I always thought of my band as the house and I needed to be the interior decorator. Filling my body full of nutritious foods. There are things that my band has taught me about life and one would not think that but it has. So what has my band taught me?

To have patience and plenty of it because no matter what you think if you don't have patience with your weight loss then you will give up and fail.

To love myself. Yes and I say that TO LOVE OURSELVES. I would have to think that most of us if not all of us did not love ourselves because we loved food more. I love myself enough to know now that I was poisoning my body for years with disgusting fatty, sugary foods that made my life hell.

To be a better person because I had an opportunity to get what I needed that some will never get and to understand that this issue with food is more then just my issue and to never put anyone down because of it but to help them learn the right way of living.

To know that I don't need a million pounds of food to live but that my body runs efficiently off of what I give it and I don't need more. Sometimes it could be less lol but there is always those ice cream moments.

That failure is only an option if I decide to fail. No one is to blame if I don't make this work but me.

That being thinner does not make my husband or family or friends love me more. If they can't except you fat they really can't except you thin. Love is unconditional as it always should be.

That I did not do this for anyone except my self. I did not lose weight because my husband thought I was too fat and he never thought I was too fat I did. Nor did I lose weight because people said I should. I did it because I wanted to and no one influenced my decision to have surgery or to not have it.

That I have way more will power then I thought I ever could and that is the truth because there is always temptation for all of us food lovers and mine is sugar.

These are just the tip of the ice burg but they are some good lessons I have learned. I never thought this was easy from the beginning and its not four years later because maintaining is harder then losing it was. But now I control where my future rest and its up to me to see that I get there come hell or high water. What has your band taught you?

Edited January 22, 201412 yr by cheryl2586

Wonderful post Cheryl!

I have learned to be mindful. Ever so much more then looking both ways before I cross the street! I have learned to be mindful of the things I put in my mouth. Mindful of the things I am even thinking about allowing myself to consume whether they be liquids or solids.

I have learned to mindful of the things that cause me anxiety and stress and what their affects on my body truly are. I am mindful of the way I view myself. Not only my reflection in the mirror but the attitude I project toward my self and in my day and to those around me.

When I am not mindful, buddy and buster (my band and plication) like to let me know it. Sometimes they are vocal with their discomfort and displeasure of my absent mindedness, sometimes they can be totally embarrassing if I am not focused on their needs and I will need to find the nearest receptacle to help set them to rights, and at the worst times they are woefully painful when it is clear that I am blatantly ignoring their subtle hints and signs and it can leave me feeling worse then being punched in the gut.

There are many things that can take me out of my body and even drive me out of my mind!!! My band reminds me that right here in this moment is where I belong. Enjoying the texture, aroma and flavor of the bite, or the sip and not plowing my way through life onto the next thing. My band helps to keep me mindful and present in my life, even when I am not eating or drinking the lessons are not lost on me, and if they are....a reminder could be just a forkful away.

Thank you both for your thoughtful and inspiring posts!

Great thread; thank you!

Hope, possibility, relief, perseverance, inner strength, fortitude -- those are a few things that come right to mind, along with choosing myself and my healthy future first. And it's just early days here. Oh, one more word: gratitude!

Great post!! My band has taught me that I am a stronger person than I ever thought. ...both physically and mentally. I am BRAVE. Brave enough to admit I had a problem, brave enough to ask for help, brave enough to undergo surgery, brave enough to keep fighting afterward. Brave enough to go after the life I always wanted!!

My band taught me that even with WLS, I still have to WORK...... That it's a TOOL, and I have to USE that tool. Yes, I admit that for years I thought WLS was "the easy way to weight loss." Man, did my band teach me differently. Every day at the gym doing an hour of cardio, every decision I make about fueling my body instead of gorging, reading and learning and understanding my body and my needs have all come from what this band has taught me. I told my dearest friend today how much I have been taught by my band!

I learned just how little food I actually need to remain healthy and fit, and thinking what I used to eat ....I cannot believe I actually ate that much food, and how can ANYONE possibly eat that much...and more importantly, why would anyone want to? But I did.....

The band has physically and mentally changed my appetite, hunger and cravings, plus the desires and need for food so much, that much of what I see now simply disgusts me...I'm no longer interested in food.....and watching some people eat.....well.....I admit I used to be one of them...can only imagine what people thought of me all those years.....

I now look at everything from an entirely different perspective....

That I only need food to sustain my body and that I don't need it for anything else. I no longer overindulge in food and when I think I'm hungry, I drink water and occupy myself to see if it's head hunger or not. It's taught me to put myself first above everything else and to take my time when eating.

Edited January 23, 201412 yr by Lady VS

1) To eat slowly, to chew chew and chew again, wait to see if that goes down, to measure the discomfort, (if any), before i take another bite!

2) That i get fuller quicker on green clean unprocessed foods, im talking 1-3 bites and im so done

3) That i can still eat tons of ice cream & chocolates and other unhealthy sliders that liquify in my tummy if I wanted but then that would NOT encourage the most successful weightloss now would it

And thats what ive learned from my LapBand

okay this is going to sound a bit off, but what my band has taught me is i am not a failure. i had been on so many diets the 2 years prior to surgery and failed at all of them. i just didn't understand why i couldn't lose wt. like i did before. i yo'd yo'd sucessfully for years. i really hated myself a lot. until my band. i understand now that the amount of food that diets called for was way to much for me. i learned from my band that it is the quantity of food that caused all my failures , even if they were the correct healthy way to eat per the diet i was on at the time. the band taught me not to beat myself up anymore. even though it is hard not to do. but the band taught me so many resources i can rely on like you guys to eat properly and to stop feeling quilty about everything.

okay this is going to sound a bit off, but what my band has taught me is i am not a failure. i had been on so many diets the 2 years prior to surgery and failed at all of them. i just didn't understand why i couldn't lose wt. like i did before. i yo'd yo'd sucessfully for years. i really hated myself a lot. until my band. i understand now that the amount of food that diets called for was way to much for me. i learned from my band that it is the quantity of food that caused all my failures , even if they were the correct healthy way to eat per the diet i was on at the time. the band taught me not to beat myself up anymore. even though it is hard not to do. but the band taught me so many resources i can rely on like you guys to eat properly and to stop feeling quilty about everything.

Absolutely NOT OFF!

Being successful in Loosing weight (and it's nobody's business how you do it) changes one self image, self respect, confidence...all of the above...

Sure...the band, though surgical intervention did it, not me....but I do not care....it's all about me anyway!

These are some really good life lessons. I am sure there is a ton more but the point was on target. So many of us had not life, ate like crap and sometimes I do on occasion but it doesn't have to be an every day occurrence now.