does anyone ever just want a hamburger? and have it? i keep reading and reading about all this healthy eating and ww, and atkins and low carbs ..no carbs... i didnt think that is what the band is about....i refuse to be on diets!!!!! yet here i am..banded nov28th and on a diet..this one is for healing though so its ok...i understand it....but after healing.... i seem to think.... eat less...move more....lose weight? is that so hard? i read somewhere about someone wanting to make christmas cookies... and not having any...i say...if you want something so bad... have a lil taste of it... because the big monster in ur head will let you have alot of a taste of something else!! and you'll still want that damn cookie!! the whole point i'm trying to make is.... with the band..hopefully i'll only fit half the burger ...instead of having 2 like i did before..with fries and a milk shake!! ..oh ..and looking for snack late that night!! i'm sorry if i sound dumb... or grumpy(starving on clear liquids) lol...but i would like to hear from ppl who just.....eat small amounts of regular food and.... excercise....and live!... i understand how i got this way..eating eating eating eating... i'm hoping the band will help me to not eat as much.... but reading about the diets some ppl have.... I'M DEPRESSED!!! I DONT WANT TO DIET!!! :help::hungry:

I'm different from most..if not all people in here. So please don't put much weight into what I say.

IF I could eat chicken and low calorie foods...I wouldn't have had the band.

IF I could slow my eating down...I wouldn't have had the band.

IF I could stop eating fast foods...I wouldn't have had the band.

That said, I eat fast foods, still. The band wasn't to ALTER who I am. What it did do was give me time to relearn how to eat...to start taking control of my life...not eat out ALL the time or junk in the house.

I had a BoJangles chicken bowl the other night...ate about 1/4 of it and was satisfied.

Had 1 bite of a hotdog and was satisfied...skipped the fries altogether.

On the airplane, I was satisfied with juice instead of the soda.

This is how I use the band. Oh, I eat more chicken and lower calorie foods...have learned about butter/splenda/whole grain bread...etc.

But I will eat out 1x a week with the family and then lunch out 1x a week.

Good luck and don't get too discouraged.

After my bad I found myself completely turned off to red meat. It was more chewing than the taste was worth. However, if you want a hamburger and fries, it doesn't have to be bad for you, and fast-food isn't necessarily evil. There are many fast-food places that have food that's reasonably healthy. They just aren't the ones most people think of. But even at the major offenders, there are nutriotionally good choices. An egg McMuffin certainly isn't the same thing as a handful of fat free Fiber Cereal, but in nutriotional terms, it's a pretty good Breakfast.

I do keep an eye on my carbs. I don't track them, but I know the range that works best for me and I try to stay in that range. I try to go with as few white carbs as I can - most of them being easy to avoid, but potatoes being difficult for me.

I know about how many calories I eat. Outside of that, I do not follow a diet. I eat healthy, and if I want something, I have a very moderate amount of it, because - thanks to my band - that's all I need.

My belief is that - if you want something, have it. No one thing is going to make you fat. You can cut any one thing out of your diet, and lose weight. They key for me is moderation. So as where I used to eat a heaping bowl of ice cream, I now have a few spoons of it. I still eat the full fat kind loaded with whatever acessories sound divine. If I want a cookie, I have a cookie. But thanks to my band, I can stop at once cookie, and not continnue my way through the entire package.

Here! Here!

Wheetsin:

My belief is that - if you want something, have it. No one thing is going to make you fat. You can cut any one thing out of your diet, and lose weight. They key for me is moderation. So as where I used to eat a heaping bowl of ice cream, I now have a few spoons of it. I still eat the full fat kind loaded with whatever acessories sound divine. If I want a cookie, I have a cookie. But thanks to my band, I can stop at once cookie, and not continnue my way through the entire package.

If I deprive myself of something I really want, I will binge later, so I indulge and I am satisfied. I have found being banded I don't crave as many things as before, and somethings I am just turn off of. I don't diet, I eat healthy, and I eat what I want but in smaller portions. I may not be loosing weight as fast as some of the others, but it is comming off. If I get really frustrated with the slow loss I will be good for a week and it usually jump starts the loss again. I used to love fries, now, I might have one or two and be satisfied. If I go out and a restaurant has those heavenly yeast rolls with honey butter, I slather on the butter, take a bite , and I am done. I think one bite as opposed to 3 to 4 whole rolls is a good trade off! You will see in time that you probably won't indulge as much as you used too, and when you do you have a bite or two and you are satisfied. If not don't deprive yourself, 1 of something won't hurt. Its better to have a little than to binge later with alot!!

I agree 100%. If you deny yourself you are more likely to binge later. I can tell you there are times (very rare) that I am dying for a Wendy's Jr Bacon Cheeseburger. I get it, and I am only able to eat 3-4 bites. Will they kill me? NAH! And I am happy for months afterwards. I wouldn't do it though if I needed a fill, then I may be albe to eat too much and be unhappy later.

ty all so much for the replies!! i was just feeling hopeless.... i am a big eater and love love food..( dont we all) ... however i was getting so down reading about how some ppl seem to be measuring and weighing every gram... heck if i could do that i'd be skinny already...thanks all for the support and gl everyone...blessings to all for the holidays! May your' days be happy and your' health be wonderful!!

I still eat red meat whenever I want it. I use the really low-fat ground beef when cooking, or I make slow cooked short ribs.. nice and soft.

But I really truly lost my taste for fast food. It didn't take long.. We ate it like 2x a day pre-band.

