So surgery is approaching, I'm sure it's normal to start second guessing but I am.(not the surgery)

I didn't get to be 85lbs overweight by eating a little to much. I have food issues. I have been preparing for this surgery for quite some time now and those food issues have improved but I would just like to hear from other banders who did have a food addiction/binge problems and that it can be something in the past.

I completely understand that the band won't do it for me and I have to do the hard work but I would like some encouraging words from others who had food issues.

TIA

Sandra

i am a binge eater. i was banded in april. i thought it was the answer to all my problems but honestly, it's not. these past few months have been more difficult than i ever thought possible.

i had my 2nd fill in june and i'm pretty tight. i'm still in the learning stage... learning what the band doesn't like (such as bagels and ground meat) as well as how much to eat. right now i eat a little more than 1/4 cup for one meal. 1 chicken breast will last me 3 days.

i RARELY get hungry. my stomach doesn't really growl anymore and i have to remind myself to eat. what's so hard is WANTING to eat more than my stomach will allow.

you're going to face the same demons i'm facing right now.... if you listen to your taste buds you'll PB a lot and risk damaging your band BUT if you listen to your stomach you'll be left depressed because you're not "feeding your brain" as much as it would like.

i am VERY happy i'm banded. i hope i never have to have it removed. i would do it again even knowing what i know right now. i love the compliments. i love feeling healthier. i love buying new clothes lol.

i've also thought about joining Overeaters Anonymous....

You do have to use some willpower with the band. Unfortunately, Cookies and candy go through the band just fine. The band will help make you eat small portions, but if sweets are your problem, it will take willpower to not eat the wrong things.

Sweets are my problem. Ice cream in particular. If I am in a bad mood, I want to eat ice cream. I keep sugar free fudgesicles in the house and do not buy cartons of ice cream.

So surgery is approaching, I'm sure it's normal to start second guessing but I am.(not the surgery)

I didn't get to be 85lbs overweight by eating a little to much. I have food issues. I have been preparing for this surgery for quite some time now and those food issues have improved but I would just like to hear from other banders who did have a food addiction/binge problems and that it can be something in the past.

I completely understand that the band won't do it for me and I have to do the hard work but I would like some encouraging words from others who had food issues.

TIA

Tia,

There's not one person on this site that is here because they ate to little or because they don't like food. We all LOVE food. Food is a part of our lives wheter wether we like it or not. We all just have to learn how to control the intake of our food and learn to say no and learn when enough is enough.

You're right, the band WILL NOT work by itself. You have to do your share to help it work for you. You have to eat right ,exercise, and do as your surgeon says. As long as you do those 3 things, your band will work for you.

There's not one person on this site that is here because they ate to little or because they don't like food. We all LOVE food. Food is a part of our lives wether we like it or not. We all just have to learn how to control the intake of our food and learn to say no and learn when enough is enough.

If you need anything give me a yell and I will do my best, as with anyother person here. Good Luck.

Weight loss counts as of the day of my surgery.

My pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is not a pot of gold, it is

me, the weight and size that I should be.

Yes it works... we all have food issues, right? I would suggest doing some counseling/therapy after you get the band. I had to deal with "head hunger" and had to deal with the emotions I was feeling. I found that instead of dealing with my emotions, I would try to "feed" them to make it stop. I have come a long way and if it can work for me, then it can work for you too!

You do have to use some willpower with the band. Unfortunately, Cookies and candy go through the band just fine. The band will help make you eat small portions, but if sweets are your problem, it will take willpower to not eat the wrong things.

Sweets are my problem. Ice cream in particular. If I am in a bad mood, I want to eat ice cream. I keep sugar free fudgesicles in the house and do not buy cartons of ice cream.

Sugar free fudgesicles? I can't find any around where I live and trust me, i have been looking. I thought they would be good for my 2 week liquid

diet.

TulipStar, I see you've lost 102 lbs! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! When did you reach that milestone and did you start a new thread with it? I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing successes like yours because it helps to keep me going. Thank you for being on this forum and being such a shining example.

The lap band does not make you not addicted to food anymore. It's just like with drugs. No surgery will make your mind not addicted. The lap band is a tool to help you change your life. This means changing your mind. Honestly, I have had the lap band 11 months on Wednesday and I am still addicted to food almost as much as I was before I had the surgery. The difference is, I have the will power to say, no you don't need that now. I mean having the lap band is the first step. If your craving for food is strong enough to call it an addiction than it is all psycalogical. I have found that if you are addicted, you should also be having some kind of counseling. I did notice that i am not as excited to go out and eat anymore. This helps but I am still not done being an emotional eater. I don't do it but the want is still there. In a sense, it helps but you still have to do some psycalogical work as well.

That's the problem with food "issues" we really do need food to survive. With any other type of addiction you can take yourself out of the environment most likely to cause you trouble - i.e I have an elderly uncle that has been a recovering alcoholic for 30 plus years and in that time he has never attended a family wedding r funeral as the alcohol flows far too freely and there is always one idiot offers him a drink "one wont kill you". Sure we can avoid eating out, but at least in my case I do my worst overeating in the privacy of my own home.

