HI all!! I love to eat, and food loves me. I want to be thin, yet I don't know if I can give up eating for the rest of my life.... any thoughts??

Juju, Heres the great thing about the band, you don't give up eating!!! You just give up eating SO MUCH!!! the advantage to the band over bypass isthat you still get to eat all those things you like you get full QUICKLY and have to stop. I have also found that I do not have a desire for all the stuff I used to crave. Granted, I'm only 2 weeks post op but so far....

Keep researching your options, talk to your Dr. and come ask us all the questions you need answers to.

Good luck on your journey!!

Christine's right, Juju, we don't give up eating. Not at all! What we do give up is habitually eating to excess, the OVEReating that made us and kept us morbidly obese.

But it's a big change, and to be successful you really have to be ready to take the step. Let me submit that you may not be there yet. For one thing, there's no guarantee that getting banded will get you "thin." If you have reached a point in your life where you admit that you need help with excess intake, the band can help with that. But IT is not going to make you thin. Only you can do that, if that is indeed your goal. And getting thin will take a lot of effort from you, along with the restriction the band will provide.

Only you can answer this question for yourself. I know for me I'd gotten past the point where any diet in the world was going to help. I was healthy, but so big I couldn't be an effective caretaker to my children. Just past 40, I knew it was only a matter of time before my health started feeling serious effects from my lifelong obesity. I was totally ready to give up OVEReating in the pursuit of a healthier life. So, are you there yet?

Great words Christine & Alex!

Needless to say, I agree with them. I still eat anything I want... handful of chips compared to the entire bag pre band, A small ice cream cone compared to the entire 1/2 gallon. The idea of the band is for us to still eat what we want, but just MUCH smaller portions thus resulting in weightloss!

Good luck!

I don't know if I can give up eating for the rest of my life...

One of the best things about the band for me is that I can lose weight but yet still enjopy food. Do not get me wrong you do have to make a few changes but this is not like a diet. It is just a lifestyle change, you also have to work on your mental and emotional reasons for eating,. if you eat just to eat, you will find a way to eat through the band no matter how much restriction you have.

Of course you should!