:help: Okay. So i know now that i relied alot on food for comfort. I go back to work tomorrow and its a job i'm not really happy with. I don't know how to deal with it now that i just don't enjoy eating anymore.

Everytime i eat i'm so afraid of having a PB. I'm just nervous the whole time I can't enjoy the conversation or the food.

I would really like to know how do you deal with things now that you don't have the comfort of food? (for those who used food to cope)

Also if you could describe what a PB is like. Why do we have them? Do you feel them coming on?

I appreciate any advice i can get. Just wondering how to deal now that i feel it getting tougher and tougher.

1) breathe

2) emotional eating is part of what got you here in the first place. Yes, having a band is a sort of rude awakening about HOW MUCH you come to rely on food. I'm not going to lie, losing that form of comfort is a really tough adjustment...but it's just that, an adjustment. You are an amazing adaptable person. This will be tough for a bit but it's part of your journey.

If you don't already have help in the form of a mental health professional, I HIGHLY recommend you get some. I don't think ANYONE should go through the experience of bariatric surgery without some counseling. They can help you find the roots of your emotional eating and how to cut that off at the pass...or how to find OTHER more healthy ways to comfort yourself.

Get help. I'm serious. It takes a very strong person to say "you know, I need a little guidance".

3) Don't fear a PB. Avoid them, yes, but no need to fear. I believe we ALL have to PB at some point to be able to understand what they are, how they feel and how to avoid.

Always chew chew chew. ALWAYS. Watch bite sizes. Watch out for textures.

For me, a PB hurts. Yes, it's pain and the first several times I did it made me panicked. It feels like what it is..something stuck in your esophagus.

It's not something to be feared. You get scared, you get tense. You get tense, your muscles get tense. And you set yourself up for a PB.

You are fine. BREATHE!!

:tea:

And a {{{hug}}}

I'm not am emotional eater, so I can't provide personal stories/advice there.

I've never been taken by surprise with a PB. Always, always can tell it's coming on. It starts off with the "stuck" feeling. If it's going to turn into a PB, I get a bit of referred pain on either side of my belly button. Band area begins to feel even mor emiserable and truly hurt. Pain kicks in my spine between my shoulder blades. Pain increases. Sliming starts. At this point I can usually actively spit out the slime, which makes me gag, which is usually enough to get the PB underway OR, maybe half the time, the wretching does something to clear the PB without food having to come up.

Thank you to both of you for your advice.

I guess i just need reassurance that this isn't going to be the worse thing i have ever done.

I see i'm getting alot of views but not alot of replies. If you have anything at all to say i'd appreciate it.

Thanks again for the support.

I've never PB'd but I've come close once or twice and believe me, its nowhere near as bad as a horrible nauseated gastro vomit, THAT's what I'm terrified of. Everytime one of my kids gets sick (it happens often with three) I spend days virtually having panic attacks over it, its the only thing I'm completely irrational and silly over. I was bad before banding but now I'm a hundred times worse.

As to the coping without food - well that was me posting that exact question twelve months ago now. Its never ever even bothered me, honestly. I am so so excited by the changes to my life, so much happier and I'm just not that person anymore. I dont need it, I dont do it - except in times of severe boredom, lol - and as to that sometimes I give in, sometimes I dont, with boredom its easy to find other things to do, but sometimes I just want to be the old me for half an hour and I believe that's fine to do - certainly hasnt stopped me losing weight.

I do sit down to eat though sometimes and just wish I could hoe in like a normal person. It gets vaguely tiresome sometimes picking through a meal slowly and carefully. I can only eat the old way with certain foods, none of which are particularly good ones.

I guess what I would add is that you will learn every day, and there's no way to have all the answers right now...how to cope with stress without food is a BIG DEAL. It was for me, anyway. Not such a big deal that I haven't learned how to do it...most of the time anyway...but it's been an inner exploration, and I've had to figure out how to cope with things without drowning them in food. How it will work for you, and how you will change is hard for someone else to guess at. I do know that you will figure it out. Keep asking questions, and read what others are doing and have done. I learned a lot from the members here at LBT.

Good luck to you!

Cindy

hey, for the emotional eating, don't hesitate to consider some counseling. it can help.

My doc actually has you go through some before you can get the surgery as one of his pre-requisites. you don't do it, you don't get the band from him.

Sometimes the therapist may recommend the band with continued counseling, or may even recommend against it.

Just my 2 cents. It can be a very vital part of your weight loss program.

I think exchanging exercise for emotional eating might be a wise choice for me. Now when think I want to eat, I'll go on a walk or stretch or something. I can't do real exercise yet because my date was also july 5th, but I try to move around or something or distract my self by trimming/buffing my fingernails to keep my hands busy or just drink some really good crystal light to fill me up. I can't wait til I go through an emotional crisis when I have my elipitical machine to back me up and put me in a sweat... or a boyfriend could do that too

But I wouldn't put down counselling either. Find the right one for you and see them at least once a week. There are REASONS you are emotionally eating, and you can work through them. A lot of my problems are rewarding myself with food or punishing myself with it. I will see my counsellor when I go back to school in mid-August about it. It's important that I want to be a better human-being while changing the inside and outside. <<<<<<THIS IT! DO SO YOU, ON WORK TO TIME THE IS>>>>>>> THIS IS THE TIME FOR YOU! BE SELFISH AND DO WHAT YOU THINK WORKS FOR YOU! You (I) gained the weight on your (my) own, and we both need to realize that we are the ONLY ones that are gonna take it off... besides won't you feel better as the weight comes off.

I imagine I'll be doing less and less emotional eating as I will be doing emotional SHOPPING as the weight comes off

I've been in counceling for 2 months now, and while I can't say it's 'helped' yet, it is helping. We're diving into stuff I have avoided for years, and I am hoping that 'dealing' with that stuff will help me deal with stuff in the future, hence, avoiding emotional eating.

In the meantime, get a journal. If you are angry, or upset, just slam it all out into that thing. You don't even ever need to read it again, just get it out. Hell, type it into a word document, don't save it, print it, and then shred it. It really just helps to get it OUT, even if no one else sees it.

As for the PB, it's kind of going to happen at some point, and while it sucks, you'll learn to know what it is..