Anyway I wish you the best in facing the issues you need to confront in your own head/heart to get the best from your band and hope I can do so to when December and my band finally arrive.

Sugar free fudgesicles? I can't find any around where I live and trust me, i have been looking. I thought they would be good for my 2 week liquid

diet.

sugar free fudgesicles are made by the popsicle brand. I find them at Walmart, but honestly, they are in all the stores here, and I live in a very small town.

I would suggest doing some counseling/therapy after you get the band.

Actually, I'm already going. I started about two weeks ago. I am trying to use every resource I have to make this successful.

Thanks for words of wisdom.

Sandra

Good for your Speck! Better yourself in which ever way you can :] I can't wait to start my couseling and I post frequently on here. It never hurts to have a little extra encouragement.

I loved food of ALL kinds pre band! I liked sweets, but especially my issue was savory foods---comfort foods, I cooked awesome meals!!!

I KNOW without a doubt the band helped me do something I would never have been able to do alone!

It has helped through aversion therapy alone to curb the amounts I eat!!! PB'ing is not fun!! You learn from it!

The band itself helped with my out and out hunger, I no longer feel the hunger the way I used to. That is part of the bands intent, to put pressure on the nerves that signal hunger----but yuo have to get to a good point of restriction usually for that to kick in---but it will!

The other issue is the WAY we eat. To chew your food properly----until it is a paste----some foods I liked before, just do not stand up to being chewed that way!!! And some other foods, I simply cannot chew enough to make them comfortable to eat anymore.

For instance I used to eat the snack cakes---the cream filled cupcakes were my favorite. Not so anymore!!! You eat one of those, and chew it well, and it begins to feel like a mouthful of lard!!! And the steak I used to buy----I cannot chew it enough to make it edible. Now I spend more per cut, I need less, and buy a nice rib eye or a nice filet, and it eats perfectly!!!

Vegetables, tend to taste the same first chew to last----so in the end you find yourself eating the foods that are best for you.

Pasta, is something I can eat if I eat a VERY small amount and very slowly---it swells after eaten and more often than not I end up miserably overful. Same with rice. But all that does is lead me to wiser choices.

I always use this analogy----of being told to go dig a hole in the back yard. So you go out there and start scooping the dirt out with your hands, and a hole begins----and not too far down you run into hard packed earth......and the going is harder still. Possible yes....but so hard it is seldom done. Now you are given a tool---a shovel in this case. If you are given the shovel and just let it lie there it will not dig the hole itself! BUT if you work WITH the shovel, each doing your part-------digging the hole is possible!!! You still hit hard earth, and an occasional rock---but you can USE the tool in hand to help you get past it.

If you use your band wisely you can use it to get past the cravings etc. It is always a good choice to talk to someone----if you can figure out what took you to where you are the road back is much easier!!!

But yes, the band can and in my case DID help more than I could possibly relate in words!!!

Good Luck!

Kat

Great post.

Thanks

I agree, great post. I like the digging the hole analogy. I myself have hit a rock shelf... The band only helps me control how much I eat at meals. Eating in between meals is my problem and the band doesn't help at all with that. I have, after nearly two years of being banded, lost only lost 35 lbs and am back in the lose-one-gain-two cycle. I know it is all my fault. I'm addicted to sweets. The band is adjusted just fine, and is even a bit too tight at times.

I don't regret getting the band, my blood pressure is down and I feel better than i did, but i am no where near my goal.

There's a few things the band helps with.

I dont really believe in "food addiction" but I'm sure that's because I probably dont suffer it. What I do suffer is a hyperinterest in food - I'm always willing to eat, hungry or not, and it takes fullness to stop me, pre band I couldnt set out a plate, calorie counted and portion measured and eat it and stop there if it didnt FILL me. I need to eat till I feel not sick full or bursting but well satisfied.

With the band that happens on a reasonable portion of food.

I will ALWAYS have a problem with certain trigger foods - Cookies, chocolate, sometimes potato chips, cakes and muffins. I can and do sometimes indulge in these foods. I have a real problem when I'm busy during the day and dont eat a lot, or if I eat really low calorie during the day with getting to 4pm and just not being able to stop myself, I want those foods and sometimes I just eat them.

But with the band, I can do that, fine, and regret it, but what I cant do is overindulge in them to the point where I used to and I cant eat my dinner if I've done it. So the calories do level out and although its by no means a healthy habit, it doesnt tend to affect my weight like it used to.

And some foods that are really terrible, like McDonalds and pizza are just such hard work and so prone to causing me discomfort that even though I might have a passing fancy, its easy dismissed and overall I dont want them anymore.

The band just slows me up, makes me less hungry overall and able to make better decisions most of the time, and if I do break down and pig out, its limited and not so damaging. What I have to do is make good decisions, and plan for times when I know I'm likely to fail.

Non band related but possibly the biggest and most effective change I have made though is to take up running. Believe me, if you run for an hour a day that cuts you fairly major slack in your dietary choices. I'm maintaining on about 1800 to 2000 calories a day now, which is quite a lot.