Hello everyone, i am not yet banded but have been hanging out here and asking a lot of questions to help me to figure out if this procedure will work for me.

I found a very disturbing thread about the difficulties a person had had with the lap band.

This person said that despite their complications being unrelated, you could easily self sabotage the band by eating chocolate and icecream as these both melt and slip down very easily.

Do you guys ever go to chocolate and icecream when you are stressed out, and how difficult do you find it to pick things back up again?

Despite it being easier to eat these in this context, does the band effect the way you eat them now as oppose to the way you would of eaten them before?

If you were a "whole tub of ice cream" person before, with the band, could you still do that now or is it slightly different e.g takes longer etc, if it is different, could you describe how?

The same with chocolate, if you were a "whole bar of chocolate" (or two or three in my case) kind of person before, could you still do that now or is it slightly different e.g takes longer etc, if it is different, could you describe how?

I really appreciate any comments or stories anyone has to offer in response to my questions,

Many thanks,

Dune.

Edited November 12, 201015 yr by Dune
punctuation.

Ive been reading your post and questions. It kinda seems to me, although I may be wrong, you are looking to see that if you get the band will still be able to continue your bad habbits like eating ice cream and chocolate.

i havent been banded that long but i researched this for three years, watched this board, asked questions, etc. I didnt get the band until i was completely ready to make a lifestyle change which include changing your eating habbits. You can find a way to eat anything if you CHOOSE to do so. This isnt magic, it takes work and dedication and a lot of learning different habbits. If you are looking for a way to be able to continue your bad habbits then you found one, but you wont be successful. you will get out of the band what you put into it.

Ive been reading your post and questions. It kinda seems to me, although I may be wrong, you are looking to see that if you get the band will still be able to continue your bad habbits like eating ice cream and chocolate.

i havent been banded that long but i researched this for three years, watched this board, asked questions, etc. I didnt get the band until i was completely ready to make a lifestyle change which include changing your eating habbits. You can find a way to eat anything if you CHOOSE to do so. This isnt magic, it takes work and dedication and a lot of learning different habbits. If you are looking for a way to be able to continue your bad habbits then you found one, but you wont be successful. you will get out of the band what you put into it.

Taking control of things and making life style changes are nothing new to me. Life is forever changing, and you never know what is going to happen, we can only hope that when it does we have the right environmental, physical, and emotional tools and support in place to cope with it.

I go through cycles. For between 6 months and a year i might be in great control of my eating habits, but then when stress comes my way, i do not cope and seem to spiral out of control and become the opposite in a way so literal it beggars belief. Making a "lifestyle" change would not be anything new to me at all, i do it often enough as i am sure some of you used to before you got the band when you were in yo yo land. I never went on "diets" like weight watchers, or took pills, when i get healthy, i just eat nutritionally balanced food and take regular exercise, so, it doesnt always work out for people who do things the right way. Anyone know where i'm coming from?

At the end of the day, life style changes are do able, but we can not control what happens to us or predict the way we are going to cope. I have seen in a few threads in the forum (and other web pages that people from here have started) where banded people talk about times when they have slight slips, or eat a few Cookies and then can not eat supper, which kind of balances it all out, and this is what my questions in this thread are about, quite simply how things that you did before (with regard to the chocolate and icecream context) have changed if you do them now, but with particular regard to the aspects of the band that make them different.

My thoughts are (correct me if i am wrong) that there is a fusion between what the band does and what you do. I simply want to know what the band will do in various situations and how this affects what you do. This will give me a vague idea if it is something that i can work with or not.

For example, i was enquiring about Water the other day, as i very much like to guzzle it. I discovered that perhaps for a while i might not be able to do this in the same way, but as the thread went along, i discovered that there is the possibility that i will be able to drink large amounts of water again, if not in a guzzling fashion in small sips, but i will be able to do it.

