I've noticed quite a few bandsters are still "dieting" and I wonder why some continue to be obsessed with dieting as opposed to changing behaviors, making healthier choices, incorporating exercise into their daily lives, etc. Let's talk about it.

I hear ya. The thing that works for me (and God knows I have been erratic!) is adding lots of fruits and vegetables then there is little room for too much sugary and fatty stuff.

I would rather stay this size (chubby) than diet the rest of my life.

Hmm...you also might ask, "Why is it that some people just keep getting fills to the point of being too tight rather than just "changing behaviors, making healthier choices, incorporating exercise into their daily lives."

The point is, we *do* have to make changes, and it's not easy! All this little band does is help us manage out hunger a little better. That's all. Unfortunately, there is a whole lot of other stuff that's involved in getting us to the point of obesity *besides* hunger.

Dieting, of course, doesn't really help with a lot of those issues. But, that doesn't mean that choosing to follow one is a bad thing. I've learned a heck of a lot about nutrition by dieting. Some diets, like Weight Watchers and Eat Right (which might just be a local program), really teach the basics of good nutrition. Even LA Weight Loss, which I despise for being too rigid and sales motivated, teaches good nutritional balance. And *any* diet can be used for a temporary period to make a change from "point A" to "point B", as long as the person then can transition to a normal, healthy, whole foods diet. (And with the band, that might be a little easier than it was pre-band, when going "off" the diet meant going hog wild!)

Personally, I don't "diet" per se, since being banded. But, I have changed how and what I eat. I eat much healthier, whole foods. Very little sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour products, saturated fats or trans fats. I journal everything I eat, and I recently started working out 3-4 times per week. Some people might consider that dieting, even though I'm not following a rigid "program". But for me, it's working pretty darn well. I'm happy, don't feel deprived in the least, and it's working.

Tami

I've noticed quite a few bandsters are still "dieting" and I wonder why some continue to be obsessed with dieting as opposed to changing behaviors, making healthier choices, incorporating exercise into their daily lives, etc. Let's talk about it.

Couple of things to consider. One, you may be cught up in semantics. I don't consider myself to be "dieting", but I do watch my carb intake, as I always do when I'm in "care" mode. So if I say I'm keeping an eye on my carbs, someone may interpret that to mean I'm dieting. Likewise, to some people, "diet" refers to any time that they're aware & paying attention to what they eat. We all have to do that, to a degree. I'm pretty sure that if you asked people to define what they meant when they used the word "diet", at least a few would actually be describing behavioral changes - above and beyond the behavioral supression normally associated with dieting.

Not sure how you mean "obsessed"...?

Also, different people get the band for different reasons. For some, it's a way to eat "normal", just less of it. For others, it's a way to diet without the constant hunger they associate with it. And on, and on...

My question is--can you really lose weight, even with the band, if you are not "dieting" to some extent? I mean, if you get banded, but continue to eat the same kinds of foods that made you fat in the first place, how much weight are you actually going to lose? I may have the occasionally treat now and then, but I have chosen to change my eating habits dramatically, and fill what small amount of space I have in my new stomach with healthy foods, not junk. I think that is the only way to maximize the success of the band--along with regular exercise, of course. But hey, that's just my opinion.

I don't diet at all. I eat and stop when I'm full now. I have gotten away from limiting myself. The band is doing its job.

I diet. I actively try to eat 1000 calories a day and 45 grams of Protein. I expect I will eat this quantity of food for the rest of my life, but that I will be less strict about staying under a particular calorie limit for long-term maintenance.

I got the band because before, in my dieting attempts, I would inevitably lose a lot of weight only to gain it back far more rapidly than I lost. I am naturally a quantity eater. Before being banded, I could (and did) eat a whole large pizza in one sitting. My brain told me to eat and eat, then eat some more. Now it doesn't.

I think there are (at least) two types of bandsters. Those who get the band to slowly change their eating behaviors and quantity and are satisfied losing at a more traditional bandster pace. Fabulous! I wholeheartedly support them! Then there are the bandsters who want the quickest weight loss possible. Those bansters use the band to help them do what they couldn't before -- make healthier choices and follow a particular diet and exercise plan to get to goal as quickly (and, hopefully safely) as possible. Then, gloriously, the band is there to protect and serve in maintenance as well.

There's nothing wrong with a bandster "still dieting." We'll all get to goal at our own pace. For me, I'm 34 years old, single and had 200 lbs to lose. If I let the band do it's job without dieting, it would take me years to get to goal. My way, I expect to be at goal this summer.

It's a very individual process.

As for exercise, I think some focus more on dieting because it's more efficient! It's easier to not eat 500 calories and lose weight than it is to walk for 2 hours on a treadmill to burn those same calories. I don't know many people who get and stay at goal without an exercise program though. It's part of the new lifestyle, I think.

