I'm scheduled to have Lap-Band surgery August 11. I'm very excited but nervous too. After trying every diet on earth, and failing at all of them, I'm hoping this will help me. I need to lose about 60-70 lbs. But there's that little voice saying, "Why do you think this is going to work when nothing else has?"

I'm an emotional eater. I don't have to be hungry to eat. I'll eat when I'm anxious, depressed, stressed, happy, you name it! I would like to know if after getting the Lap-Band, if any of you experienced a decrease in the emotional eating. I hear that you're not hungry but like I said I don't have to be hungry to want to eat. Does the Lap-Band help you to not want food as much?

Hope to get some good responses. Thank you.

SarahinTyler

Hey my profile pic wont show up on posts!!!! It says it's on there though when you go into edit profile....anyone know what I can do???

Case in point - I'm having lunch right now - Peanut Butter on a few crackers. I've just been to the gym and had an awesome workout, what my body really desires is aobut 20 crackers with peanut butter, it's looking for a huge carb hit, afterall I've just run 5km and lifted weights for 40 minutes. Reality - I am just nibbling my four crackers because peanut butter on crackers gets stuck for me, its difficult to eat. By the time I get through them, the desire for 20 will have gone away.

But I agree, its an individual thing.

I'm only 5 weeks out. I'm EMOTIONAL about that!

Does my band help? Nah, I'll still be defiant. Difference is, the band doesn't allow stuff, I can't even imagine eating potato chips now. They'd come up so quick! My first month was so silly. I had no idea how to think about anything .. and had no restriction. Now, it's hard to get anything down - and I'm afraid of my food choices. It's hard to get all the Water down. It's hard to be good to me.... it was before - it is now. If I had the ability to not eat when I had an emotion, I wouldn't have had to get the band. It's a tool - to help you not to eat SO MUCH. But you can still eat. You can fill yourself up with stuff. It's all going to be obvious to you - that it's going to be your choice, not as much emotion.

Funny, when ever we cheat - we only cheat ourselves.

I have only been banded 4 weeks so I do not claim to be an expert yet on all that the band can do for you and my education is not in psychology but.. I was just discussing the other changes that I feel like lap band is already made. I am an OCD person...aren't we all and I really think that is was tied to the relationship I had with food. I never thought my house was clean enough, never thought I was a good enough wife or mother and I never thought I got enough to eat. Now that the food issue is better under control I have noticed that I let my house stay a little messier and I am a little more relaxed. For example I could not stand for their to be laundry in the hamper. I would stay up late at night and get up early in the morning trying to keep all of the laundry done at all times? Now I am not sure if you can even open the door to my laundry room but we all still have plenty of clean clothes in the closet and towels to use in the bathroom. Call me crazy but food had a hold over more areas than just my weight!

I think this will help you with your emotional eating...before being banded I would grab a sandwich and eat it on the go, not any more. I have to take my time eating or it will come back up. You will have to take small bite and chew, and chew, and chew. All that chewing that you will be doing will help with the emotional side of eating. I have went from a size 22-24 to a size 8. It has not been an easy journey, but I would take it again in a minute. Hang in there, you will find it will be well worth it.:tea:

For me, I think it has helped with the emotional eating, most of the time. The band has reduced the feeling of hunger...and I am satisfied with less food....Overall, I say yes, it does help with emotional eating, IF you are willing to get in there, roll up your sleeves and do the heavy lifting.

This is exactly how I feel about it. I've been seeing a therapist since I decided to get the band, who helped me with the emotions of the banding process and is helping me with the changes in my life. For me, this has helped with the emotional eating, as has the band itself. What the band does is keep me to eating a reasonable portion of whatever I'm eating. It also cuts out the noise that used to be in my head that was always thinking about food. I still have pockets of noise, but it's only about 10% of what it used to be. 10% I can usually quash on my own. And if I can't, well, now I give in to the unhealthy food 2% of the time instead of 98% of the time.

The band doesn't go to the gym for me, but losing weight is a motivator itself. It's like a drug you want more of!

I really wouldn't trade my band for anything. For me, it's a life saver and it helps, but doesn't cure, emotional eating.

I am an emotional/boredom eater. The band does not help you not eat when you are not hungry. The band WILL help you eat less, at any given point in time, whether you were hungry or not when you started eating. I am 2 years out, and I have lost 65 lbs. The slow loss, is because of emotional eating and night snacking. I am in counceling trying to help me get some control in other areas of my life, because eating is my 'thing' that I can control. Granted, once I have lost weight, it's been gone, it doens't come back, so for me, the band is a godsend, because even though I have to 'diet' to lose weight, when I fall off the wagon, I'm only eating enough to maintain, not to gain, so I can pick up right where I left off.

