What good is the band if it doesn't do the work for you? Okay, I know this sounds stupid, but please read on....

I sat through a lapband seminar the other night, and after listening to this doctor and the people who gave their stories, I am beginning to wonder if I am just crazy. I thought I was ready to have the surgery (meaning I had no fears of the surgery itself) but was struggling over having to lose 40 pounds (yes, the doctor says this has to be done first). However, after sitting thru the seminar, now I confused myself and messed up my thinking. I am hoping someone out there can help me straighten out my thinking process on this one!!

IF you have to work just as hard (or harder) at watching what you eat, and how much you eat after being banded, then what's the sense in having the band in the first place?

It seems to me that IF I could watch what I eat and how much I can eat, then I wouldn't be obese and searching for other options (ie: weight loss surgery).

SO...I guess what I'm asking is... If I can not be discplined enough NOW to watch what and how much I eat, how is the band going to change that?? IF you have to work just as hard or harder after the banding, then what good is the banding? What exactly is it's job? I know everyone calls it a "tool", but what good is the tool if it doesn't help me change the way I choose foods and their amounts? I hope this makes sense to someone out there!! Please help if you can!

Look, I think people panic over this but the fact is the band DOES do some of the work for you or it wouldnt work for anyone at all. If any of us could do all of this ourselves, we wouldnt be here.

The band doesnt work as well for some people as it does for others and many people need more help than the band can give. But it does give help and only you can know whether that is enough for you.

For me it works this way - I have to choose good foods, but my portion control is done by the band. I dont have to choose to stop eating, I feel exactly like I did before only I'm full much sooner. That's automatic, its my conscious choice. I could overeat by eating chocolate, ice cream, milk shakes but i dont. I never really ate that way anyway, I overate solid foods in high volume, so that choice is not a huge stretch for me.

So that's the first two steps - food choices (done by me, good 75% of the time), portion control (done by the band, obeyed by me). The next step - exercise - that's down to you. To me, I cant believe anyone would be sick enough of themselves to turn to weight loss surgery and then not be able to pull their finger out of their ass and get on with the exercise part of the equation. Its a given. With ANY surgery. If you dont want to subsist on 500 calories a day and be malnourished then you have to burn up some of what you eat by exercising. Just do it, it really isnt that hard. Hard is having cheesecake in the fridge for 2 days and not touching it, hard isnt going out on a glorious, cool evening at dusk for a run to clear your head and loosen up your joints!

There are other surgeries that restrict your intake and portion control even better and more reliably than the band does, but NOTHING will negate your responsibility to make good food choices and ignore those pesky voices that tell to eat when you're not even hungry. You can outeat any surgery if you wait for it to do the work for you.

I never thought I'd have control of my appetite...my band has changed my life and I no longer look at portion sizes worried it won't be enough. Now I look at them and think, Good grief...who could eat all that?

The band is a "tool" meaning it is NOT a quick fix. But it DOES make a smaller "pouch" which is your "new stomach" in a sense, meaning you will eat alot less and fill up alot quicker. Yes, you can overeat by drinking with meals,etc. You have to learn to discipline yourself and work with the band, not against it. To make better food choices. To exercise. These things aren't fun. But this is your life we are talking about. You've GOT to make a change if you want to get healthy and live. Believe me, most of us had the same questions before hand and the same fears. You are NOT alone. Just trust in yourself and your will.