From: Any June 2008 Bandsters?

I was an emotional eater, whenever I was sad or going through a bad time, I'd eat just to fill the empty whole inside me.

Oddly enough, the extra weight that put on, made me feel even more down. Now I can't use that escape route anymore I have to look deeper into myself and learn how to adapt to stresses in other more healthy ways. I honestly couldn't have done this without the band. I'd tried every method going and always fail. This was my last chance and it's working. It will for you too.

Hi, I found this site in a google search a few weeks ago, and have been reading your posts with interest.

I am wondering more about the emotional side of the surgery, and how it helps if your an emotional eater rather than just an over eater. Does it make you more down at times and do things get better I guess?

I have aprox. 50kg to lose and am considering surgery for early 09.

The surgery works on your tummy, not your head. But with the tummy help, it can make it possible to work on your head. (Hope that makes sense.)

For myself, I tried to do as much head work as I could pre-op and my surgeon has a counselor on staff for post-op.

I recommend The food and Feelings Book if you are someone who eats to stuff down feelings and The Emotional First+Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery for everyone, even those who aren't such emotional eaters.

With some doctors they will require you to see a physchologist.

Maybe you should consider seeying one for a few visits before you consider the surgery.

My doctor has a weight loss program which included the dietician, physchologist & excersise physiologist.

The surgery works on your tummy, not your head. But with the tummy help, it can make it possible to work on your head. (Hope that makes sense.)

Thats what I was wondering. Years ago my GP gave me some pills that made me feel full all the time, it was wonderful as I was able to think only about the other side of weight loss, kinda like a patch for a smoker (I used Patches to quit for good).

Thanks for the book titles, I'll hunt them down

A physchologist is a good idea, never actually thought of that. I think we have one here that flies into town 1 day a month? I will ask my GP. My head is not in a good place at the moment, I feel as though everything is falling in around me, and the weight does not help at all. Sorry to winge.

Hi

I had surgery 8-27 and thought i had a weight problem. Now, 5 weeks out, I realize i have a real food addiction. This is really hard, but NO REGRETS. It is a lot of work to do, mentally and physically...

Hi Deborah Brown, that's 27/8 to us!

I was an emotional eater for years. I'm not really now, though I will occasionally overeat simply from boredom. I'm looking forward to having the band physically stop me from this.

I've done a lot of work on myself over the years to learn to recognise my emotions. I think for most emotional eaters, we tend to shove food down to shove the emotion down because we don't feel we 'should' feel that way or have a right to feel that way. For me that feeling was anger mostly. The whole nice girls don't get angry malarki. Its taken me a long time to stand up for myself and let people know when something isn't on. Its because of this that I almost never emotionally eat anymore.

Its going to be hard, but if you can get to the root cause of the eating, it will be life changing. Not just eating when you're sad/angry/upset, etc. But what thinking is going on when you are feeling that way? The unconscious thinking is the key.

Ahhhh, the age old emotional eating problem :-)

This is a tough one. I have a very stressful job, and I realise how often I turned to food for comfort. I still do, but I suppose the band keeps me more in control. I was having a really bad day recently and found myself resorting to my old emotional eating binge. However, this time it was 1/2 a muffin. Then I had to wait an hour before I could eat the other half. No room then for the chocolate and ice cream which would no doubt have followed 6 months ealier. By the time the other half of the muffin had digested, and there was room for more, the need to binge had passed. So total damage was around 300 calories, and not the 1,000 that would have potentially been consumed before.

I'm still working on my emotional triggers, and try to manage them better (shopping (unfortunately another emotional reaction)).

One thing I still do is journal my emotional eating, and build that into my daily allowances. I will try to minimise damage via exercise and balancing my other food intake during the day (more Protein, more fibre, etc).

I hope this is something that I can work through and manage long term.

I found out that the lap band doesn't magically cure your emotional reasons for being overweight. There were some times, at the beginning of being banded, usually at that time of the month where i had over eaten icecream, knowing I would puke it up but really wanting it, so i ate it anyway

It is only recently that i have dealt with my issues that led me to being over weight. I have started seeing a dietician which has really helped and I have also given up smoking, which has been great too. I joined a gym recently and have actually started to enjoy being fit and healthy. Its a good feeling.

I don't know about anyone else, but i found that as the weight went, i started to feel more confident and my emotional eating issues gradually went away.

Good luck in whatever you decide:smile2: