Hi,I'm new here and have some questions about lapband surgery. I have only 1 more appointment with cardio doc,my surgery date is 10/19/10.

I really need to lose weight,not the biggest guy on the block(260 5'8" bmi 40)but i do have some other issues ie:sleep apnea, high cholesterol,family history of heart problems,GERD etc.I have a 3 great kids and i want to live a long healthy life so i can see them grow up! Sometimes i feel like the surgery is the easy way out and i should be able to lose the weight naturally.has anybody ever felt the same way? I get up for work at 0300am and get home around 5 or 6.I just feel too tired to come home,change then run out to a gym and jump on a treadmill.Some people i know tell me to just "stop eating and you will lose weight" I guess my question is it normal to feel guilty about choosing this path to reach my desired weight?

First No I don't feel guilty. I guess my question for you is have you tried dieting before? How much did you loose? Did you keep it off for a year? How long have you been over weight: a year, five years, 10 years? I have been over weight my whole life I am forty. When I was 39 I had a mini stroke had no warning or previous episodes. The doctors have no explanation why it happened but said that it could have been related to my weight. Keep in mind at that point I had been watching what I ate and doing an hour of cardio 7 days a week and had lost 30 pounds. Three times in my life (13, 18, 29) I lost 100 pounds and gained it all back. I am the best dieter in the world. My problem is it's a diet: every minute of every day. I have to force myself to stop eating; every time I put something in my mouth. I need help. I am willing to put the time in; and willing to make life style eating changes; I just need help.

I want to be able to eat two bites of cake and stop. That's what thin people do. Not taking three or five small pieces that equal half the cake.

You will need to commit to eating reasonably; again like most thin people (yes some people eat a lot of crap). You won't be able to eat 1 donut for Breakfast (instead of 2), quarter pounder for lunch (instead Big Mac), and a fishermans platter for dinner. You'll have to eat healthy food. The band is not going to allow you to eat badly and still loose weight.

I hope you are not offended but I did not make this decision easily. I felt like such a failure. I am successul indepedent professional woman and how could I not control this?

Thanks Honk,I have lost weight a few times,starvation,Jenny craig.I really feel commited to changing my eating habits and making this work.I do walk all day long for my job and it is physical,just seems that there is a stigma with using surgery as a tool.I guess i should ignore the comments from others and keep focused on my goal,thks again todd:thumbup:

Forget about any stigma. Yes people can be nosy and judgemental; which is why I am not telling the world in general. The way I look at it if someone had cancer, a heart problem, or needed a joint replacement we would'nt tell them to "think" themselves well. I work in HR and people have all kinds of issues that they can hide alcholism, drug addiction, gambling no one would ever say they should'nt get help with these problems. If you're fat however you're told to just stop eating. Or my favorite "If you just exercise and count calories; you'll lose weight." Yeah no duh.

In my honest opinion, and from my own experiences, this is NOT the lazy way out. If diet and exercise worked for everyone maybe it would be different. But guess what, the same thing does not work for everyone in the world. This is a big decision, and like you, I have a child I want to be able to see graduate. I have tried to diet, starve myself, exercise, pills, etc..none of it worked. I gain, lose a little, gaim twice as much back. To me, this surgery is the thing I need to be able to live a normal life.

For me the band has been very easy. There is nothing wrong with that. It has been the key to taking wieght off and keeping it off. Over the years I have tried every diet out there. The band is the thing that has worked the best. I kinda like that it was the easy way out for me. Why would I choose the hard way? The hardest thing about it has been the hit my bank account is taking (self pay).

Yes, for years I have felt that surgery was a quick fix. In the past 10 years I have lost 120 pounds TWICE. Only to gain it all back plus. Not to mention the countless times in the last 40 years that I loss 20, 30, 50 pounds and regained. I would be insane to keep doing the same thing and expecting a diffent result (keep to weight off).

Only someone that has not had surgery would think it is a quick fix. Until now, that included me too. Humming Bird has it right. So what if it IS easy? Why would anyone want to make life harder? The big picture is that we loose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.

Maybe my real issue is pride? Maybe I do not want to ammit that I can not win the war on fat all by myself.

Thanks Humming Bird, I had a real light bulb moment.