a difficult time keeping my blood sugar levels from taking a nose dive if I wait too long between meals. My mid-meal mini-meals are always Protein. In the past they were a hard boiled egg, an ounce of hard cheese or something similar. Now I just drink a low carb/low cal Protein shake. It works as well and is training me not to 'eat' between meals while still giving me the protein I need for my blood sugar.

The other thing I disagree with is the idea of skipping meals. They've proven that breakfast is the most important meal since it helps to stimulate the metabolism. People who eat breakfast lose weight better than those who don't...or so says the research.

Otherwise, he's right on...ok, except for missing the part about the water.

I was wise to wait so long to tell these extended family members who I see infrequently. They were not supportive but with more then 130 lbs lost it doesn’t really matter

Congratulations on the 130 lbs lost! That is so awesome!

As for the family members...hard to believe they still aren't supportive when it's obvious that this has worked for you but it sounds like your head is in the right place. We don't (or shouldn't be) doing this for anyone's approval. This is about *us* and for *us*.

I'm going to print out your list of "RESPONSIBLE's" and tack it to my fridge as a reminder for my own self-accountability.

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I agree that it is a good post and really makes you/ me think. I'm just saying that in some ways, the band has been like a magic wand for me.

I do not think it is the easy way out. It was taking very drastic measures for me. I hate surgery. This is the 4th surgery for me and the general anesthesia messes with me worse every time.

I don't skip breakfast by choice. The band does that to me. Mine is very tight in the mornings. I drink a cup of coffee while I get ready for work and on the way to work I drink a protein shake. Before the band my breakfast choices were bad ones. I would get a sausage mcmuffin with egg maybe hash browns. Now there is no way I could eat that.

I agree with the water thing. I have never been good at drinking water and am making an effort to drink more.

Giving up all or most of the foods I have enjoyed over the years is not easy in any way. Cooking the big feast at Thanksgiving and only being able to eat a tiny bit was not easy, but the band gave me no choice.

The band does 2 things for me

It keeps portion sizes reasonable - for the right foods.

3 meals a day works for me, its my best routine. Snacking makes me keep snacking and grazing. So I eat 3 small meals.

I choose the foods, I do the exercise, I avoid the trigger situations. I could do all that before, but I just ate too large portions. I thought they were reasonable, now I know they were huge. And I ate fast. The band IS magic in that regard. I think being a slow eater is key to being healthy weight.

With a band though, i dont regain weight when I do fall off the wagon occasionally.

Keeping the weight off for over 2 years now (I've been banded four), and maintaining those habits for that long, my outlook on food has changed. My kids complain that I underfeed them because my perception of a normal meal is much smaller than others. I could never change my habits and keep it up for long enough to cement the changes.

I think when you've exhausted all your other choices to get your weight under control and failed, though, it can feel like 'magic' that you've finally found something that works for you when you put in the work.

Gosh, I have done them all. Jenny Craig is the WORST! Those meals are sooooooo small and I was sooooooo hungry. No confusion here... this was real hunger on JC, not just head hunger. I did JC to lose 20 pounds fast before my wedding and between the wedding planning and this diet, I almost lost my mind, but I did look good in the dress. Haha!!!

I think for someone who has done many different diets and could not get past the 'hunger' aspect of dieting, the band can seem like 'magic'. During my psych visit, I told the psychologist I would be willing to do ANY diet forever to be healthy as long as I could actually lose the weight at a decent rate (even just one pound per week) and keep it off and NOT BE HUNGRY all the time!!! He tole me I was an ideal candidate for the band and would do really well.

I did weight watchers for 2.5 years and lost 50 pounds so I guess you could say I'm a 'slow loser'. But, ultimately, I just could not get anymore weight off and I had to be hungry a lot just to keep off what I had gained.

I'm newly banded so not a lot of experience w/this yet, but I've lost 12 pounds since my surgery three weeks ago and that feels like a MIRACLE to me. It sure is a heck of a lot easier to do my part when I'm actually seeing good results. And, even though I don't have a fill yet, I'm not terribly hungry like I usually am on diets.

I also feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders to know that as long as I keep doing my part, I should be able to get to a healthy weight eventually. I don't really care how long it takes if I can just keep moving in the right direction and keep it off. I didn't realize how much mental energy I spend worrying about my health and comorbid conditions (high bp, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and prediabetes) before this. I was deathly afraid really and it does feel like 'magic' for me just to feel the possibility that I have some control to take back my health now. Halleluliah!!!

It kills me every time I see some one say, "I have been banded since xxx and I am not losing weight."

