epiphany

spoodles · July 17, 2008

Ok...So I JUST figured out that this thing aint just gonna work on its own. Very disappointing! I had my 2nd fill a week ago and am at 5 1/2 ccs....I am tighter at night than during the day so....I have to watch myself during the day....or I will eat every few hours. The lap band (for me) just makes it easier to diet..... Anyone else going through this? What have you all figured out? Anything similar?

July 17, 2008

Hi there,

I understand and I am experiencing the exact same thing as you and I am 15 months post-op. I've had 8 fills and am already 1cc over the max fill limit in the original LapBand 10cm/4cc capacity band. My original surgeon was very conservative with fills, so I changed doctors in January of this year. My new doctor is very aggressive, but I am just NOW (15 months after banded) finally getting decent restriction. It is a constant struggle with watching what I eat and I still fight head hunger/emotional eating everyday.

I guess I thought I would wake up from being banded and never be hungry again and lose 1-2 pounds per week on average like everyone says. Unfortunately, that just has not been the case with me and I am very frustrated and disappointed. This website is a mixed blessing because many people here lose on a steady basis while eating very little and with few fills. Unfortunately, the band isn't a one-size-fits-all variety and everyone reacts differently.

I wish you the best of luck and hope things get a bit easier for you.

Jachut · July 17, 2008

Wow, I dont think I've ever heard from another person who's tighter at night like I am! We're in the minority it seems.

I find banded life to be very much like unbanded life, in that I might not be actually hungry, but I still feel like eating, and really there's no answer to that other than to just not do it. I stick with 3 meals a day, most of the time.

I make those good meals. I eat more than 1/2 a cup I can tell you, it suits me better to have my band looser and to eat solid meals - like a sandwich for lunch - than to be tighter and eat tiny amounts, becuase when I eat tiny amounts, I am wanting to eat one or two hours later, REALLY wanting to eat. When I've had a bigger meal, I may think about Cookies but I can resist them.

So much so that I just had a small unfill on Monday to be able to eat more. I'd had a tiny fill back in February and since then, my eating patterns have taken a bit of a nose dive, I felt I was picking and nibbling more and not eating properly, and the unfill has fixed that.

So getting it just right does help, but basically, whatever diet you like, whether your'e a calorie counter, low carber or like me, just eat sensibly dieter, what it basically comes down to is the band makes it easier to diet and you have to do a lot of it yourself.

What I find it REALLY helps me with is if I used to be really good all afternoon, eat nothing between lunch and dinner, I'd feel I could relax at dinner. I'd be hungrier for sure, and I'd eat a BIG dinner, as a reward for not having nibbled all afternoon. Then I'd figure I could afford desert.

The band stops that. If I can do my part in between meals, and not eat anything, then the band keeps my meals sensibly sized and I dont get overly physically hungry in between.

I'm just as susceptible to eating something simply because its there as I ever was (like if someone brings out Cookies with the coffee) and sometimes I still do that, most of the time I dont.

hopeendures · July 17, 2008

Ok...So I JUST figured out that this thing aint just gonna work on its own. Very disappointing! I had my 2nd fill a week ago and am at 5 1/2 ccs....I am tighter at night than during the day so....I have to watch myself during the day....or I will eat every few hours. The lap band (for me) just makes it easier to diet..... Anyone else going through this? What have you all figured out? Anything similar?

I posted this in another thread, but I'll put it here since it seems to fit. My band makes me feel like a woodcutter who has just gotten his first powersaw. The powersaw will not cut the wood by itself, but it does make the woodcutter's job a lot easier!

Nice ticker btw! LOL

HeatherO · July 17, 2008

The lap band (for me) just makes it easier to diet.....

That is it in a nutshell for me.

It took what was so difficult before coupled with feeling starving and deprived and made it so much easier. I don't have the desire to overeat. I don't have a voracious appetite anymore. I still have to eat the right things and not eat between meals.

Processed sugars and carbs aren't my friends, but I still want them and do indulge in small amounts every once in a great while (twice a month maybe). At first I thought I would only indulge if there was a special event or party or something out of the norm, but I guess I never realized that my schedule exposes me to that way too frequently and so I abstain the majority of the time. Now I can be satisfied with a cookie and not a bag of Cookies if you know what I mean.

Eating normal, reasonable amounts of healthy food has become easy now . . . and my weight has dropped steadily since banding.

LundyLane · July 17, 2008

Your right....the band does nothing if you don't work with it!

Before the band......I had trouble staying on the pre-opt diet. I was able to eatbut it was low calorie around 1000, after the band I don't have the trouble of staying in the calorie range that I want to, around 1300.

I enter what I eat everyday at www.thedailyplate.com even if I eat JUNK ALL DAY ....I enter it. It makes you open your eyes to what your doing or not doing.

The band is a TOOL and only a TOOL.....cause if you eat ice cream all day it's gonna put on the pounds. Don't get me wrong.....I just went to Applebee's two days ago and ate the entire Shrimp and Spinach salad and then had a Blondie brownie with ice cream....... :drool: YEP I ate the WHOLE THING! I came home and entered it all at www.thedailyplate.com. I don't do it everyday....but I do eat junk from time to time.

Went to the doctor today ..... and was told I'm doing GREAT :w00t: and lost almost 5lbs in just 2 weeks. As I told the doctor....I can eat ANYTHING and have never PBed or slimed.

Good Luck to you in making it work! :thumbup:

judeloren · July 17, 2008

I am definately struggling with the whole diet thing... i haven't noticed all that much help from the band (other than i do eat a bit less since the last fill) but i still get very hungry every few hrs. and i have very little will power and a food addiction so i keep thinking of what can i eat even when i am full... has anyone had any good diets to follow? any low cal recepies that help with cravings and such?

spoodles · July 18, 2008

Thanks to all who replied! Wow, I'm so glad to see that there are people like me out there....it makes this whole thing easier to accept. So...I guess the next step is to watch my intake as if I'm dieting again....BUT, it will be easier this time. We can and ARE making progress. Time is all we need now.:thumbdown:

BLUEZBANDIT · July 19, 2008

JanaBanana, looks like small steps for a grand result. Always keep the big picture in your mind. says me who will be banded in 46 days. Can't wait!

spoodles · July 19, 2008

Yay...Im happy for you, Bandit! Let us know how it goes.

jamel8232 · July 19, 2008

Hey jana. Im sorry 2 see that u r still disappointed about ur band. How much total weight have u lost?

spoodles · July 20, 2008

Hey jana. Im sorry 2 see that u r still disappointed about ur band. How much total weight have u lost?

I'm ok with my band....I'm just trying to adjust to what it wants me to do....I have lost 25 lbs since April 11th 2008....So...I guess thats ok. I had hoped to lose faster. But, I am dieting again, and it's much easier this time. Maybe I need another fill?? I have only had 2 so far. Thanks for your reply Do you have your band yet? If so how much have you lost?