I agree but I also think its personality dependent. My mum's a dieter - she loves to live her life on a "routine", she likes the discipline, it doesnt mean she doesnt enjoy her food or that she's obsessed in any way, she loves to make lists, shop to a plan, eat to a plan etc. She eats a normal level of calories becuase she's a normal weight, not trying to lose but she just likes to live that way.

I loathe it. I got the band so I'd never have to diet again. For me dieting makes me obsessed with food and breaking the diet. I eat more on a diet than when I'm not on one. It overrides my body's instincts, destroys my ability to make good choices when they're not dictated to me, it infers that at some point you come "off" the diet and if I do anything that's not on the plan I tend to go on a big bender. So for me, dieting is dysfunctional behaviour that I now resist.

I also eat everything now that I did before. I have not changed what I eat just how much I eat. It has worked great for me. Until now. I have come to a stand still and know that now I have to change what I eat and eat lower fat and lower carb foods. I guess you would call that a diet. But I deffinitly do not want to end up where I started. I have actaully gained 5 pounds this week. That has never happened to me. So now I am freaking out and I am going to be watching everything I put in my mouth. I think that any time you change the way you eat to lose weight it is considered a diet. Just my opinion though.

Hi I am one week banded and having issues on diet I want to diet and be good so it will work so I am interested in your experience I am going to try and join a gym and I am doing the high protein no sugar little carbs low calories. I hope it works i guess the worst thing is the brain trying to retrain it. :phanvan

To expand on what I said when I started this thread, and maybe I wasn't clear enough. "Dieting" to me is pills, and overall obsession with counting calories to the point where all you think about is what you're gonna eat next. This was prompted by several postings asking about various diet fads, not trying to make healthier choices. Let's continue the discussion.

I definitely agree with your overall premise, that we should be making healthy food and lifestyle choices for long-term weight loss and overall health. But, *in my opinion*, even pills and radical diets have their place, if used temporarily, such as during "bandster hell" before restriction is achieved, if the band has to be unfilled for a while, or even to break a plateau. Personally, I don't like a lot of processed diet products, because many of them contain unhealthy ingredients like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. So, rather than going on something like Slim Fast bars to break a plateau, I'd be more likely to simply fast for a day or two, or just eat solid Protein and green veggies for a couple of weeks. To each his own.

Tami

For one year all I focused on was eating properly and making good choices - true my goal was to eat all foods in smaller portions but as we all know some foods don't go.

But even today I'd like to be able to eat 1/4c of Pasta or one slice of bread and just be satisfied - to me that is living like a normal person.

However, after one year of not losing i have gone back several times to diets - it's a deperation thing. In my darkest moments I have tried medifast (awful), nutrisystem, several thermogenic supplements, weight watchers, to get some pounds off.

I found myself several times right back into my crazy diet mentality (oh yeah i forgot that cabbage Soup thingy) and all this dieting makes me even more insane since i got the band to get off this crazy cycle. So that's my thing - now I'm back to my bandster eating once again praying and hoping and exercising and journaling and getting fills to make this work. I've 'given up' many times but I guess all this money and this implant makes me want to make THIS work.

NOTE: I am not banded yet... but I will be in the next couple months...

FOR ME.. I KNOW that I will have to stick to a low carb eating plan, because that is the only way I've ever lost weight.. also.. HYPOthyroid, and PCOS... it keeps my periods in line.... I know I will try at some point a piece of white doughy bread (even though my doc says its pretty much the ONLY thing we have to truly give up).... In my opinion FOR ME... getting the band is a FORCED commitment to eating low/lower carb.. protein first, veggies second... I am so used to looking for low sugar and sugar free atlernatives as it is now.. Its just natural to me..... Everyone is different...... Time will tell.

I have tried, like many others here, so many diets and diet pills that I have truly lost count. I got the band to break the endless unsuccessful dieting cycle I was on. I promised myself that when I got it, I was done counting calories, points, carbs, etc. And, I have lived up to my promise. I do try and make healthier choices and I do exercise. But, I eat what I want, when I want for the most part. My band is doing its job and I am doing my job by listening to it and putting the fork down when I get my full sign (a big hiccup). So far, I have been successful and see no need to change what I am doing.

Since being banded, I have concentrated on learning to recognize being satisfied, as opposed to being stuffed. This is a big behavioral change for me. The band has helped me learn this difference, and it has made a big difference. At the very beginning, I did keep track of food intake on fitday.com, just to re-learn portion size, and begin to learn healthy eating habits (again).

I decided I did not want to pursue any more pills, crazy eating plans, etc., after being banded, and wanted to eat like a "normal person". I know normal people eat cookies. I do, too. I just don't eat the whole box!

I am accepting that weight loss is sometimes slow, and sometimes takes a break, and I learn to be patient. These are the big hidden benefits of the band, in my mind.

Nice discussion...thanks for starting it!