Somebody give me a clue - I'm doing it to myself again! You know how you go on a diet, do okay for awhile, then just start eating mindlessly? Here I am, doing it with the band!! I've been logging my food religiously - the past week or so I[ve eaten all kinds of sweets - bad for you worthless food - and its gone down easier than the food I should eat.. just when people are starting to notice that I'm making this effort and making progress - even the toxic ones like my mom who would never say anything good without a dig...lol...you guys know what I mean...so what gives? I need some of your expertise - I recognise I'm doing it but what can I do to stay focused without beating myself up to the point where I feel like I don't deserve to succeed??

:faint: :faint: :faint: :faint: :faint:

Well, first of all you need to decide that you're life is worth the effort it will take to be successful. Here's a tip--it is...you ARE worth it.

Next, you will be more successfull if you select a daily plan which includes a variety of foods which you enjoy. If you treat this like a "diet" instead of a lifestyle change then you will probably run out of steam and fall off the wagon. Most of us were this way and that's why we needed the band!

This is a life change. You will need to eat properly from now on. Yes, you will splurge once in a while and that's OK but first you need to get your head in the game and get serious. You CAN do it if you're serious about it. You deserve to be successfull!

Now that's scary. That's the advice I've had forever...eat right! I've never been able to do it, even though I know how. Is it easier with the lap band? If not, why am I doing this???? I have never been able to pull myself up by my own bootstraps!

What's scary? My advice? If so, sorry but it's true. For example, if someone knows how to do it but chooses not to then there is no reason the band should work.

Losing weight IS easier with the band but it's not a magic cure. It won't make someone never feel hungry and it will do nothing for head hunger or emotional eating...but it will help someone feel satisfied with less food when the person is following the "bandster lifestyle" (when they are adjusted properly and have restriction).

That's all the band can do...its a piece of plastic. The success that many have had with the band ultimately came from within themselves.

Sue, are you gaining? If not, you and your body may just be going through a transition. Losing the weight that has insulated us is difficult, losing food as our best friend is difficult. I have had many plateaus and long periods without loss when I needed and my body needed to adjust. I am going through one right now.

Just start getting back on track. Remember how it felt when you were heavier. Track your non scale victories (NSV). Think about things differently - instead of thinking morning exercise walk, think a morning walk to enjoy the nature and prepare to start the day...

Good luck. Celeste

Wow, I am feeling the same way right now. I am waiting on my next fill, which is Thursday. I find myself able to eat so much more and taking advantage of it! Oh, and don't even get me started on all the candy i've consumed today. I will make a sincere effort to eat healthier tomorrow, then Thursday I'll be on liquids. I do think even in my moments of over-indulgence it is still SO much less that how I ate before the band. But I do need to work on the quality of my choices.

Lapbandit - nicely said. I AM worth it. Sometimes I mix up being worth it as needing to reward myself with food, but it is really the opposite. The reward comes WITH the hard work...not INSTEAD of the hard work!

I've been doing the same thing a fair bit recently - but then I've not gained and even continued to lose so I cant be doing as badly as I think.

Ive lost all this weight so far without dieting but I truly feel I'm in need of a "program" for this last 10kg or so. Starting out on a new "diet" will get me in the mood again I think.

One thing though - exercise for me is no longer linked to what I eat so I dont only do it when I'm being "good". I've kept running regardless and I think that makes a difference.

TruBlueSue,

Been there; done that. It's been really hard this week with all of the (evil!) candy in the house for halloween!

Better today, though because I finally remembered that someone told me, "If you fail to plan, then you'd better plan to fail!"

Taking that to heart, I'm starting to make a weekly dinner menu. I take a lunch to work (so that I won't be tempted by burger/fries from the cafeteria). I have my Protein shake at Breakfast.

Maybe something like that could be of some help?

I know that I fall off the wagon so to speak because I get sometimes get too afraid of success ... what if I really do get to my goal weight and then gain the weight back? That negative thinking takes over (so easily) and then next thing I know, I'm sabotaging myself. I am beginning to recognize the thoughts earlier ... so that I can talk myself out of the negativity with positive affirmations ... but, like I said, this week has been especially hard with the halloween candy.

Somebody give me a clue - I'm doing it to myself again! You know how you go on a diet, do okay for awhile, then just start eating mindlessly? Here I am, doing it with the band!! I've been logging my food religiously - the past week or so I[ve eaten all kinds of sweets - bad for you worthless food - and its gone down easier than the food I should eat.. just when people are starting to notice that I'm making this effort and making progress - even the toxic ones like my mom who would never say anything good without a dig...lol...you guys know what I mean...so what gives? I need some of your expertise - I recognise I'm doing it but what can I do to stay focused without beating myself up to the point where I feel like I don't deserve to succeed??

:faint: :faint: :faint: :faint: :faint:

Thank you so much for your honesty! I have been feeling this way already and I'm only 3 weeks banded! I was ashamed of saying anything to anyone because I'm "supposed" to be hyped with motivation right? Well, that lasted the 1st 2 weeks when just a Protein shake held me over to the point where I had to force myself to eat later on to get my protein in for the day then my appetite came back with a vengeance :hungry: and I started mindlessly picking on things like you said, "worthless". No type of nutritional value. Worse of all, now I know that certain things that were supposed to be taboo because they would not go down well have and so the fear factor is no longer there. I think I may be due for a fill way sooner than scheduled. I need all the support I can get til then:help: Thanks again for helping me be able to get this off my chest:hug:

All of you inspire me. I had family come in from overseas the last ten days; nobody but my husbnd knows about my band, so I couldn't very well say no thanks to going out to dinner with them, etc., and couldn't turn down a gift of my absolute favorite candy (that I can't get in the US) without looking (to them) like I was terminally (or mentally LOL) ill. So, to get it over with, I ate all of it over two days, and tried to get on with eating right, but wasn't too successful...

So today, I weighed myself - and have lost the weight I gained over the last two weeks plus a little more! Oh, the relief of realising that if I work with the band that the band will work for me...

Thanks for being a place where I can vent and whine and generally do all those things I used to stuff inside when I'd stuff myself!!

You always have such great things to say. I am back on the straight and narrow. Family went back to the UK; there's no more Cadbury's Crunchie bars for me to get my hands on, and I'm cooking again...

Now I've got to get myself off my butt when I get home from work and get in some exercise.

Thanks guys...