Hi friends, I am on a journey of nearly 150 lbs.

By the Grace of God, I was banded 2/15/11, had no serious problems and have lost 40 lbs. Second fill yesterday..... LIFE IS GOOD.

i am thinking of meeting with a psychologist on a monthly basis for the following reasons ---- I would appreciate your HONEST (Please TRY to be tactful) opinions.

SINCE, the average bander only loses 40% of their weight and I want to go the distance, I am looking for help and support. And I think part of the Key to succes is mental attitude. The more you believe in yourself and can visualize success the more likely you will succeed.

I fear that I will need some help along the way: Times will get tough, weight loss will slow down, our friends will disappoint us and say dumb things, and we will get weary of the sacrifices that it takes to lose weight.............not to mention that change is scary, and my BEST FRIEND - food is not there to help.

I have actually been given the name of a councilor who is banded herself. She does the pre lap bander psych evals for the hospital.. she seem like a good option.

Cost, time and effort, and bad advise are the downsides.

I have never been to a councilor. Will she/he be able to help me any more than just talking to (for example) my mom or a good friend?

I agree with everyone else. I see a counselor (a psychiatrist every six weeks) and a licensed therapist every week. (Wow, just saying that makes me sound really messed up lol) but I started going because of anxiety. I agree with the others also....about the numbers. 40% seems low..and I heard ore like 60% but it varies from person to person...(I am at almost 82% loss of my excess weight, 3 lbs away from my goal (or 10 depending on whether I wanna be in the 150s) and can honestly say counseling has helped GREATLY. So many things bring us to fill the voids in our lives with food (In my opinion) and my counselor has helped me figure those out. He has also helped me to embrace my accomplishments and look at myself differently. Internal dialogue is so very important here. It can be hard, there is crying, there is anger...there is self realization. But in the end, so worth it for me. Good Luck!

Everyones different.... I feel that I news that type of support, I need to be more mindful of what I'm putting in my mouth. Also, my surgeons office has a monthly meeting where the psychologist and nutritionist are there for support and to answer any questions we

may have..... You should see if yours does the same

I don't have a councelor, yet....but I think it's a good idea. I think it is important to talk your feelings over with someone who understands you and can give an "educated" opinion, instead of an uneducated opinion like you would get from friends or family. There are also local support groups for ideas about ways to overcome roadblocks, and groups like Overeaters Anonymous for extra added support.

I had 168 lbs to lose originally and have decided to share all of my information through blogs and facebook. The more people that know about my journey, the more I am accountable for being successful. I don't want to have to make a post on facebook about being a failure!

Good luck to you! It can be done. There are quite a few people here who have done it, many with psychological support!

Hi everyone, I dug back in the archives, read this over again, and was so moved by the replys (all over again) that I wanted to share it with everyone that is new to the site.