Post-band, when I was back on solids, I tried a BK Big Fish.. one teeny bite and it hurt going down and didn't taste very good coming up. I've tried chicken nuggets kids meal at McDonalds and slimed on the nuggets and then the fries. So anytime we're looking to eat out instead of me cooking (which is rare now), we try not to go to fast food.

Anytime we have to in a pinch, we go to Wendy's and I get a small thing of chili.. or we go to Subway and I get a wrap with tons of veggies (amazing, I use to get all meats & cheese, no veggies.. now I love the taste of all the veggies on it). I have to eat this extremely slow and carefully and can't finish the whole thing. Lastly, a meximelt from Tacobell. Again, slow & careful and I pull off all the extra tortilla bread. But overall, I would MUCH rather make a full meal, than having a small amount of the stuff I can eat fast food. I really get pouty when DH suggests goin to Wendy's for example. I'd prefer to make meatballs & veggies at home.

I was a fast food addict, and I have changed.. yay

But I agree, don't deny yourself every once in a while. If you want a hamburger, go get one. Depending on your restriction, it may keep you from wanting to try one again for a while!

I still eat red meat whenever I want it. I use the really low-fat ground beef when cooking, or I make slow cooked short ribs.. nice and soft.

But I really truly lost my taste for fast food. It didn't take long.. We ate it like 2x a day pre-band.

Post-band, when I was back on solids, I tried a BK Big Fish.. one teeny bite and it hurt going down and didn't taste very good coming up. I've tried chicken nuggets kids meal at McDonalds and slimed on the nuggets and then the fries. So anytime we're looking to eat out instead of me cooking (which is rare now), we try not to go to fast food.

Anytime we have to in a pinch, we go to Wendy's and I get a small thing of chili.. or we go to Subway and I get a wrap with tons of veggies (amazing, I use to get all meats & cheese, no veggies.. now I love the taste of all the veggies on it). I have to eat this extremely slow and carefully and can't finish the whole thing. Lastly, a meximelt from Tacobell. Again, slow & careful and I pull off all the extra tortilla bread. But overall, I would MUCH rather make a full meal, than having a small amount of the stuff I can eat fast food. I really get pouty when DH suggests goin to Wendy's for example. I'd prefer to make meatballs & veggies at home.

I was a fast food addict, and I have changed.. yay :eek:

But I agree, don't deny yourself every once in a while. If you want a hamburger, go get one. Depending on your restriction, it may keep you from wanting to try one again for a while!

I STILL WANT TO EAT OUT ALL THE TIME!! BAD HABIT, BUT I'M WORKING ON IT!!:clap2:

Twiggy, I eat everything just less of it. If I go to McDonalds I buy a regular cheese burger and can only eat 1/4 so that is what I do. Sometimes I would opt to have the grilled caesar wtih light dressing too.

I'm so glad I opened this thread!! I'm pre-band (yikes, less than two weeks to go!) and have been worried about stuff like this.

Jewels, banding is all about balance. If you want a cheeseburger you have it. With good restriction you just don't eat much of it!

We have this discussion periodically in our local support group. Some people do portion control only and refuse to diet. Some people do portion control and an eating plan... or a diet counting something...carbs, fat, Protein, calories, or anti preservatives, vegetarian.... Just keep your own goals clear, and write them down, and then decide how you are going to get there. We're all different.

I have a strict diet of healthy foods at home that I adhere to 85% of the time. Then when I'm at a restaurant, I order whatever I want and just go with portion control. So restaurant eating ais a special event for me. Altough...the longer I have the band, the less interesting food is. I never thought I'd say that!

My Doctor told me, it wasn't a diet, I wouldn't be counting calories or anything like that. I can eat what I want, as long as my body tolerates it, I just have to eat smaller amounts of it. I know that making good nutritional choices will help me to lose faster, and I intend to make as many good choices as I can. I will not diet though, and if I want a burger, and I'm able to manage it, I will have it I just won't make a regular habit of it.

I think fast food has its place in a healthy diet, occasionally. We have occasion to eat at McDonalds when we're on the road for example. I just dont want a burger there anymore, but I can eat the nuggets, and usually a six pack of nuggets and a coffee will do me, in fact I'd be pretty full.

pizza and fish and chips, ugh, I really dislike those foods now, too difficult to eat and gradually your tastes change.

For no cook family meals, I'll usually choose a cooked chicken and either do some steamed veg and baked potato and make some gravy, or we have some healthy options here in Australia like Nandos and Red Rooster that do some good skin free basic chicken things. I'd rather chew my own arm off than eat KFC, that is just SO disgusting, I cant even bear the smell of it.

I also keep Soup and baked Beans and other things on hand for quick meals.

Although weight loss is nothing more than calories in/calories out, you do have to worry about your general health, and if you live on processed and fast foods, you're really asking for health problems later in life. That's always been enough to motivate me, I got fat on pretty good food really.

I adore fast food for the fast salads!

I'm older so my priorities may be different. I have enough helath problems that I really want to try to de-age a bit through my diet. I'm interested in eating unprocessed healthy food whenever I can. That part is not so much about losing weight as it is about using the "will power" of the band to be able to stick to healthy eating better than I ever have. It's sort of my last chance at my age and health status. For example, with the band, I am no longer testing as diabetic....but artificial sweetener raises blood sugar as much as sugar does, so I try to stay away except with my morning Protein shake. Just seems like the thing I need to do for me. And I want my cholesterol low so I don't do burgers...but that wasn't as much a choice as a loss of interest since I was banded..... Stuff like that......