Okay...I am in the process of being approved for the lap band surgery, but after reading the material I was given i just have a question on how to make the lap band successful. I have obviously not made wise eating and exercising habits in the past or else I would not be in the position of needing this surgery...so my question is if you have to change your eating and exercising habits to make this procedure successful...how is it easier to do that after the surgery than it was before? I mean...I try so hard to do the right thing and eat the right things now, but it is a constant battle...so how does making these changes become any easier after I have this surgery?

I guess by making us less hungery and less able to overeat we lose weight,we still have to make right choices and exercise but maybe with restriction we wont be starving therefore make better food choices, i was just recently banded and havent had a fill yet, I eat a total of 3 cups of food a day and 2 snacks and i am not starving

Since having my fills... I am so bored with food I could care less if I eat now or not. But I do cause my body needs fuel. I have no interest really in food. I haven't felt a hunger pang in months. I only know it's time to eat cause the clock says so.

When you do slip up, you dont tend to slip up so badly and its easier to get back on track. You do still tend to drift off your plan, like you would before, I still can only keep up ANY sort of intense diet for a week or two before I start to drift, but portion sizes remain constant and physically a lot of the really bad foods (like McDonalds, KFC, pizza) are just so darn hard to eat, I just dont eat those anymore, ever really. So you dont get weight regain and you can get going again. You dont get hungry, so even if food choices are not absolutely optimum, you're not eating a lot.

But mainly I like to eat and I like a wide variety so I exercise a lot. The band hasnt made me take up running, that was all me. Now I run an hour four or five days a week and the way its changed my body (I havent just lost weight, I've really changed) I'm confident that as long as running is part of my life, I wont battle my weight again. With the guiding hand of my trusty band of course!

Hi akatjon. I too am in the process of being approved and like you I have been battling this food thing every day. One thing I did notice from what most people say is its just a tool to help you make the right choices so I am in the process of trying to get my head in the right place and reevaluate my relationship with food. I know it sounds corny and crazy but just going on these sites are helping me understand exactly what I should expect and what I will be going through and its making me more excited about the challenge and the outcome of my future.

Well, i just went out to lunch with friends. I ordered a shrimp special with rice. There were 26 shrimp in the meal; I ate 9, which is more than I can usually handle (they were small, not big prawns.) I ate one bite of rice. Pre band I would have finished the meal easily. My sister in law (congenitally skinny) cleaned her plate.

I can eat steak, but it is so much work to chew it that I usually give up after a few bites.

I went to a buffet the other night. I filled my plate with about 1/4 of what everyone else had, and ate maybe 2/3 of what I took. I couldn't eat any more.

If I wanted to make poor food choices, my band would let me drink milk shakes and eat ice cream, so I don't keep those foods in the house. I do have them occasionally for treats when we go out, but I don't keep a half gallon or two in the freezer like we used to.

What it comes down to, is the band stops us from pigging out and eating large quantities at one sitting. In fact, after nine months with the band, I am absolutely appalled at the amount of food other people eat. It doesn't make us eat right, but it makes us realize that we are eating such small portions that we need to pick good nutritious foods to keep ourselves healthy.

It doesn't stop us from deliberately thwarting it with foods that will slide past the band. For me, that means I have to keep all temptation foods out of the house. No bread (can't eat it anyway) no Cookies (I would eat them all in one sitting) no ice cream (ditto). I was fat for 48 of my 54 years, but as of last week I am officially no longer overweight (BMI under 25). I never thought my portions were that large before, but I was WRONG.

So the band won't do everything for you, but will give you that added push to eat less, and it may inspire you to eat better. I had been on many diets and even lost significant amounts on some of them, but never could keep it off. Now, I think, I will.