Hello all, I am pre-op and have my one-on-one appt with my surgeon next week ..I will be given my surgery date on Wednesday. I was wondering...what have you done to be sucessful with your band. I know all of us start out with great intentions...but what sustains them. My dh was asking me how is this surgery going to be any different than everything else I have tried? I wasn't quite sure how to answer him...I have had good intentions with all the exercise/diet programs etc that I have tried in the past. For those of you at goal or further in the journey..please share your ideas!

Thanks - Michelle

We lose our good intentions before being banded because hunger calls us. With the band, the hunger subsides or is more easily controlled.

Now this doesn't always happen from day one after surgery. You might have some restriction immediately after surgery from swelling around the band and there are a few people that never need a fill to their band.

Most of us however need our bands filled to just the right level (everyone is different) and then our hunger is more easily controlled.

Please find the thread by Wendell on "how the band works" and "how fills work" understanding the band will help you acheive success.

That thread helped me so much.

After three months and six fills, I believe I have now almost reached my perfect level of fill. As I lose more weight, the fat around my band will shrink, the band will loosen and I'll need a little more fill to get it tight again. Even without my band being tight, I've lost almost 30 pounds since surgery and I was never able to do that before being banded.

That's why it's different this time!

Michelle88--I have the same question! I can lose the weight--I've done it before--a few times--and with strong motivation and great intentions! I have even given away my fat clothes--that's how confident I was. My friend tells me that this is different because even if I WANT to eat a lot--I CAN'T--I will get sick! Most of my eating is emotional (anyone have THAT concern??--haha) How will the band help that?

I don't mean to play devil's advocate. I am reading so many wonderful stories and I am soooo proud of all of you! I want to be proud of me.....:confused:

For me, the motivation remains because I know that I CAN achieve things with this band. In the past, I have dieted then lost motivation when I hit a plateau and given up and gone back to my bad old eating habits. This time around, I CAN'T go back to those gargantuan meals, so even when I'm not trying very hard, I can easily maintain or lose slowly.

It is possible to sabotage yourself even with the band, by making bad food choices and eating a lot of high fat, high calorie, low fibre/bulk food, like icecreams or chocolates, but when eating a reasonably healthy range of foods, loss will happen.

Also, I find that I am not having to fight hunger constantly and so have more energy to devote to resisting temptations. Living for weeks with the sensation of "OMG I'M STARVING!!!" is debilitiating and demoralising. I would previously struggle with that until I got to the point of "BUGGER THIS! GIMME SOME FOOOOOOOOD!!" and then proceed to stuff my face and undo all my hard work. Now, that hunger doesn't bite nearly as deeply, so I only have to deal with resisting the chocolate binge, instead of having to try to resist everything.

My weight loss hasn't been as fast or as dramatic as some around, but I am quietly confident that it will be continuous and steady. That confidence alone is one of my biggest motivators - this time I actually believe I can do it, something that I don't think I ever truly believed before.

You CAN eat around the band just as you can eat around Gastric bypass. Grazing between meals, drinking too soon after a meal and eating slider foods can defeat the band.

But with good but not too tight restriction of your band, it's just easier to resist. It just helps you stay strong and say NO more easily.

I actually have some "bad" foods in the house from a christmas gift basket, like chocolates but I just let them sit there. Yeah, I know I'm amazed too!

Before being banded when we bought our Halloween candy, the only ones I thought I could be "trusted with" were ones I hate. Starburst and Skittles. The leftovers are still in the cabinet, too.

I don't suggest anyone that had an issue with food keep too much of the hard to resist foods around but now that I finally have better restriction and my band is working,my hunger is controlled. For many people, some days are just harder than others. Some days our bands can be tighter than other days so that could be a reason. Some days our cravings are tougher to resist, but overall a lot of people on the forum are having good success. Some have great success, some aren't doing as well. There are many reasons for this, but remember we all had issues with food before getting the band.

So far after three months, this has been great for me. I am the lowest weight I have been in twenty years! And of course I tried many diets during those twenty years.

Just my experience.

Jack, I know! It's so hard for me to believe that I could have success as well. It's truly a miracle.

I had actually been eating fairly healthy foods before being banded about 75 % of the time. But I did overeat even healthy foods like yogurt. And the other 25 % of the time was enough to keep me obese.

The band now allows me to make better choices 99% of the time and the consistency has made all the difference.

My last fill a few days ago has given me my first real taste of the powers of the band. I don't know how long it will last but it is unbelievable to not have hunger or to eat a normal portion and have it last for several hours. I now know what the band tightness should feel like, not too tight but no hunger several hours after eating.

Is this what "normal" people have felt their whole lives?

Worth every penny I paid!