Hi, I am new to posting on the site, have been reading for awhile. I have 2 more months of Dr appt's and then should be ready to be submit for approval to insurance. I am hoping all goes well in that area. My biggest concern and struggle now is am I going to be able to make this work? If I could control my emotional eating would I have this weight problem that I have. I do not believe that I have gone hungry in 2 years, I eat all day long. How once I have the surgery will I be able to stop the grazing that I do. Will the band help me with that!

The course is long and filled with alot of self realization. The band will be your aide and tool. You will learn to tell the difference between HEAD hunger and the real HUNGER. There is a difference. You'll learn the rules follow them and see sucess. You will also know the rules and TRY to eat around the band and see FAILURE. So yes its work, No magic answer if you are not commited

You will have to incorporate exercize into your life probally like me for the first time in your life. This will have to be for the rest of your life. Stick like GLUE to your surgeon and staff. If you are feeling like the REAL hunger is not in control keep requesting another fill..........Just some discovery thoughts from my journey..................

Hi, I am new to posting on the site, have been reading for awhile. I have 2 more months of Dr appt's and then should be ready to be submit for approval to insurance. I am hoping all goes well in that area. My biggest concern and struggle now is am I going to be able to make this work? If I could control my emotional eating would I have this weight problem that I have. I do not believe that I have gone hungry in 2 years, I eat all day long. How once I have the surgery will I be able to stop the grazing that I do. Will the band help me with that!

Hi Lori,

I think we are all scared of failure, at certain times. Before having the surgery I wondered if I should just try again to lose weight on my own, if I would fail with the band, etc. I went through with it, had some quick success and then it slowed down. I started walking on the treadmill a couple weeks after surgery. At first I was winded walking 1.5 miles an hour, and now I'm walking a lot faster and have incorporated weights into my exercise. I found some high Protein things I really like (almonds, salmon, hummus, cottage cheese, greek yogurt used in dips or in place of sour cream--TONS of protein!). My weight loss has picked up recently and I am feeling great. I was (am) a grazer, so I am more successful when I can keep myself busy.

Attitude is the biggest part of it for me though, even when I was stuck at 20 lbs. lost, I still was positive that it was 20 lbs. no longer on my body. I don't beat myself up if I want to have a Girl Scout cookie or have ice cream with my daughter. The lap band does help there, I don't need a lot of any food, so I am able to have 1 cookie or a little bit of ice cream. It does curb your appetite, especially when you eat good things that are high in protein. But I DO have to make an effort to have good things, most of the time.

It's scary, alright! I'm even a little scared to change so much. But I'm doing it.

You won't fail if you follow the plan/rules. I also ate all day long, Now I rarely eat between meals. I don't crave things, like chocolate, ever, and I really thought that would be hard for me. What makes it hard is if i have it in the house, so I simply don't and I do fine. I find tho if I buy even a low calorie treat, i will it one every day until it is gone (my weakness is weight watcher 80 cal. choc covered raspberry ice cream bar) I buy them once in a while, because I don't think you can completely deprive yourself, but once they are gone I don't buy them again for a while. I think the keys to this for me are definately Exercise, good food choices and water. And of course the restriction the band gives me. Good Luck to you, if I can do this... you can do it!

I get what you are feeling TOTALLY! The closer I got to surgery the more scared I got...am I going through all of this and spending all of this for nothing?

The answer is NO. I need assistance, something I CAN BELEIVE IN. This battle for me is such a mental thing. If it wasn't...if I was good at paying attnetion only to physical hunger to feed myself I would not be so fat....and I would have good days or weeks where I could be gung ho and stick to anything including exercise and proper nutrition...and then something would happen, I would get off track and blow it....severe cycle...a pattern for me. My hunger would actually make me sick if I tried to ignore it.

Now...just 12 days post op, I am not hungry at all. It has been really different. I no longer get sick from not eating. The physical sensation of hunger just isn't there...at all...perhaps not everyone is that way right out of the gate but so far I am. I have been 12 days and I have lost 12 pounds in that time. It's crazy to watch my body healing it'self. It's not perfect. I have had my first battles with emotional hunger a couple of days ago and I can see that once I am not adhereing to a liquid diet my family could easily sabotage me with their pizza and del taco nights. (read my blog for a full on wah fest at my emotional hunger...link in signature) but once I distract myself...watch a movie or play my guitar and stop thinking about it for a while and allow my Protein shake to do it's job then I am over it and it is much better.

I think I am going to call a therapist next week and start something up there because I want to deal with this emotional hunger thing before I let it give me an excuse to fail.

Hang in there. Only you can tell if this surgery is right for you, but here you are...doing the research, starting the work it takes to get to surgery, and just know that it is totally normal to have doubts afterall it is a drastic solution that will change your life forever. In the end it was the changing forever part that really worried me, and now I am looking SO forward to eating real food...I already have my first meal all planned out...lemon pepper grilled mahi mahi and green Beans.....OMG I can almost taste it now...drool.

You will do great. Just keep pluggin away and the 2 months will go by before you know it!