Then comes the reply I abhor, "when you get fills you will lose weight."

I am not banded yet and have done more research than my surgeon has. Well, maybe a little less.

I try to reply to most of these letting people know that the ban is NOT a magic wand and give a few tips. I am great at losing weight. I just suck at not putting it back on.

I gave somebody weight-loss advice in their blog the other day and some clueless idiot replied with, "he isn't banded and is giving you advice only a doctor can give." Take a look for yourself: Wondering? - LAP-BAND®

I went back and read it. You gave good advise and were very nice about it. Even though you have not been banded yet, I know you have done much research.

I have a hard time understanding those posts where people have been banded for a very long time and have lost little or no weight. Something must be wrong. They must be doing something wrong or must have a medical condition or something? I can only speak from my own experience and what I have read and what my surgeon has told me. My own experience is that the band does work and the weight does come off.

I think when you've exhausted all your other choices to get your weight under control and failed, though, it can feel like 'magic' that you've finally found something that works for you when you put in the work.

yes, that's the magical feeling

I think for someone who has done many different diets and could not get past the 'hunger' aspect of dieting, the band can seem like 'magic'. During my psych visit, I told the psychologist I would be willing to do ANY diet forever to be healthy as long as I could actually lose the weight at a decent rate (even just one pound per week) and keep it off and NOT BE HUNGRY all the time!!! He tole me I was an ideal candidate for the band and would do really well.

yes ! it is like magic that I am not dealing with the hunger that goes with past diets I have tried.

I'm newly banded so not a lot of experience w/this yet, but I've lost 12 pounds since my surgery three weeks ago and that feels like a MIRACLE to me. It sure is a heck of a lot easier to do my part when I'm actually seeing good results. And, even though I don't have a fill yet, I'm not terribly hungry like I usually am on diets.

I also feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders to know that as long as I keep doing my part, I should be able to get to a healthy weight eventually. I don't really care how long it takes if I can just keep moving in the right direction and keep it off. I didn't realize how much mental energy I spend worrying about my health and comorbid conditions (high bp, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and prediabetes) before this. I was deathly afraid really and it does feel like 'magic' for me just to feel the possibility that I have some control to take back my health now. It feels kike 'Magic" to me too Halleluliah!!!

this is exactly what I mean when I say it sometimes does seem like a magic wand

Edited January 9, 201016 yr by Humming Bird

Elfiepoo - thank you so much for putting into words what I've been trying to tell my partner and friends lately. I was on a 5 month stall, and recently found out I was not getting enough Protein (my NUT said 45-50 g per day, and Thursday she told me 70-75! and with that I've lost 4 pounds already).

My partner thinks I want to lose too fast...I don't think 54 pounds in the first year is too fast (considering I haven't lost much in 5 months), but she's very worried and doesn't "get" the tool and how it works...and some of her "information" is related to RNY and not the band.

I plan to print this to help. And for family and friends who think this is easy...but do use gym, WW, or other tools and don't see them as such!

Brilliant writer!

I've been one of those people who says the band is magic. I guess thinking about it logically, it just feels like magic to me because it is the right tool for me. I tell my friends and family that it feels like something inside of me was not working properly until I got the band. Now I feel normal and what I do to try and lose weight actually works. It does feel like magic compared to how hard I worked on diets to lose weight. I don't feel like I am working as hard now because it really works. Also, because it is working, I don't give myself enough credit for making the proper choices. We're all a work in progress!

It is a great post and points out what most of you are missing. You lost weight because you have modified your lifestyles and followed the lapband rules.

If you've lost more than 1 pound, pat yourself on the back. YOU lost this weight because you are doing what is required not because you have a piece of plastic in you.

There are many people on this site that were not properly educated and think that all they have to do is wait 3 - 6 months for approval; have surgery and the weight loss will just happen.

GIVE YOURSELF THE CREDIT YOU DESERVE!!!!

Another thread got me to thinking last night about how people view the band. Their posts seem to indicate (but I could be wrong) that they believe the band does the work...not the person. Just insert and voila! instant willpower and self-control. I have to admit that as much as I researched this band and went into this with eyes wide open, there was still a small part of me that must have looked at this in the same way. I kept waiting for restriction figuring that once I had *it*, all my problems were over and I was on the highway to skinnyville.

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This is a great post and so correct. The band is only part of it there is still work we need to do. And yes we can eat around the band but what was the purpose of doing our surgery's if we were not going to change. We are responsible for our choices not our bands.

And like ivyrose325 said "This is a marathon and not a sprint !!

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