I am having a really hard time during this liquid stage! I have also quit smoking at the same time and I am really down. As I do the liquid stage, I think to myself "Do i really need the lap-band if I have this much self control now?" Then I think how many times i have been on a diet and get to goal and then gain all my weight back. I am a self pay so i think that might have a lot to do with my questions to myself. Do I really want to spend the money on this if i can do this on my own. Just a little confused right now..........................

Ummmmm....I have had this thought ten thousand times and I am at the same point you are now....You had it right though...you have already tried and failed how many times. Only 2% of people who loose large amounts of weight on their own ever keep it off...all this stuff you already know and so do I and so does everyone on this site. What you are feeling right now is just a little cold feet....preop jitters....scared that you will miss eating and using food as your source of comfort. I was too. But I asked myself one question: Would I rather loose the weight and feel healthy and have more confidence in the way I look or would I rather continue to eat myself into oblivion. The answer was simple for me. By the way, I quit smoking on January 2, 2005(Exactly 19 days before my wonderful father died from small cell lung cancer caused by smoking, which he had quit over 20 years ago).....the hardest addiction next to food for me...I have gained 60 pounds in the 19 months since then so if your gonna quit smoking now (and you need to) this is the absolute best time for the band!

Make your decision and stick with it through the doubts.....you'll be glad you did............LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH!:hug:

I was also self-pay and had a very difficult time on the liquid stage. However, without meaning to offend, let me ask you this. How many times before have you been on a diet, any kind of diet, where for the first few weeks you had great willpower only to end up losing that willpower and motivation and not succeed with the diet? I have done great on a diet more times than I can count. However, something would always happen after the first few weeks or month and I would cheat. Then I would figure, well, I cheated, so I may as well eat this too. Next thing you know I have once again failed at the diet and gained the weight back. With the band, that won't happen. You may not always make the best food choices, goodness knows I don't, but the difference is, your band is not going to let you eat very much of those bad choices. You are limited to how much you can eat.

The liquid stage is tough. I was on pure liquids for 3 weeks prior to my surgery. I cheated once. But, you have to look at the reward you will get, which is your band and a new, healthier you. I know you can do this, just keep coming here for support. We have all been there at one time or another and I am sure the majority will agree that the liquid diet was worth it in the long run.

Dear Booda - I too had the same feeling as you. What I did was "test" myself. I made a decision that I was going to do it on my own and I promised myself that if I couldn't do it on my own this last time that I would pursue the Lab-Band which to me is the best option out there. As you might have guessed, I failed my own test and am now scheduled to be banded August 16th. If you "truly" feel you can do it on your own then DO IT!!! That would be awesome and great and a total money saver and no surgery and follow-ups to go through. But promise yoursel that if you fail you'll do the right thisng for your health's sake and for your own well being period. That's what I did to come to this juncture. Best of luck to you. I'm sure that it will all work out for you in the end.

LadysMAn

I know some people may fire some blame at me.... but start smoking again. You can tackle that monster later. I also had a hard time doing both. Started smoking again and it calmed me down quite a bit.

It is always wise to choose your battles. Smoking is not healthy, obesity is not healthy. You've got to be realistic, and it is very difficult to fight a war on many fronts...then again, some people find it easier to quit everything at once....you have to know yourself.

I wish you the best in all of your battles!

Cindy

I'll bet all of us who had to do a diet prior to surgery share your emotions. I went through the very same thing. "If I can do this FOR the surgery, maybe I can do this INSTEAD of the surgery" kept haunting me. Finally, I sat quietly and thought about why I decided on lapband in the first place. IF I could have lost it on my own, I would have. One of the thousands of diets would have stuck. I just wasn't willing to lose a chunk of weight and put it back on (and the extra 10 to 20 more) to give myself one last test. I'd really already done it with my last diet. It seems like an excellent idea to try if you have an ounce of doubt, though. Be certain about the band before taking the leap so that you don't regret later.

Your heart will lead you the right way for YOU.

I've had the same feelings. I lost about 12 pounds in the last month, then started going back up. So, even though I know I can lose a few pounds here and there, I also KNOW that I can't keep at it for long enough to lose all I need to, let alone maintain it, without some help.

Thanks for all the support! I was having a really bad day when I made that thread but it's getting better. I still have 16 days of liquids and banding! Then another 2 weeks after my band of liquids. I have lost 9 lbs in less then a week (most of it is water) but if i keep up at this rate i will ALMOST be a my goal by the end of the liquid stage

I felt the same way. I didn't have a specific liquid pre diet but I was supposed to lose 10% of my weight pre-surgery. It was a real pain and I didn't exactly make it. I almost told myself to give strict dieting one more chance. But then I kept thinking if I had actually gotten the band when I first started looking into it (around a year and half ago) I would probably have lost at least 50 pounds!

BTW, please don't take up smoking again. It can really hinder the healing process and its hard enough to heal. Wishing you all the luck and love and peace I can.