Hello Everyone. I am a newbie and have signed on for surgery Nov. 29th. It took me over a year to decide to do this, and I am really looking forward to some serious life changes. I have begun to realize though that I have been way overeating since signing up. It's like I am thinking this two months is the last two months in my life I will enjoy the food I love, so I am having a lengthy farewell party. I know this is not functional thinking, and not a good way to start out on this exciting journey. Have any of you had this problem, and how did your thinking about food change?

Nancy, what can I say after Jack's eloquence. Well put, Jack.

It was almost two months for me between commitment and surgery and I, too went through a period of mourning for my anticipated loss of food and my old way of eating, but the reality turned out for me to be a freedom and a blessing. I was more deprived on some of the extreme and wacky diets I tried than I am now. Now, I'm certainly careful and calorie conscious, but if I really want something I go ahead and have it, just a bit. I find, however, that I'm feeling so empowered with the weight loss that I don't miss a lot of what I used to crave and eat before. And it actually feels good to be empty sometimes. I don't think my stomach was empty for years.

I'm glad you found us. All the best to you, Nancy. You have a whole new life ahead.

oh, your not alone!!! I went nuts before too, along with most people. Its all part of the reason were here to begin with. Give yourself a bit of a break, be good to yourself, and just remember it's all gonna come off eventually after your banded, but no sense making the process even longer.

Oh yeah....the vast majority of us went thru the same thing....no worries....it'll change once you are banded!! I lost count of how many "last suppers" I had! LOL Looking back, I'm glad I did!

Nancy, I ate so much that I couldn't wait until the Pre-op diet. Luckily I only had one month to wait. So it was 2 weeks of eating whatever and 2 weeks of eating nothing. I fretted so much about the pre-op diet sometimes I couldn't sleep or I'd wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I would not be able to do it. It all fell into place... and the same thing will happen to you. It's only been 7 weeks for me since the surgery and I still enjoy food, just not so much of it. Because you must eat slow and chew chew chew you actually take the time to taste your food. Hope this helps you.

I gained weight during my last supper phase. Nerves and the thought of never ever being able to eat this ever again...

My sister keeps asking me where I find my energy when I am having so little, but I think I have more energy now because I am not eating crap any more!!!

Pre surgery I napped almost every day. The only time I've napped since surgery was the few days after surgery.

Best wishes to you Nancy!

You're not alone...I'm currently in the pigging-out stage. Quite frankly I'm getting disgusted with myself! I've been eating massive amounts of food for the past two weeks.

Thank goodness my pre-op liquid diet starts in 2 weeks - I'm so ready to hand over control to my band.

Ah, The Last Supper Phase. I did that. I called it Green's Farewell Foodcourt Tour. I ate barely cooked 2 filet mignon every night for the last three nights before my operation along with diced new potatoes sauteed with onions and fresh rosemary. Mmmm.

Everyone seems to have 'Last Supper Syndrome' and finds ways to compensate for the imagined Loss Forever of Enjoyment of Eating.

Answer these questions honestly:

1) If I am not for MYSELF...who will be:

2) If I am only for MYSELF.....what am I;

3) If not NOW.....when?

I purposely chose the holiday season so I would NOT have to face the orgy of overeating and depression holidays brought to me for so many years....

You are choosing to step into the Light....out of the Shadow....

and the Dragon of Overeating must be confronted and DEFEATED--somewhere and sometime....

so where do you choose?

I have to remind myself that 'my STOMACH does not get to control the REST of me'.....

of course, for decades I lost that crucial choice.....

So you have to find and confront those forces that result in Overeating....

It is good practice to begin your self-discipline NOW....

and finally.....I eat to live...instead of the other way around....

COURAGE!!! ACTION!!! NOW!!!!

I see that Jack is off his meds again.

Seriously, it's perfectly normal to feel this way. I gained 5 pounds between my approval and my surgery date. Just do the best you can, but the less you gain, the less you will have to lose in order to reach your goal weight.

Dont worry, nancy, i went mental too, and ate myself silly! but i knuckled under when it came time to do the preop diet (with help from everyone here) and now im banded and down 21 lbs. so just hang in there kiddo, youre headed in the right direction!

Thank you all for your help. I'm glad to know I'll have support through this from all of you.

I will be banded on October 19th and I am in the "Last Supper" phase. Next week I will be on the pre-op diet. But really thinking this over I have come to the conclusion that when I say to myself this is the last piece of pizza I will be eating and I enjoy it dearly and feel satisfied.........the fulfillment of the "last pizza" doesn't stay with me. So by eating the LAST of each kind of food really doesnt make sense. Until all this craziness stops by the pre-op diet I can then more on from this phase. The emotional "last Food" is nerve racking.

The last supper does make emotional sense for we are saying a

formal good bye to a way of life. Remember that we will never be able to guzzle the way we used to pre-band and some foods that are favourites will prove to be complicated to eat, perhaps too complicated. This was why I ate a lot of undercooked filet mignon immediately before my op. I had heard that meat can turn into indigestible "golf balls."

The band is good, however, and I have been loosing weight since Sept. 7, the day when I was done.

Someone commented that you are saying goodbye to food forever but you are only saying goodbye to it for a brief period of time. You do the pre op if your surgeon has one and then you have your eating plan post op to follow. After that you can still eat any food you enjoy, just in smaller portions. I can eat anything that I could eat preband but just in smaller quantities. I also choose not to eat the junk as often now cuz I'm no longer starving all day long.

Don't worry about having last supper syndrome, so many do. Just try telling yourself that you are not giving up food forever, just giving it up to prepare and heal after surgery.