I wonder if I am alone in my fears. My fear that even though I have spent thousands of dollars, put my body through the trauma of surgery, have a lump that feels like a baby's elbow poking out of my gut, have this amazing advantage over the average dieter..even with all this.. I still won't lose weight and keep it off. :tt2: I worry that I won't be able to follow the simple guidlines, or that I will be the freak that this doesn't work for. I suppose this is part of bandster hell. Other than my port lump and the lovely frankenstein like scars on my belly I feel like nothing has changed and that scares the heck out of me.

I wonder if I am alone in my fears. My fear that even though I have spent thousands of dollars, put my body through the trauma of surgery, have a lump that feels like a baby's elbow poking out of my gut, have this amazing advantage over the average dieter..even with all this.. I still won't lose weight and keep it off. :grouphug: I worry that I won't be able to follow the simple guidlines, or that I will be the freak that this doesn't work for. I suppose this is part of bandster hell. Other than my port lump and the lovely frankenstein like scars on my belly I feel like nothing has changed and that scares the heck out of me.

I worry about all of this too. I have a lot of serious health issues due to my weight. Nothing else has worked for me. I feel like this is my last chance and I am doing it! I have done the research, I have been going to support group at the surgeons office for nearly a year, and I have LapBandTalk.com. There's always going to be someone to give me encouragement when I am down and Celebrate the ups with me, too. You and I are not alone. Use your support system, and take one hour at a time if you need to. then one day at a time, then a week at a time, etc. I have 100 pounds to lose, and I have made up a goal chart with 14 mini goals, because I knew the bigger ones would discourage me. I am going to celebrate all fourteen of those goals. Some represent dropping to a new BMI category (Morbidly Obese to Severely Obese, for example) or my "halfway" point, etc. Figure out what your motivation is, use that to determine your goals and USE YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM!!!! You won't fail if you don't let yourself lose your motivation. Best wishes to you!!!

MoonBeam,

I had some of those same fears too, but so far it has been a very positive experience for me. I lost about 10 lbs on pre-op then about 25 more by the time I got my first fill. I had some restriction post-op, a little more at the first fill (was able to eat about 1.5 cups of food). I now feel like I have hit my sweet spot on the second fill a few days ago (at 4.5cc now). Now I can only eat a few bites of food per meal, this morning that worked out to almost a whole scrambled egg with a sprinkling of cheese. At this point, the hardest thing is learning not to put so much food on my plate because it will just go to waste. Actually, another thing I am still working out is how to get enough nutrition in because I know those few bites are not enough to keep me healthy. Luckily, I like my protein shakes so I have been having those between meals.