Hey everyone. I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I keep being REALLY surprised that the scale is going down because my perception of what I'm eating has changed. What I mean is I FEEL like or THINK I've "pigged out" after having a chicken breast for dinner, etc, so I don't feel like I'm starving myself, which is the only way I could lose weight before. I'm not walking around starving and grouchy so I don't feel like I should be losing weight. My attitude towards WHAT I eat has also changed and I've stopped eating so many things that I ate before that were so bad for me, but I can't get my brain to realize it I guess. All week I feel like I did badly at my eating, and then I get on the scale and it's gone down. The only time I really realize how little I'm eating is when I eat with my family or boyfriend and they are amazed I'm full off of what I just ate. In some ways I almost feel like I don't deserve the weightloss because I didn't "suffer" enough to "earn" it. I'm really starting to think I may need to see a counselor, I didn't realize how emotional of a journey this would be.

I know exactly what you mean.....it almost as if I did not deserve to lose this because it was not so terrible! You really have to work on "that is why I got the band" because the suffering could only last so long and then we would gain it back. Relax and think I deserve this.....health and happiness!

I say that when I got a band put around my stomach I got one on my head too. (That's what made me stop at this thread!)

I have changed completely how I relate to food. I have the help of a fantastic counselor too. It's done a world of good.

I think really there is a three progned approach to this banding thing. One is physical, the band keeps us from eating too much or too quickly. We all know how the band works.

Two, is behavioral changes. That's where we exercise or use smaller plates or buy the right food in the house.

Three, and this ties one and two together is the cognative piece. We think differently about food and our bodies. We think in terms of out comes. Like if I eat that icecream I'm not going to the outcome I had surgery for so I'll behave differently.

There's much more to it, like sorting out why we over ate in the first place to help put that to rest, but really the mind is the best tool for success. Having the band assures that it can happen.

XO