has anyone come across people who are on WW or Atkins and tell you they thing getting banded is cheating?? I was so shocked, I couldn't reply to them...

I have been morbidly obese now for about 27 yrs. I have tried every diet under the sun, more than once. My problem is, I never feel full. I feel the band can help me get my appetite under control.

Shame on these people who think I am cheating. They should applaud me for wanting to become healthy.

juju- wanting and waiting to be banded

well... I suppose that if diets actually worked then .... the band could be cheating. But diets don't work. If they worked we would all be thin and no one would ever need WLS.

They think if we had the proper will power we could do it. They think we are weak, but the same sort of mentality keeps people from getting any sort of help that they need. "If you have to ask for help, you don't really need help." Which, of course, is utter nonsence.

Pooh, Pooh on them! (Sure hope that isn't considered profanity, if it is, I'll say what I REALLY wanted to say)

I friends that also have said something along the same lines.Well we have been there done that and it didn't work for us.God knows that if we only consume the very amount that is required to function than you won't have a weight problem.However our stomach doesn't know that.One thing since I have been banded that I do now realise even more so is that Iam hardly eating anything about 1/8 of what I would usually consume and the weight is coming off very slowly.There is no way in Gods earth that I would ever been able to consume what I do now, day in and day out without the band as I would have been permantley starving.I had the band done as I knew I could not do another diet long term and know at the end off it I would be mentally okay,.DIETS WAS ANOTHER WAY TO SET ME UP TO FAIL AND BEAT MYSELF UP FOR FAILING.Being banded allows you to have better control of your eating.However you still have to make the right choices of what you do put in your mouth and when banded they don't take away that part in out brains that likes all the wrong things.

Some people won't like your choice as you will have a better chance of success and that does rock some peoples foundations as you being large or as large as them gives them a feeling of self worth.

Trust me if any of those people who are on WW or Atkins had the opportunity to havethe band , I am sure most of them would do it, so not let them fool you.

When you are at goal and they are still struggling to lose or struggling to maintain what they lost, I'm usre you will be more then happy to talk aboutthe band with them again and Iam sure their attitude will have changed some

As for the cheating theory, "oh wahhhhhhhh!"

Ditto to what Michelle said. I can't wait to go to my 20 year class reunion (Okay, so it's 8 years away) and stun them all! I am already loving seeing people who knew me at my heaviest and haven't seen me since 50 lbs. ago!

Don't you worry, because once you start seeing the weight come off and feeling better about yourself, the compliments will start rolling in and it'll SO be all worth it.

And a nice response to their negativity is: Gee, I didn't know that having my stomach cut open and having a major surgery was taking the easy way out. HHHMMM??? That should shut them up.

Good luck to you, and don't worry about the nay sayers. They'll be sticking their foots in their mouths once they see the results and that you're keeping it off.

I agree with la madam's post. Don't let it get you down. If anything the lapband is the hard way out when it comes to Adkins or low carb diets because of having to be careful with so many foods going or not going down. Especially meat.

Ask them who you're cheating. Are you taking something away from someone it doesn't belong to? Are you cheating the multi billion dollar diet industry by no longer purchasing their scams? This confuses me. How is it cheating? Because if someone goes on Atkins, they are cheating the poor little carbos who had been sustaining them for years. Weight Watchers cheats any company that Supersizes their meals. Simply cutting back portions cheats the entire food industry because you don't buy or use so much food.

Next time anyone says the band is cheating, laugh in their hypocritical faces.

THEY are cheating. Relying on Atkins or Jenny Craig or the Onion Diet, that's all cheating. Why can't they lose weight on their own? Huh? They are so weak that they have to purchase other people's ideas and diets? People will try to screw with you out of jeaousy and fear that you'll succeed. I have no respect for people that can't appreciate what it's like to walk in our triple-wide shoes and think they know better. Give them my name and number so I can shove their hipocricy down their throats.

from my DH. "I didn't realize we were playing a game. I thought this was for life."

Who cares how the weight comes off? Call it cheating, call it the easy way out. I call it wonderful.

Kristen, I couldn't have said it better myself, so I'll repeat after you... Wonderful it is!

It's cheating just as much as having an epidural during labor is cheating.

jayme

Ask them who you're cheating. Are you taking something away from someone it doesn't belong to? Are you cheating the multi billion dollar diet industry by no longer purchasing their scams?

Amen! People who consider the band (or RNY) "cheating" seem to believe that only losing weight by brute willpower is worth applauding -- as if the object of any weight-loss method was not a healthier body but self-chastisement, punishment for having previously indulged in fleshly sins. I have no use for these diet Puritans. If they think your results don't count because you have a band, that shows only what fools they are. And anyone who thinks the band is easy clearly doesn't have one!

It is just symptomatic of the overall prejudice and ignorance regarding obesity that exists in our society. The mainstream population has been raised on a steady media diet that portrays obese people as gluttonous, and out of control eaters. They're the butt of every cruel joke whether it be in a drama, comedy, etc. How many pathetic fat people have been the butt of laughter in those high school hi jinks type of movie. Even we have been brainwashed. How many of us didn't initially feel guilty (even just a teeny bit) about opting for WLS? WLS is relatively new in the US and it's come about because of the epidemic of fat. 60% of youngsters now growing up are overweight and they will go into obesity if it's not corrected. WLS is growing FAST and I'm sure will be one of the most common surgeries performed within the next 20 years. It will take time for the social conscience to re-define what obesity is all about and then people will start seeing WLS through a different lens.

Until then, we can lead the way by not just accepting that this prejudice will be a long time in ousting. It's as senseless and ignorant as are all prejudices. Prejudice has no logic. We shouldn't hide it. We should put it out there so that maybe others that are too afraid to do this can be heartened and empowered to change their lives AS WE HAVE!!! HOORAY TO US!!!!!

"Be the change you want the world to be."--Mahatma Gandhi