So this is a common topic of conversation for banders, but it is new for me and I felt I needed to vent a little on the subject. I got my surgery date set last week. I will be having it on Sept 27. I am very excited and ready for the next step in my healthy lifestyle. The problem I am having is the sadness and loss of knowing I will not be able to gorge on foods of any type. I have been drowning myself in food for so long, I honestly don't know what I will do. I have been doing Atkins successfully for the past 3 months and have lost 50 pounds. Ever since I was informed about my surgery date, I have had a really hard time sticking to my diet and have cheated twice in one week. I would love to hear how everyone else has conquered this obstacle in their pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

It is normal. you are going to miss your fav foods knowing you will not be able to have them anymore. when i was on my preop diet, i went to a cookout and i gorged myself, ate it all and did not feel one bit guilty. LOL! i knew i would wake up the next day and start all over on the diet again. and i lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks. you have lost 50 lbs in 3 months, that is awesome and successful you will do fine.

I went through that same thing. Between my consult and the start of my pre-op diet I gained about 4 or 5 lb because I felt like it was my last chance to enjoy some foods and that for some things I would never ever taste them again. Well, the only thing I've never gone back to is the soda, haven't had a drop since the day before my pre-op diet started in December. I didn't really hoist in the fact that after the liquids and mushies that it would take quite a while to reach restriction and that I would actually be able to eat many things I thought I was saying goodbye to. Anyway, I've discovered that I can eat most things, even with a reasonable amount of restriction and what I love about the band is that I can't gorge. I do cheat but look at me, I've lost over a hundred pounds since December so I feel a bit silly for being so dramatic in those pre-op days. Just to let you know, you will be able to have some of that stuff you think you're mourning after the pre and post op diets are done. The band will help you to NOT gorge though and that's the lovely thing about it in my opinion. Congrats on the 50 lb and good luck with your surgery!

I thought I would really miss some foods more than I do. I was a fast food junkie. I was a junk food junkie. I was a fried food junkie. I can fry anything and make it taste great! After being banded I did miss things like pizza, but I didn't miss them for long. Now the foods I used to "love" don't even sound good. I don't even crave them.

Maybe you can relate ......... When my son was a little kid we went on a picnic and a long drive in the mountains. We had potatoe salad and coleslaw. He got car sick and ended up throwing up the potatoe salad and coleslaw. To this day (over 20 yrs later) he will not eat either. They don't even sound good to him.

For me, the band works the same way. Not that I have thrown up a lot (a few times over 2 yrs.), but some foods just don't sit well so they no longer even sound good. Bread and fried foods just feel very heavy and yucky when in my pouch, so I don't even crave them.

I also thought I was going to mourn food more. For some reason, after the surgery, a switch in my head just went off. I think maybe the surgery was my rock bottom. The fact that my eating and lack of exercise got me to a point where I needed to have surgery to correct it. I have a few friends with the lap band and I have seen them fail. Go back to bad habits and not go to follow up appointments. I didn't want to be that person.

I used to love junk food and fast food. What is not to love. It is easy, quick and tasty. But then you have surgery, and then you start counting calories and looking at labels and you realize how much crap you are putting into your system. For me, it was a wake up call. This surgery saved my life, but I know it is now all on me to see the rest through. You can do it. You are already doing it.

Good luck to you.

I am a junk food junkie as well and I haven't missed the food I used to crave. I love any type of Mexicann food and I was addicted to Diet Coke, 10 cans a day, before surgery. After surgery everything changed for me. I needed a constant in my diet and the LapBand provided that for me. Now I don't have a choice, I eat "good" because I want to live longer and the band limits my choices. I don't regret it all.

I'm not going to lie. I missed my pal food for the first 2wks and even had a good cry over the loss of "friendship".

Once you move past that then you feel better and appreciate the small amounts you can eat.

Good luck!

I went through the same issues right before banding. I dont miss those foods because I know I can have them every once in a while. Being banded doesnt mean you wont ever be allowed to have any of it it. To me its about being satisfied on much less. I am in my green zone and know how lucky I am to have gotten there with 3 fills. Good Luck and just know what your feeling is normal.

See you Kat

So this is a common topic of conversation for banders, but it is new for me and I felt I needed to vent a little on the subject. I got my surgery date set last week. I will be having it on Sept 27. I am very excited and ready for the next step in my healthy lifestyle. The problem I am having is the sadness and loss of knowing I will not be able to gorge on foods of any type. I have been drowning myself in food for so long, I honestly don't know what I will do. I have been doing Atkins successfully for the past 3 months and have lost 50 pounds. Ever since I was informed about my surgery date, I have had a really hard time sticking to my diet and have cheated twice in one week. I would love to hear how everyone else has conquered this obstacle in their pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

I went through the same thing Kristal - I did STRANGE things and even surprised myself!! I have NEVER been a food "hider" and binger - just always overate at meal times. A couple weeks before my surgery I bought a pack of chocolate covered honey buns and HID THEM above the cabinets so my husband and son couldn't steal them and eat them!! LOL I thought i'd lost my mind... if you read my blog I think I even made an entry about it.

Of course - my fear was for NOTHING because I am 7 mos post op have 7.25cc in a 12cc band and can eat whatever and however much of anything I want. THAT'S for another post though....

Don't beat yourself up - it's normal!! We're all ADDICTS - we respond and do as addicts do!

everything you wrote i felt too!!! food was my best friend - a friend who had the band went through a very long period of not caring at all about food - had to set timers to remind herself to eat - you gotta be kidding me i told her - she said nothing tasted good and she just ate bc she had to - i postponed having the surgery for that reason - i love food - i'm a foodie, my family is all foodies - we try to outdo each other at every family gathering - we LOVE food- well guess what - i still love food - i look fwd to every meal - i just pick my favorite things and pick healthy things - i love crab, shrimp, tuna, sushi - and thats what i eat - small portions so that $20 lb of crab lasts me all week - i am satisfied with the small portions - thats what the band does for me - but i still have to make good choices - i went on vacation 2 weeks ago and my old habits crept back in - not in the amount of food, but in the choices - i drank too much - ate candy, Cookies and ice cream and fried foods - small portions but wrong foods - but it tasted just as good as always - i gained 2.5 lbs - so when i got home i went back to ground zero - measured, choices, Water, shakes ... and guess what - i lost the 2.5 plus 2 more pounds the first week ... i figure it will take me 12-18 months to lose this weight - i can make good food choices for that period of time - then hopefully i will have changed what i like and don't like and will have learned new habits and will be able to enjoy some indulgences and still maintain the weight - after all i've over-eaten enough of those foods to cover the 12-18 months!!!!

good luck