HOnestly it won't help you to not eat, nothing will maybe counseling. I have had alot of success with my band and I am an emotional eater too so I know how you feel. I have lost 123lb and I still have days like today whre I want o eat just because, I pray I exercise and I talk to myself alot. The band won't allow you to overeat (that has been my experience) not a huge amount and it will make you stay full but your mind has to be in tune and agreement that your belly is full. I had health issues high blood pressure, aching knees and I have been large for years all my adult life so it was in my opinion necessary. Think really hard about it and pray. My Dr always says "the band is a tool not a cure" and he is so right.

i was just banded on july 5th. since having the band i've realized how much of an emotional eater i was. I hope the band helps but for right now i can't say it does. I still want to eat the food but i can't. the urge is still there but i just can't satisfied it. I'm going to find a support group or a therapist because i think for us who are emotional eaters we need more then just the band. the band will stop you from eating alot of food but it will not help you deal with the emotions that cause you to eat.

hope this helps. :huggie:

My emotional eating is still there and I still fight it. I just try and "DO" something until it goes away. I stay busy, therefore I don't have time to sit and graze while watching soap operas. Speaking of which, Days of Our Lives is coming on in 10 minutes... gotta go.

Well you sure have gotten a lot of information here. I hope it's helping you make the desision.

I strongly recommend seeing a theripist before hand and after. The emotional stull is tough, but there are things you can do to help that. I got a puppy, every night we sit together and watch TV. She wants whatever I have, so I have learned to bring her a bone and hold it for her. Where food used to nurture me, Lucy has taken that place. Don't get me wrong it sure isn't all the time there are those times I eat and enjoy it. But the band has givin me an option I can either grab onto it and use it or not.

Good luck I love my band and I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Well, well, well. This is exactly where i'm at right at this minute. I'm an emotional eater too and just 21/2 weeks post op and going through the liquid mushie stage and finding it really really difficult mentally. I haven't had a fill as yet, but looking forward to it immensley. Sometimes, I just cry cause I don't know what else to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy with my decision, but it's harder than I ever imagined. My DH and mum are there for me, but they still don't know what I am really going through. It's tougher than tough, I'm going to fight these thoughts and hopefully it will make me a stronger more happier person in the long run. I hope this has helped. Everyone is different, but we all have a common goal.

I find also that if I remind myself that I may not be hungry but thirsty and then drink a glass of ice water, that helps a lot. I'm still not doing as well as I should consistently, because emotional eating is probably what my downfall is right now. Another thing that a Dr. recommended, when you're feeling the desire to eat something - snack on Cocoa Puffs - they work pretty well at satisfying the chocolate,munchy desire. Plus, you can't it too much!

I have read this thread and it has really opened by eyes to what is happening to me now. I have not had the surgery, but I am going through the procedures and requirements for my insurance. I have noticed that I am eating everything in sight and it doesn't make any difference whether I am hungry or not. I can be stuffed to the brim, but I will still eat. I know this is emotional and it has to do with my attitude with getting the surgery. Somewhere in the very recesses of my mind, I believe I need to eat all I can because I think I won't be able to do so afte I get the band.

Mind you, I do not want to ever eat like I do now, so there's where the band will come in. At least I hope so. So after saying all this, I was wondering, did anyone else have this problem before surgery?

I am trying to figure out how to get the word "NO" in my vocabulary.

Roberta

I have read this thread and it has really opened by eyes to what is happening to me now. I have not had the surgery, but I am going through the procedures and requirements for my insurance. I have noticed that I am eating everything in sight and it doesn't make any difference whether I am hungry or not. I can be stuffed to the brim, but I will still eat. I know this is emotional and it has to do with my attitude with getting the surgery. Somewhere in the very recesses of my mind, I believe I need to eat all I can because I think I won't be able to do so afte I get the band.

Mind you, I do not want to ever eat like I do now, so there's where the band will come in. At least I hope so. So after saying all this, I was wondering, did anyone else have this problem before surgery?

I am trying to figure out how to get the word "NO" in my vocabulary.

Roberta

RDUNN, this is what I call the "last supper phenomenon", where you pig out before surgery in case you're never able to pig out again. It happened to me, and to many others. Try to remember that you still can pig out with the band, at least until you have restriction. It's not like you'll never be able to eat again. That said, it's a common thing.