hi guys, I am not banded but I am definitely considering it and have a few consultations with various doctors scheduled this month, but I wanted to ask what kind of eating habits did you have before being banded and whether or not you have been successful at losing the weight.

If you have been successful at weightloss, are you where you hoped? Has anyone ever wished they had gotten at Reux-en-Y instead for the dumping syndrome?

I personally have pretty screwy eating habits. In order to lose weight I have to be on a vegetarian/vegan diet (which i am off of now because of weakness). It is the ONLY time I have ever had success (a -60 lb success at that). The temptation that follows me is unbearable unless i completely restrict it out of my life. (and its still bad unless I have exercising like crazy - which I no longer can do because of degenerative joint disease/rheumatism)

i wanted to know, can you guys resist getting 3 meximelts at taco bell instead of 2? are you still hungry or Truely full after restriction with just ONE taco? are you full, or FULL - like "this will do me for the rest of the night full"?

what about golden coral? can you really fit down everything you would have desired? When did you stop desiring as much food as before? Is it a real desire?

thanks

Golden Corral is a waste of money. There is no way I could eat enough for what they charge for the buffet.

Today, my 3yo son and I were running errands and we stopped in a little diner for lunch. I order him a hot dog, ff, and sprite. I ordered me a souvlaki on pita. That's it. No fries, nothing to drink. I ate a few of his fries, about 4 pieces of the souvlaki meat, and had a few bites of the pita bread. That's it! I was, however, still hungry but 3yo's don't sit still long enough for Mom to finish slowly, slowly chewing and eating, so I got a box and went home. Then I sat down and spent the next 20 min eating the rest of the sandwich. It was very yummy!

Compare this to pre-band, where I would have ordered the sandwich, the FF, a large sweet tea, and a side greek salad and would have eaten it ALL, and then had a full dinner. Plus Snacks. Geez, no wonder I was so fat.

So, yeah, it kind of changes how you think of food. It just isn't as important as it used to be. I still get the "oooooh, yummyyyyy!!!!!!!!!" experience with food, but with a whole lot less.

If you are really going to hold on to your food fantasies and not change your eating, you should think twice about WLS. Those are the habits that prevent weight loss with the band, and cause weight re-gain with RNY.

It's more than just feeling full on smaller amounts of food. It still takes effort and sacrifice, it's just that now, with my band, my efforts actually get me somewhere because I can do it so much more consistently.

Let's use your two examples:

Taco bell

before band - 1 Nacho grande, 1 supreme taco and a frito burrito

with band - 1/2 a nacho order

Golden Corral

before band - everything

with band - a few bites of a few things

Before the band I tried diets but my problem was that I couldn't resist the food demons and I would go binging after dieting.

Now, when I have good restrictions (which it took a few fills to get that) I have no problem with portion size. I do feel full and satisfied after one taco or whatever. And there's so many times I say "that looks so good but I literally couldn't eat another bite" and I'm serious!

Now, that said, I still think I'm a slower loser than some because I make bad food choices. I shouldn't be eating at Taco Bell, regardless of whether it's one taco or 5! It's junk food! I don't desire food in the same way I did before but I still get cravings for fast food or whatever, and I have to try to deal with it like I tried before, but I can deal with it better with my band b/c I can't deny myself Taco Bell for lunch and then go eat 8000 calories at dinner.

I'm really new to this but wanted to respond because I've seen a difference even though I'm not filled yet.

So before banding at Taco Bell (good example)

Two Burritos and Nacho's Supreme (wow that's a lot of caloreis)

After banding but before Fill

Two Soft Tacos and I'm stuffed.... (I'm hoping for only one taco after fill)

Also I've noticed that I can actually get full from a bowl of raw baby carrots. Before I could eat a bag and still be hungrey. This is how I force myself to get in my veggies.

My surgeon just asked me the same question yesterday when I went for my first fill. I am earing about 1/3 of what I was pre-band, which is really amazing to me. And I don't feel deprived, either...I can usually have a couple of bites of something if I really want it and then stop. It's like a miracle, and I'm SO thankful!

Emily

Before Banding: 2 Big Macs, 2 Lg orders of Fries, 2 apple pies, Lg Diet Coke, Lg Choc shake

After: 3 chicken nuggets!

I don't know what Golden Corral is so I can't give info there.

As for Taco Bell, I'm only 12 days out, and haven't actually eaten at Taco Bell yet, but I know pre-op I'd get 5 soft tacos and nachos bel grande, or I'd get a quesadilla and nachos. Judging from my hunger lately I'd get an order of pintos and cheese and it would last me all day.

RNY has its built in behavioral modification points, like dumping, as does banding, with PBs. Dumping (IMO) is basically "I can eat this without it being metabolized", which also IMO was a little too close to purging behavior. I know you don't truly purge it, but you're still eating something you know you shouldn't, and willing to face whatever the consequences will be to keep it from being metabolized. I know people with RNY who plan this -- "I really want this donut, but when I eat it I'm going to dump, but that's ok - I'll take the pain if it means I won't really absorb the badness." I don't know any banded people who say, "I know I shoudn't eat this, but I'll just PB it back up so I'm going to go ahead and eat it anyway". But that's just the people I know, and isn't necessarily representative of anything.

i did not eat healthy, i drank sodas. I ate late at night. I ate way over 8 oz of food, I ate Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. I ate fast. I drove and ate

Now I eat healthy, dont drink soda, dont eat late. I never eat over 8oz. I only eat lunch, snack and dinner. I eat slow and dont eat and drive

The quantity of the foods I ate astounds me! I won't go into the types of food, but you are all familiar with the styrofoam containers that are about five inches square, divided sections, closeable lid? Well, stuff two of those full of food and I could eat it, in one sitting! I swear, it just about makes me gag to think of stuffing all of that down into my body. I was never empty! Gross. *laughs*

Now? I eat 3/4 to 1 Cup of food and I'm done. I used to crave anything made with flour. Now it occassionally crosses my mind but I just shrug it off because I am too afraid of a PB to try it! Yay! I never had a sweet tooth, so that's not been a problem.

i wanted to thank everyone for your answers on eating before and after the band. I always thought I was different for being able to eat so much.. although I dont do it at every meal, it seems to be some months on and some months off where I get into these crazy food binges.

I never packed in so much food that I got physically sick- i just think my stomach must be two foot ball sizes instead of one.