So someone asked me a question today and I didn't know how to answer it. She said, "With what you eat after surgery, it's such a small amount, how is it different than you having an eating disorder?" Her point was, how is it healthy, we don't lose our hair etc. etc. It was a valid question and I'll be interested in taking the class to see what the answer is.

We are limited on what we can eat, we are limited on how much we eat. It's a tool to help overweight people who have a problem over eating & losing weight. It's not a cure by no means but a tool. I see it as something to help me get back on track. Just like a paid of shoes.. they help protect your feet from the weather. The band is helping to protect you don't over eat & you eat healthier choices. In society now we don't eat to maintain our body we eat because we can. We eat so many unhealthy thing because it's fast or easy. They teach you at a very young age to eat within 15-20 min at school to eat a lunch when you should take more like 45-60 min to eat a small well portion meal. You can't lose weight by starving yourself because then when you do eat it store all the fat because your body knows your straving it self with the band it's just a tool. I hope that helps it how I explain to people who ask me. I'm not getting the band because I think it s a quick fit or a cure but it's a tool to retrain my body to eat slow, eat healthier & to eat when my body needs it instead of every min of the day.

So someone asked me a question today and I didn't know how to answer it. She said, "With what you eat after surgery, it's such a small amount, how is it different than you having an eating disorder?" Her point was, how is it healthy, we don't lose our hair etc. etc. It was a valid question and I'll be interested in taking the class to see what the answer is.

Hi TaraRose, that is an interesting question , when you get a professional answer let me know....but I think personally,we are required to take Vitamins,Iron and calcum with Vitman d3 for the rest of our life,that is the main reason we dont loose our hair,we get our suppliment like that but if you think about it, in other countrys there are people who live off $1.00 a day and only eating 1 meal or having mush for Breakfast,lunch and dinner....yuck...but look at what a baby eats in a day time and the only reason he eats more is that we give them more,so if we can get full off of 1/2 cup of food per feeding at 1 sitting and remain healthy why question it,don't take me wrong but I bet the person that asked this question is heavy them self ...because I don't think a skinny person would ask how can you survive off of such a small amount....think about it.....keep posting..and give us some good news about your success....camille01

When a person had an eating disorder it means they are out of control.

The lapband is a tool for regaining control.

Significant difference.

Yes she is healthy. I will be posting often as my process continues! Thank you for the answer.

Hi TaraRose, that is an interesting question , when you get a professional answer let me know....but I think personally,we are required to take Vitamins,Iron and calcum with Vitman d3 for the rest of our life,that is the main reason we dont loose our hair,we get our suppliment like that but if you think about it, in other countrys there are people who live off $1.00 a day and only eating 1 meal or having mush for breakfast,lunch and dinner....yuck...but look at what a baby eats in a day time and the only reason he eats more is that we give them more,so if we can get full off of 1/2 cup of food per feeding at 1 sitting and remain healthy why question it,don't take me wrong but I bet the person that asked this question is heavy them self ...because I don't think a skinny person would ask how can you survive off of such a small amount....think about it.....keep posting..and give us some good news about your success....camille01

My surgeon recommends 1000 calories a day after surgery with at least 60g Protein. This is the amount your body needs to maintain a healthy weight with limited or no activity.

A person with anorexia usually consumes MUCH less than this. I had a friend who was severly anorexic and she would eat stuff like ketchup, mustard greens, hot sauce on a couple of crackers, and all sorts of no calorie food for meals. The difference is WLS pts are eating the RIGHT amount for sedentary lifestyles and are making sure they are meeting nutritonal requirements for a healthy weight. Someone with an eating disorder (anorexia and bulemia) is starving their body of nutrients in order to be a healhty or unhealthy weight. And if they are refering to the post op diet then that is only temporary and would be required of anyone having major abdominal surgery.....

Hope this helps...i have had this question too.

# 1 Some pple who are banded do lose hair ... (so please don't be under the impression they don't)

#2 With the band I eat normal protion size of food and feel food - 4 oz of pt is normal size 1/2 cup of veggies is normal size..

#3 Tell your GF that the band is not the quick fix that she thinks it is

We can eat around our bands -We are limited to a degree on how much we can eat - depending on the food It will stop me from eating a 20 oz steak - but it's not going to stop me from eating 1/2 gallon of ice cream.

It doesn't make my food choices for me - so if I want to eat high fat foods - candy (another slider) and bowles of mashed potatoes loaded with butter I'm not going to lose a dang pound.

#4 It's only a tool and you will only be successful if you make the lifetime lifestyle change in your eating and exercise habits

At one point during my journey the weightloss was rapid. I did get the feeling like it was the same thing as starving. I even felt like I was malnurished. I continued to eat healthy foods and take my vits., but still had that feeling for awhile. Things have leveled out and I slowly stopped feeling that way. I think it took awhile for my body to adjust. I feel much better now. During that time when the weightloss was rapid, I did have hairloss and fatigue. For me, the first 12 months was a healing and learning time ........ and the most important thing in my book, the weightloss time!

I would tell your friend that being banded helps you eat like your average thin person. Sure some thin people each either a lot of food/and or choose high cal/fat foods; but usually thin people eat smaller portions and healthier foods.

Actually starving yourself to the point of malnourishment is very different than learning to eat an appropriate serving of food. That is what the lapband does. The reason it works is because it basically tricks our brain into thinking we have eaten more than we have so we are satisfied with less. Right now, as obese people, we are at the mercy of our appetite and in our attempts to diet and deprive ourselves we get ravenously hungry....while some of us may call this "starving" we actually are not..it just feels that way because of the signals going to our brain calling for more food.

Here is some real information written by a real lap band surgeon that is easy to understand.

http://drsimpson.net/07_surgery_stories%20(SS)/7_SS_02/lapband/lap-band.htm