The aim of this thread is not to find out whether or not i will still be able to eat icecream and chocolate, i just wanted to hear how the experience of eating these changes when you are banded, so that i can gauge whether, if i do run into difficulties with them, the effects of the band will assist me to get back on top of things.

I hope this better clarifys my attitude and intentions and thank you for your thoughts and advice.

Love Dune.

Edited November 12, 201015 yr by Dune
gnilleps lol

Taking control of things and making life style changes are nothing new to me. Life is forever changing, and you never know what is going to happen, we can only hope that when it does we have the right environmental, physical, and emotional tools and support in place to cope with it.

I go through cycles. For between 6 months and a year i might be in great control of my eating habits, but then when stress comes my way, i do not cope and seem to spiral out of control and become the opposite in a way so literal it beggars belief. Making a "lifestyle" change would not be anything new to me at all, i do it often enough as i am sure some of you used to before you got the band when you were in yo yo land. I never went on "diets" like weight watchers, or took pills, when i get healthy, i just eat nutritionally balanced food and take regular exercise, so, it doesnt always work out for people who do things the right way. Anyone know where i'm coming from?

At the end of the day, life style changes are do able, but we can not control what happens to us or predict the way we are going to cope. I have seen in a few threads in the forum (and other web pages that people from here have started) where banded people talk about times when they have slight slips, or eat a few Cookies and then can not eat supper, which kind of balances it all out, and this is what my questions in this thread are about, quite simply how things that you did before (with regard to the chocolate and icecream context) have changed if you do them now, but with particular regard to the aspects of the band that make them different.

My thoughts are (correct me if i am wrong) that there is a fusion between what the band does and what you do. I simply want to know what the band will do in various situations and how this affects what you do. This will give me a vague idea if it is something that i can work with or not.

For example, i was enquiring about Water the other day, as i very much like to guzzle it. I discovered that perhaps for a while i might not be able to do this in the same way, but as the thread went along, i discovered that there is the possibility that i will be able to drink large amounts of water again, if not in a guzzling fashion in small sips, but i will be able to do it.

The aim of this thread is not to find out whether or not i will still be able to eat icecream and chocolate, i just wanted to hear how the experience of eating these changes when you are banded, so that i can gauge whether, if i do run into difficulties with them, the effects of the band will assist me to get back on top of things.

I hope this better clarifys my attitude and intentions and thank you for your thoughts and advice.

Love Dune.

I have had the band for over three months and I guzzle the heck out of water!

I have had the band for over three months and I guzzle the heck out of water!

*Does an irish jig*

Thank you so much kelly, thats really reassuring xxxxx

Dune

I may be the only reply you get like this, but I eat ice cream and chocolate on a fairly regular basis. Usually, I tend to eat just a snack size candy bar or a few spoonfuls of ice cream. In my case, it's not stress eating. I just am hungry for something and I eat some. I got this band to live like a normal person and normal people don't eat perfectly all the time. Even over the holidays, I certainly lose control with all the junk and I may even gain a few pounds, but I get right back on track. The whole world does this. There's a reason why the gym is always jam-packed in January. This strategy has worked well for me. I don't manage well with too many rules or restrictions. I just want to be like everyone else, not the fat girl always trying to lose more weight, at the cost of having a life.

Cindy

I may be the only reply you get like this, but I eat ice cream and chocolate on a fairly regular basis. Usually, I tend to eat just a snack size candy bar or a few spoonfuls of ice cream. In my case, it's not stress eating. I just am hungry for something and I eat some. I got this band to live like a normal person and normal people don't eat perfectly all the time. Even over the holidays, I certainly lose control with all the junk and I may even gain a few pounds, but I get right back on track. The whole world does this. There's a reason why the gym is always jam-packed in January. This strategy has worked well for me. I don't manage well with too many rules or restrictions. I just want to be like everyone else, not the fat girl always trying to lose more weight, at the cost of having a life.

