Melody,

I was reading some postings baout someone hating their band and got through page four or something before I hit your post. I am almost nine months out and 65-67 lbs down since getting my band. Something you said resonated within me so profoundly and I want to thank you. I have always said, my band is a tool....not a miracle cure. I always took that with a grain of salt, and reading your post....you stated (an I didn't copy and paste but) that once you stopped thinking the band was a replacement for a diet....it started working for you. THANK YOU. I never thought of it in that sense....I knew I could eat the same way as previously and no, I try not to, but that hit me so profoundly and I thank you for it. My day will be better, and better choices will be made. Have a wonderful day and again, Thank you.

Something you said resonated within me so profoundly and I want to thank you. I have always said, my band is a tool....not a miracle cure. I always took that with a grain of salt, and reading your post....you stated (an I didn't copy and paste but) that once you stopped thinking the band was a replacement for a diet....it started working for you

You're very welcome, Kelly. I too fought hard against the idea of 'dieting'. I kept saying I got the band so I'd never have to diet again. Then one day it occurred to me that statement would be true *IF* I was already at my normal weight but my goal right now is not to maintain...it's to *lose*. In order to do that, yes I need to *diet*...meaning I need to cut my calories so I'm at a deficit and in order to cut those calories, I have to avoid those things that put the weight on in the first place.

I look forward to the day when I no longer have to *diet* but, in the meantime, am teaching myself how to eat like a normal person...and the normal weight people I know live by the 'all things in moderation'. My mother-in-law is only 4'7 and weighs 94 pounds. She still eats cake, pie, chips, etc...but not on a daily basis and all the rest of her eating is 'in moderation' as well. She's so tiny that she only eats 1/2 of a sandwich for lunch. More than that and she'll gain weight.

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I quite enjoy your posts, they're well educated and you're well spoken. It's amazing what we get used to eating, and when we actually see it all in front of us it's pretty shocking that that's the quantity we used to eat, regardless of whether or not it was healthy food - quantity is quantity. All weight loss surgeries are tools. You can worth with them or against them. You'd never see someone at a gas pump overfilling their tank with an extra $30 worth of gas spilling all over the ground, but that's what you do when you eat more calories than you need. We wasted money on food we didn't need simply because we wanted it. So if you suddenly switch to a hybrid car, which doesn't use much gas at all - but does sometimes, you can still over fill the tank unnecessarily if you stick with your old ways.

Acadia,

Great analogy. I look down at my plate with its little 3 oz of Protein, 1/2 cup of vegies and 1/4 cup of rice or potatoes (maybe) and think, "geez...it's a fraction of what I used to eat. Why am I not losing faster!?"

It didn't make a lot of sense to me until I plugged my stats into a calculator that said the caloric difference between what I need to maintain my current weight vs my ideal weight is only 500 calories per day. So if I eat 1600 calories per day, I can expect to lose 1 lb per week. If I cut my calories down to 1100, I'll get 2 lb per week. Now, I could also throw the exercise equation in there to 'maybe' get another pound per week but to be honest, 30 minutes of Tae Bo *maybe* twice a day is about my max. I detest exercise but at least this is fun.

Plus...this all has to be done *consistently*. Not exercise 'here and there' or up the calories 'here and there' and it all adds up to stalls and slow weight loss cuz we're still filling up that tank a bit more than we need.

.

Exactly.

I know it didn't take a day, week, month, or even a year for me to gain the extra 125 I'm looking to lose. It took 17 years. To expect it to come off in anything less than a year - safely and in a way where my body can rebound correctly - is ridiculous.