Still have to "work" HARD after lapband???

gentlespirit · June 1, 2006

I think the work involved for me is mostly mental. I have to work on making good food choices to put into my small capacity pouch. I have to work on resisting the craving for sweets, which go down WAY to well if I give in! I have to work on paying attention to the difference between head hunger and pysical hunger. I need to work on exercising at least a little...I'm up to walking about a mile a day, when before I did as little as possible, and I'm actually looking forward to the walks. I consider that huge progress, even though I need to keep increasing it.

But through it all, the band keeps reminding me about making better choices, resisting sweets (for the most part), etc. I haven't yet had the PB or sliming experience, but I'm sure at some point I will and it will reinforce the lessons I'm learning. As others have said, it's a learning process...

Emily

Marimaru · June 1, 2006

For me, I have to count my calories and exersize to lose weight. If I'm not doing those things, I maintain. I haven't gained since having my band put in, if I'm not losing, I'm maintaining. It sounds like I have to diet hard, but it's alot easier to eat 1300 calories a day when you aren't STARVING (or you've already blown past it by noon). So I make good choices when I eat, make sure I don't take in liquid calories other than maybe some milk every now and then, and it's really easy to keep my calories where I want them to be.

Fauxnaif · June 1, 2006

Yes, you do still have to work hard. Trust me. Losing the first 80 pounds was easy, the next 30 was more difficult and I still want to lose about 20-25 more and haven't been too successful with it since I haven't been willing to diet or exercise.

Anyone who tells you it is easy, either is not very far out or not close to goal-or both.

Edited to say that there are the lucky few (1% maybe) who do lose all their weight easily with the band. Oh, to be one of them!

Paulax · June 1, 2006

Great thread people............that is why I come here.

:clap2:

bandedmama · June 1, 2006

sorry...I can't figure out how to quote someone!:

"The band has been much more work than I anticipated. Like everything in life, it is an individual thing, but it is not a miracle cure. I am grateful to be banded..." (pugmum)

I completely agree with pugmum - I was banded 10/04 and lost 85 pounds (out of a hopeful 100) in 14 months by the "everything in moderation rule". I had to be unfilled in late February due to plastic surgery in March of this year, and had subsequent complications which has extended when I can get a refill. In 3 1/2 months I have regained 30 pounds. I have no control when it comes to food now - I became so dependant on the band helping me to feel comfortably full, a feeling that I rarely ever had pre-band. So without a fill and being able to eat anything, I have been! Its sad and its depressing, but the unexpected (unfill) can take a toll -- so although it does take some work to figure out how you can help make the band work with you, it has been a harder lesson for me to figure out how to maintain control when that control mechanism is taken away. Wow - I sound like such a downer! Sorry - I do love my band -- but there did become a point (when I reached the last 20 pounds mark) where it really felt like dieting. Now - I can't wait to get back to that last 20 pounds mark! Good luck! Even though sometimes it feels like work, its OK - because you actually see & feel results!

Kristin

marys · June 2, 2006

i think the band requires a lot of work - more work then I thought when i was banded. Am i upset - not really. because i realize now i would never ever have been successful at losing and keeping the weight off without the band. i can still fail but i think my long term chances of success are higher. the band forces lifetime changes - not the weeks, months or years of dieting changes that always eventually fall by the wayside. I lost over 70lbs twice in my adult life and kept it off for almost 4 years - was even a personal trainer and did triathalons but all my bad habits slowly came back and i always put the weight back on. And there are some changes i would never have made without the band - no matter what diet i was on - for example, i always got up at nighr and picked at food and ate food in the am before Breakfast - not anymore. i always ate to the point of being stuffed not full - STUFFED - i ate everything on my plate plus more and i never ever chewed - i would also eat in an entire meal in under 5 minutes. All of these behaviors are pretty much gone with the band and over time they will serve me well toward maintaining weight loss. But i still count calories, make good choices, try not to snack, don't drink after eating, etc. and exercise (tho not as much as i should) which i consider hard work. so yes, it is work but a little different type of work.

Momotrips · June 2, 2006

That's my reasoning exactly. I'm a great dieter when I'm seeing results, but when I hit a snag I fall hard. The band will allow me (I hope) to see results, not feel hunger and in turn encourage me to exercise more. I generally like good quality food anyway, I just like a lot of it. I'm not a big snacker, or drinker, so I'm counting on this being a huge help to me. My sister had open gastric banding several years ago at 325lbs and lost 135 pounds, but never got to goal. She's had problems and has gained back about 40 pounds. She's a grazer and should have had RNY instead. I know that our issues are different and that the lap band is right for me. I also realize there will be a long road ahead. I just don't want to wake up one day and be 300 pounds - I know it's possible because I never thought I'd weigh 180 or 200 or 230, either. I can always use my triplet pregnancy as an excuse, but I suspect I'd have gotten here anyway - it's always been a battle.

The band will be my ultimate tool and encouragement. Luck to us all.

Melissa

Sugar Land, TX

DonnaB · June 2, 2006

Donna, I think you're misreading here. Banded 1/05 has been banded for a year and 5 months, not just 5 months. Much more realistic, even with ice cream involved.

OMG - you mean it's NOT 2005? What happened to 2005? What happened to the 90's? The 80's?

Man I'm gettin' old fast! lol

Of course you're right, I did misread the date. The rest of my novel, I stand by! lol

gadgetlady · June 2, 2006

OMG - you mean it's NOT 2005? What happened to 2005? What happened to the 90's? The 80's?
Man I'm gettin' old fast! lol

Of course you're right, I did misread the date. The rest of my novel, I stand by! lol

's ok. I had to check myself 3 times before I posted to make SURE it was 2006! Often I'll see a movie or something from, say, 1993, and I think to myself, "that was made just recently" (DUH!).

Would that it were still the 1980's. My favorite decade!

cashley · June 2, 2006

This is a great thread... it is something that people who are considering the band really need to see...

I'll admit I didn't visit this site prior to banding. I researched the Inmed (spelling) site and my doctor's site and several other of the big "doctors" sites. But somehow I missed this place until after I was about 3 days from being banded.

Would I change my mind had I read here? No! But I wouldn't have been so stupid about thinking it was a $17,000 mircle cure. I would have known that there would still be hard times, and I would have known that it doesn't always work (if there are other medical issues)...

I'd still do it but would have come to the table less "dumb"