I just wanted to mention that even with the fantastic loss I've had, and the lapband sitting there inside me, I am still and will always be a foodaholic. I was walking home yesterday from the grocery store and all I could think about was wanting to order a baked ziti from the Italian restaurant for dinner that night. I didn't....I had a chef salad instead, but oh boy was the urge strong. And this is not a once in a while feeling...it's alot of the time and I just fight it when it comes on and am grateful when the feeling passes.

I guess I'm going to have to work this just like with any other kind of addiction...one day at a time.

I've struggled with weight and eating before lapband and even though I've lost 30lbs so far, I still have more to go. I think about certain foods quite often. Especially foods I always ate but no longer can or do. Such as raw carrots and broccoli and dip. Or, a pizza shop sub. I also are in fear of things being stuck. I've had one medium episode and one minor so far. To try my best to avoid it, I keep reminding myself what my nurse says. If you do not plan, plan to fail. I most likely will not always plan ahead.

Hang in there. When you have a craving or feel that way, post a comment here or stay busy.

So what are some strategies that you have learned over the life of your band that have helped you to come to terms with those behaviors when they come up?

It's always good to think about the health of our bands and ourselves but I know sometimes I can and do fall into mindless eating just because I too am a food addict!

Mindless eating for me isn't volume eating of any one thing, it's that constant picking and picking that adds up and defeats me. It can start with cottage cheese and carrots, or hummus and carrots and carry it's way into scoops of Peanut Butter, munching Protein bars like candy...looking for something or anything to fill that mindset or "need" to graze.

I am guilty of this crime against myself and my band. It happens to me when the world stops spinning for a moment and no one is around. It's a guilty pleasure, and I feel like a bad girl getting away with something only to feel badly later that I broke my word to myself to not eat mindlessly. No matter what the choice of food is....for me it's not a good choice to allow it to start.

So you really hit the nail on my head! "When no one is around," it does come on like gangbusters! Have company, eat graciously, and when they leave eat everything they left! Go to a meeting, control myself at coffee break, but when I get home, go to the refrigerator to graze. . . . . I think to myself, I've been doing this ever since my husband died over to yy years ago. . . . part of why I'm on the internet so much. . . . . . . . . . I'm alone again. . . . now I see what I'm doing. . . I wake up in the middle of the night. . . alone. . not really hungry. . . . but go get a munchie! Maybe I should advertise for a roomer (or a watchdog?) I was to a therapist (after cancer surgery) and I'm thinking of maybe finding someone else, but I'm of such an age where I can't find one too far away. . it is awful winter here. . just thinkin'. . . .

So you really hit the nail on my head! "When no one is around," it does come on like gangbusters! Have company, eat graciously, and when they leave eat everything they left! Go to a meeting, control myself at coffee break, but when I get home, go to the refrigerator to graze. . . . . I think to myself, I've been doing this ever since my husband died over to yy years ago. . . . part of why I'm on the internet so much. . . . . . . . . . I'm alone again. . . . now I see what I'm doing. . . I wake up in the middle of the night. . . alone. . not really hungry. . . . but go get a munchie! Maybe I should advertise for a roomer (or a watchdog?) I was to a therapist (after cancer surgery) and I'm thinking of maybe finding someone else, but I'm of such an age where I can't find one too far away. . it is awful winter here. . just thinkin'. . . .

Hi Joanne, I feel for you I truly do. It is difficult to be alone, and to hold yourself accountable is harder still when it feels as though no one is around so who cares right?

You care, and I care about you and how you feel too! Sometimes I will journal or write a private blog here to myself about how I'm feeling that day and why. Sometimes it helps to reach out and let others know that I feel I've messed up and I need some support to get back on track again.

I have had to really learn not to beat myself up over it but to pick myself up and get back on track again even if I don't feel like it. Those days I have to be strong and steel myself to do it, I usually find that after I'm back on track it wasn't as hard to get back as I thought it might be. The band has given me that confidence and strength unlike many of the diets I have been on in the past.

If you feel like you need a buddy, or just someone to vent to privately you can always send me an e-mail and I'll be there for you! Even in the middle of the night when the munchies are calling