Cindy

Hi Cindy, thank you SO much! That was just the sort of thing i wanted to know. Do you find that the band helps prevent you from getting carried away with candy and ice cream? Did you used to get carried away with it before the band?

Many thanks,

Dune.

I lost 80 pounds initially with the band, and pretty much completely restricted my diet and didn't eat any sweets or desserts. My band was a little tight after a fill and I started throwing up a lot. Slowly I started reverting back to the old sliders that I had stopped eating and that wouldn't cause me to get stuck. By October 2009 I had lost the 80, and by August 2010 I had regained 50 of that. I've sinced lost almost all of the 50 I regained but I'm exercising like crazy and tracking my calories and eating healthy. However, this time, if I want some ice cream, I don't deprive. I just eat a reasonable amount (I like the weight watchers ice creams). I gained 50 pounds back by binging and eating 4 extra thick milkshakes or 2 pints of ice cream everyday (not an exaggeration). I could eat ice cream until I felt sick and the band didn't effect it at all. It was hard to get back on track, but doable The band is a great tool - but don't be fooled: you can eat around it if you choose. If you work it, you will do great!!!

I still eat ice cream and chocolate. I suppose I could eat more of it than I do, but the band has me pretty well-trained to go for smaller amounts; it is second nature for me now to choose and be happy with smaller amounts of everything, for which I am SO grateful!

I lost 80 pounds initially with the band, and pretty much completely restricted my diet and didn't eat any sweets or desserts. My band was a little tight after a fill and I started throwing up a lot. Slowly I started reverting back to the old sliders that I had stopped eating and that wouldn't cause me to get stuck. By October 2009 I had lost the 80, and by August 2010 I had regained 50 of that. I've sinced lost almost all of the 50 I regained but I'm exercising like crazy and tracking my calories and eating healthy. However, this time, if I want some ice cream, I don't deprive. I just eat a reasonable amount (I like the weight watchers ice creams). I gained 50 pounds back by binging and eating 4 extra thick milkshakes or 2 pints of ice cream everyday (not an exaggeration). I could eat ice cream until I felt sick and the band didn't effect it at all. It was hard to get back on track, but doable The band is a great tool - but don't be fooled: you can eat around it if you choose. If you work it, you will do great!!!

OMG! Thankyou so much, this is just what i needed!

wow, so, you've lost nearly 50Ib's since August? Thats amazing, so in some ways, if we cant completely get rid of the yo yo situation, would you say the band makes it easier to lose the weight after a low patch when you do get back on top of things again? It must do, there is no way even with my greatest efforts using non bandster diet and exercise techniques i could lose 50Ib's in 4 months, thats just amazing!

Thanks again for sharing this, its really helped me.

Love Dune.

I can eat anything sugar with no restriction from the band. I haven't tried but I have no doubt that I could eat a 1/2 gallon tub of ice cream with no problems. The same goes for chocolate. I went on a mini vacation with my son last weekend and I ate a whole piece of cheesecake at a restaurant, it was huge, probably 600-700 calories. My band didn't object at all and this was only about 20 min after I had to stop eating my fish because my tummy was full. So the band stopped the fish at a reasonable amount but let me eat the whole cheesecake.

I have been reading these boards for over a year and I have never read someone saying "The band physically stops me from over eating ice cream, cake, chocolate, Cookies, etc."

I can eat anything sugar with no restriction from the band. I haven't tried but I have no doubt that I could eat a 1/2 gallon tub of ice cream with no problems. The same goes for chocolate. I went on a mini vacation with my son last weekend and I ate a whole piece of cheesecake at a restaurant, it was huge, probably 600-700 calories. My band didn't object at all and this was only about 20 min after I had to stop eating my fish because my tummy was full. So the band stopped the fish at a reasonable amount but let me eat the whole cheesecake.

I have been reading these boards for over a year and I have never read someone saying "The band physically stops me from over eating ice cream, cake, chocolate, Cookies, etc."

