Yesterday I was talking to someone who was commenting on my weight loss, and they said that they supposed it was good I had lapband surgery because it meant it gave me the willpower I didn't have.

OMG was I angry with that!!

I went onto a full on rant about how willpower is something I have a LOT of, thank you.

I need willpower to make good food choices when faced with easier 'silder' foods that won't get stuck.

I need willpower to get on my spin bike 3 times a week and cycle until I'm pouring with sweat.

I need willpower when I go out to dinner and watch everyone gorging themselves while I move food around my plate.

I needed willpower to have undergone this surgery, put up with the pain, the excrutiating 'stuck' episodes and the fills.

I look at what I'm eating now and I know that very few human beings could eat as little as I'm eating on willpower alone for the rest of their lives. THAT is what the band does for me.

It makes me eat less. It controls my hunger. That's all.

And that's ALL I need it to do. Because to be thin, I need to eat a fraction of what normal people eat. Less than my 3yo eats. The band does that part.

The rest, I take care of. I put in the willpower. I put in the effort.

And I refuse to allow anyone to take that credit away from me!

Good for you! I'm in week 5 with no restriction and no limitations on what I am allowed, although I know that salad would rip me in two so no go on that one. Ugh.

I thought that I would have trouble after I healed and wasn't restricted, but it's like my brain just gravitates to the right kinds of foods. I had a cookie party last night and I had one small cookie that my kids decorated. I just nibbled on it through the night. I go out to eat, and I watch others eat their meals and in my mind I think "there is no way I could eat that much food". It's really mind boggling to me to think that I not only use to eat that much, but often even more!

I think that my body has taken to being "clean". No caffeine, sugar or crap is floating around in me. I have amazing self control, and I am a walking bundle of energy. I've only lost maybe 5 lbs since my surgery 5 weeks ago but I feel like I've lost 100. Anyone who thinks that this is the easy way to do it is smoking crack. This is not a food altering choice, it's a mind, body, soul and life altering choice.

I've given this lots of thought over the last few years and you're 100% right. It wasnt my band that got me up at 6 am this morning. It wasnt my band that tackled the kitchen and family room that needed thorough cleaning at 6.45 am. It wasnt my band that got me on the treadmill and pushed me through a 45 minute circuit workout and it CERTAINLY wasnt my band that made me work at 150% effort instead of just going through the motions.

It wasnt my band that directed me to eat yogurt and a banana when the ginger nut biscuits were calling me from the cupboard. Yep, I wanted them for breakfast!

And I agree with the amount thing. I eat about as much, many times less (calorie wise) than my five year old daughter. I dont know why but my body, despite how hard I work it, requires much less than many people's to stay at a healthy weight. It takes more than willpower to basically starve yourself for the rest of your life.

But I'm quite comfortable with the fact that *I* know what I've achieved. I get a bit shitty when my mum says stuff like "this isnt teaching you any real lessons though". But overall, I'm happy with what I've achieved and that's what counts.

People really are quite stupid though, arent they?

I agree 100%. I can't eat what a normal person eats and be a normal size. My husband was eating at least if not more than twice as much as me . . . but he has a muscular, athletic body and I, umm, well, didn't, lol.

Everyone in my family suffers in the same way I do, we are naturally heavier people. We eat healthy foods for the most part, fruit and vegetables are part of our diets and exercise. My youngest brother has always been heavy, but he has played football for years, he would run, go to the gym and is physically fit . . . but heavy nonetheless even with good food choices. I have always gone to the gym and have maintained an active steady membership for almost 5 years now but before banding some people would be surprised by looking at me.

If I lived in the caveman days I would be very pleased with my metabolic "gifts" but in these modern times it is indeed a cross to bear.

The band helped me with hunger. I did the rest myself.

Yes, some people are very stupid. My husband makes remarks like that all the time and it really makes me mad. We were watching something on tv last night about this girl who weighed 400 pounds and she got a band and now weighs 130. She works somewhere where she helps others lose weight, people who haven't had WLS. She helps them pick out the right foods to eat and helps them with exercise. My husband said, "well she's a hypocrite because she had a band but she is helping these other people who don't have one." I was so mad!