Donali inspired me to start this new thread. She has been providing information to us regarding Morbid Obesity being a disease, which is a very powerful topic for all of us.

Lately I've been discovering that there are many different categories that we fit in, so I was wondering what category you are in. I don't have labels for the categories, but let me start by telling you why I am obese.

First, my family history includes severe mental illness (Mom, aunt, etc.) I inherited a branch of mental illness - Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which had me extremely ill in my youth. My panic attacks have been under control for years, but I still have many anxiety-related problems, one being that I never stop thinking, and at night, the thoughts are consumed by food. Part of the reason I'm obese is becaseu I can't fight the mental struggle to eat for long periods of time. That part of my brain is stronger than the sensible part.

But my biggest problem is portion control. I'm obsessed by enormous quantities of food. I simply don't understand how anyone could order just one taco, or have a small serving of anything. With me, it's all or nothing. I would rather fast all day than to eat one chicken thigh. It's torture. A half gallon of ice cream is two servings. A family dinner is two servings.

And mine is all a night time disorder. Someone baked us fresh Cookies, all warm and steamy, and I didn't even look at them. I don't give a damn about food during the day. I feel like a monster.

Alabama,

My life has changed by leaps and bounds ( already). I am so happy I am sure people want to slap me constantly! But I can't help it, before the band whenever I tried to exercise my level of hunger would increase by 40%...now I can actually work out and watch what I eat, I stopped smoking and now my body is melting. Its only been a few months but I look better today than I have in years, I feel better and I am stronger. I can do exercises today that I could not even dream about 3 months ago. So to answer your question, yes I am happier. Did I mention sex is better too?

That is wonderful! That is what I am hoping for, a stronger, closer relationship with my husband. I am doing this first and foremost for me ~ but I want to be able to do things with my husband that I have never been able to before (in bed) :tongue2:

I am so EXCITED! I mailed in the smart card from my CPAP so hopefully my ENT will release me so I can get a surgery date. I can't wait to starting living my life like I want to.

I always hated PE too. We always had to do stupid things, and I was never good at it either, and got made fun of. Plus they made us wear these ridiculous short shorts. We HAD to wear them. I wasn't fat then, but not skinny either. But I felt HUGE. I didn't have any self esteem. I used to forge notes from my Mom saying that I was sick and couldn't do PE that day! But then when I got to high school, they started a new thing where we could take aerobics instead of doing PE, so I did that. I loved it, because I was really good at it, and there were no boys in the class. Plus we got to wear our own shorts.

See, PE did not work for me either. The short shorts that they didn't make for "husky" girls, the tight t-shirts....I was active and could do everything but the outfits were horrible. High school period was horrible!

Yes, I agree, high school was horrible! People say it was the best time of their lives! Whatever!!

AMEN Sister! For us folks, it was horrible. I told my kids that if I had to do it all over again, I would. I would be more outspoken and not let my weight or size effect me like I did. I'm just grateful that I am in a position now to where I can do something about it.

That is wonderful! That is what I am hoping for, a stronger, closer relationship with my husband. I am doing this first and foremost for me ~ but I want to be able to do things with my husband that I have never been able to before (in bed)

I am so EXCITED! I mailed in the smart card from my CPAP so hopefully my ENT will release me so I can get a surgery date. I can't wait to starting living my life like I want to.

My Dh did not want me to have the surgery, inspite of his feelings he was very supportive. He was more afraid something bad would happen during surgery. Once it was over he was fine. He always says, "your perfect just the way you are, if your weight bothers you then I will be supportive". And he is, sometimes I am at the gym in the middle of the night and he doesn't trip. He likes to see me happy so he can be happy.

Alabamagirl, remember it takes a minute for the band to "work"... I had a hard time with this concept because I was exercising and eating less I thought well great soon the weight will come off. Not until my third fill did the scale start moving again. But keep up the healthy habit!

My eyes have always been bigger than my stomache and that has not changed, I got some 8 oz size bowls to pack my food in...if I eat just that amount I am fine and comfortable...but when I try to just eat...then I get into trouble and then the pain of being too full kicks in which lasts for a minute.

I wish you nothing more than the very best on this journey, it is wonderful :Banane20:when you start to find yourself again, discover new things that you learn to love like exercise...I used to hate it as well. But once I got over feeling like I was going to die (lol) it was all good!

I was always hungry too before being banded. And I constantly craved sweets and fast food. Now I am almost never hungry and don't have those cravings anymore. You will love it!

I agree with Carrie, until my third fill I was hungry still...but now ( although not at my sweet spot) I am content to eat what I bring for lunch and not search for other food. It is like your brain is re-wired in a way, not just your stomache!

AMEN Sister! For us folks, it was horrible. I told my kids that if I had to do it all over again, I would. I would be more outspoken and not let my weight or size effect me like I did. I'm just grateful that I am in a position now to where I can do something about it.

I know, I never stood up for myself either. I would like to go back and tell those people who made fun of me where they can go!!

I agree with Carrie, until my third fill I was hungry still...but now ( although not at my sweet spot) I am content to eat what I bring for lunch and not search for other food. It is like your brain is re-wired in a way, not just your stomache!

Yes, I agree. I have been lucky and have only needed 2 fills, but I no longer have to stop at Mcdonanlds on my way home from work for a burger and fry. I don't even want to. And even if I did, I wouldn't be able to eat it because I can't eat bread!

I am doing this first and foremost for me ~ but I want to be able to do things with my husband that I have never been able to before (in bed) :thumbup:

Actually, I'm working on getting into our sex swing without worrying about it pulling out the rafters! :confused: Purrrrrrrrr!

Why am I fat,well I was a fat child and all my family on my moms side is fat as well,so I guess that started it all.Then I made it worse by staving myself all day when I could just stay busy,but at night I ate a big dinner followed by not sleeping at night cause my mind races so then I would get up and eat thinking if I were full it would make me tired.I often wake up two and three times a night so I more than made up for what I didn't eat in the day.And I am slightly glucose intolerant not enough for meds but enough to make losing weight a struggle and I crave sugar sweets ,so I guess that about sums it up for me.

My co-woker and friend died Tuesday night September 16, 2008 from complications with her lap band. She was over-weight and her husband complained. She chose to get the lap-band procedure. At first the band was fine, but without her knowlege it twisted and caused severe injuries to her digestive system. She had to have most of her stomach removed and a feeding tube inserted in her neck. She had multiple surgeries. She survived for several months in Parkland Memorial hospital in Dallas, Texas with the feeding tube in her neck. Surgeons seriously considered trying to make her a new stomach from part of her small intestine. However, she deteriorated beyond any hope of repairing the massive damage to her digestive system. Her experience with "lap-band" surgery was so sad. She was 33 and leaves behind a three-year-old daughter and a fifteen-year-old handicapped son. She died due to no fault of her own.

Gevag51 I am sorry for your loss. Fortunately for us bandsters, she is probably the only person in the USA who has a band and had such dire complications. At least she died trying to improve her health. Life has risks and we all have to weigh the odds and make our own best choices every day. I hope you can find comfort that while she didn't choose such a death, for a while she was probably very hopeful and optimistic about her future. I don't know her, of course, but on the very slim chance that I die from complications of the band, I would want my family to know that I prefer that to dying of heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, or the other dreadful things that faced me, had I not taken action. She tried to help herself, and I respect her for that. I hope you and her grieving friends and family find peace.

I am fat for a few reasons. Mygrandmother and mother were/are overweight, and I was as a child. I maintained being only 50 lbs overweight in highschool by smoking cigarettes.

I am big enough now for surgery because I quit smoking (yay! Nov 25th,2006) and I also choose to become a vegetarian for a year and a half but I was too lazy to learn to cook so that diet came with a lot of cheesy carbs and sugar and the pounds came on quickly when eating a diet of mainly fast food low in protein. (It was my choices, not necesarilly being vegetarian). I've had sometimes where I wonder where I'd be if I hadn't quit smoking, but I am so glad I did. It is so digusting and I've watched so many family members DIE from it, so if that was the first step to getting healthy maybe everything happens for a reason..and it lead me to band land.

It feels good to admit it all, and write it down. It's the first time I've actually said it out loud, I needed to take a little personal responsibility. Thank you.

I am lazy. What will it take to make me control my cravings? I love sugar. Lap band doesn't help with that.

I'm fat, because I have issues with portion control and what seems to be a lack of the sensation of feeling "full". <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Let's see, how do I explain this? Well, I can say that despite having gained all of this excess weight in the last 2 years, I've probably always had issues with portion control; I never feel full. <o:p></o:p>

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So, you may be asking yourself "what happened in the last 2 years that led you to be as heavy as you are today?” All I can say is that I started my new career and met my girlfriend. <o:p></o:p>

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I won't go into detail about my career (for privacy reasons), but I can say that all I spend most of my time reading, testing, and stressing. I have an extremely sedentary lifestyle, which is probably the root-reason for my gains, despite my ferocious appetite.<o:p></o:p>

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I used to live a very active lifestyle before all of this (when I was a student only); I'd lift weights 5 times a week, spar, run, and so on. I've learned that when you eat like a beast, you pretty much have to live in the gym to maintain a decent weight. <o:p></o:p>