Thanks Leigha, that was just what i needed to know, so when eating the cheesecake, did you find that it took longer to eat than it might have done before you were banded? Or were you/would you have been able to skull it in large mouthfulls in quick/continuous succession (which i know isnt what you would do in a restaurant anyhow *chuckles at the thought of it* but i am interested in your view)?

Thanks again,

Dune

Hi Cindy, thank you SO much! That was just the sort of thing i wanted to know. Do you find that the band helps prevent you from getting carried away with candy and ice cream? Did you used to get carried away with it before the band?

Many thanks,

Dune.

The band helps me because I'm not starving when I eat. Although I could eat the entire container of ice cream, I never do. I feel like, "I had some today, it'll be there tomorrow and I can eat some then, if I want."

In addition to the physical portion limitation that the band provides for most foods, it also gives me a mental sense of control. Even when I eat sliders (ice cream), I get full long before I would have pre-band. I don't know why that is, but it works for me. My biggest problem is not eating a huge amount of one thing, but grazing. If I have a bag of chocolates in the house, I'll eat one. Then a 1/2 hour later, I want another one and that could go one all night. For some thing like that, I need self-control. The band does not help, but it really does help me with portion control, even for sliders.

Cindy

I probably ate it slower than I would have before just from habit. (I have to eat normal food very slowly now) but I bet I could have eaten it as fast and in as large of bites as I could get to fit in my mouth. I don't think its possible for me to get stuck on sugar foods. Like the term "Melt in your mouth" I think that foods that are sugar based, especially milk and sugar, start to dissolve in your mouth and are a slippery liquid before they get to the band.

If you are looking for help with something physically stopping you from eating these foods, the band is not the answer. Sometimes if I am stressed and the band is super tight at night or if I have had a stuck episode and I am swollen and cant eat but I am hungry, I will eat chips and salsa for dinner. No matter how tight the band is I can always eat junk food.

I know this is not what you want to hear but a large portion of loosing weight with the band is not about your stomach but your head.

My program required me to attend 3 group sessions to discuss our eating habits and relationships with food. The doctor who is thin and not banded discussed her own issues with ice cream. She made a rule that she can't keep it in her house. If she is out and sees a gourmet ice cream shop she can go in and buy a small/children's cone and that's it. When she brought her last child to college she was allowed to stop and Friendlies and get a small cone because it was a BAD day for her. She could not even keep small portions of skinny cow in the freezer because it would allow her to develop a distructive habit.

Personally I don't keep trigger foods in my house candy, ice cream, chips, crackers. If I am at a party I can some (one or two) but then I have to stop.

I know this is not what you want to hear but a large portion of loosing weight with the band is not about your stomach but your head.

Thanks for this Honk, yes, you are quite right it isnt exactly what i want to hear, but did you know that this is not because i disagree with you, or because i am in denial?

I think it would be a safe bet that most people who have gone through the trauma of being overweight, which for those who have forgotten involves a great deal of shame, inability to control impulses, emotional trauma, self loathing and hopelessness on these very facts will be very aware that our state of mind plays a far bigger role in the issue and the success of weight loss than the stomach.

I am not looking for an easy fix.

My program required me to attend 3 group sessions to discuss our eating habits and relationships with food. The doctor who is thin and not banded discussed her own issues with ice cream. She made a rule that she can't keep it in her house. If she is out and sees a gourmet ice cream shop she can go in and buy a small/children's cone and that's it. When she brought her last child to college she was allowed to stop and Friendlies and get a small cone because it was a BAD day for her. She could not even keep small portions of skinny cow in the freezer because it would allow her to develop a distructive habit.

Personally I don't keep trigger foods in my house candy, ice cream, chips, crackers. If I am at a party I can some (one or two) but then I have to stop.

That sounds like an excellent strategy. Not keeping things in the house worked for me for a few years too and will again in the future i am sure, but, life gets complicated.

Many thanks for your reply,

Love Dune.

Edited November 14, 201015 yr by Dune
punctuation