Lap Band Veterans, Please Reply...

[TxChelsey 1]

I have jumped through all the surgeon and insurance hoops and am just waiting for a surgery date. I was referred a book called "The Emotional First Aid Kit: A practical guide to life after bariatric surgery" by Cynthia Alexander. I am half way through and having serious second thoughts. I am prepared to make a life style change and adopt an exercise program. I lost over 80 pounds with diet and exercise several years ago, and it took me over a year to get it off. I was proud, but it could have been faster if not for my "lapses." Sometimes, no matter how well I am doing, I just want to eat...everything!! And I will eat until I can barely move. Sometimes it will go on for days, weeks, where I just can't get enough food. And when I go out (I am poor and don't go out often) I clean my plate. I never need a to-go box, ever. Stopping these little lapses are exactly what I am looking for in the lap band. I know I will slip sometimes, and I need something to stop me from shoveling in a ton of food. Since my stomach will be the size of a golf-ball I figured I would be physically incapable of pigging out. WILL THIS BAND PREVENT ME FROM OVEREATING?? Thanks.:shades_smile:

[Dave01 0]

TxChelsey, welcome to the site. As far as your question, the band is a tool that will help you in controlling overeating. Relying on it to stop you from overeating isnt good. It can lead to problems later on down the line. Once I got banded, I was afraid to eat much because of fear of damaging the band and having to have surgery again. It is a good tool to help you though. I have had a few episodes of overdoing it, but when I do, I get right back on track to keep the weight loss going. Good luck with your choice...Dave

[Wheetsin 714]

WILL THIS BAND PREVENT ME FROM OVEREATING??

Maybe "yes" and definitely "no".

With proper and perhaps even too tight restriction, the band can prevent, to a degree, large quantities of food from passing through the stoma at one time. Caveats including "at one time" - it cannot do much for head-driven grazing, as well as "large quantities" - see grazing idea, and the fact that the band is most effective with solid foods. It can't do much to keep you from eating a gallon of ice cream if you really want to, hence it wouldn't prevent you from overeating.

Think of the band as "artificial will power." Just as with your natural will power, it's still up to you to control your eating, you just get varying degrees of assistance. The band functions in much the same way.

[shortgal 5]

You were able to lose 80 pounds in a year without a band? That is remarkable. The msot I ever lost was thirty pounds and it took me 10 months.

If you occassionally are able to have a reasonable amount of willpower then the band will boost that a bit and helps those "lapses".

But we all could eat around the band. As stated above if you sit down with a gallon of ice cream and a spoon, the band won't stop you.

I do not have good restriction with my band yet, but while previously it took me 10 months to lose 30 pounds, with the band it's taken me 3 months to lose the same amount. The band allows me to be more consistent with my eating habits and makes it easier for me to resist the "slider" foods that go down easily. Kind of like a "normal" person eats.

Could I eat ice cream? Sure, but can I say No, thanks. Yes!

[kbinaz 0]

It is pretty much physically impossible for me to binge. That said, I could definitely wait an hour or so after eating and squish something in just because I want to. I am not nearly as tempted to do that because I just don't feel hungry between meals and because I see such great results when I stick to 3 meals a day. Before the band I always felt somewhat hungry, if not right after eating, soon after. The band has given me the tool I need to not always be looking for the next bite of food. Hope this makes sense! The other thing - once I lose a pound it's gone and there is not much chance of it coming back. That makes it easier too. Every other time I lost weight I was stressing, knowing that the first weekend I slacked off on the diet, or if I missed the gym one day I'd start going back up again. The band really solves a lot of those issues.

[Blund 0]

TxChelsey, I just went to Amazon.com to look at the book you mentioned. From the excerpts it looks awesome! Once I am approved, I'm going to order it. There are also some recipe books and some have the nutritional values. If you want to check out the book, I had to look it up by the author's name "Cynthia Alexander"....don't know why the title wouldn't come up.