I have 1 more nutrition visit and then I wait for approval. During my 6 month nutritional meetings I cannot control what I eat. I don't know if I feel like this is my last chance or what!!! Did anyone else really struggle with their eating before getting approved? Once you get the band does your desire for sweets really decrease?? I really hope so, or I'm in trouble!!

You know, sometimes appetite is about more than "will power". I firmly believe that there is more of a physiological drive to eat than we typically acknowledge.

Here is what I know. I overate. I had a large appetite and I overate. That is what got me to where I was. I tried Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig and I was hungry, oh god, so hungry when trying to lose that damn weight. It made me more obsessed about food, that anxiety of feeling uncertain about when I would get to eat again.

The whole concept of surgical weight loss is taking a PHYSIOLOGICAL approach to this whole thing. My appetite did not go away just because I had decided to pursue LapBand! I was still hungry, just like the OP is saying.

A couple months before my surgery, I started taking an appetite suppression drug. I wanted to drop some weight prior to surgery, to lower the risk. Suddenly, taking this pill, my appetite was VERY manageable. I remember thinking "Wow, I wonder if this is how a normal person feels." I suddenly was able to do all the things the experts recommend around weight loss... eat slowly, take small bites, etc. etc.

I had my surgery at the end of May. I stopped taking the appetite suppressant and now the BAND is what is helping me.

Yes, I still have to make good choices, I need to NOT eat when I'm not hungry (that's a choice!). I need to exercise and all that. And I'm doing all that - doing it pretty damn well, in fact.

But without those things - the band, or the pharma. approach... my appetite was part of the problem. And it wasn't about me not being WILLING. It was about my body pushing me to eat.

To the OP... think about WHY you are eating. Are you choosing to eat when you aren't hungry? Because I do also believe there are people who eat for reasons other than hunger, and if those reasons still exist then the Band won't do a thing to help those. But if your struggle with eating is that you are hungry, your body is physically craving food or calories, then the Band CAN help with that. That's the problem it is meant to help solve.

I don't think having out of control eating is a reason to walk away from the WLS approach. I think it's a reason to consider it very carefully and decide if it could be the solution to that very problem.

Linda D-- you're a smart woman! I agree with you.

I believe it is a combination of many things-- but I have been saying to my family-- who are asking me questions about BEHAVIOR (and I don't mind it, good prep for me) that there is also PHYSIOLOGY involved.

There is really a complex cycle.

But those of us folks who struggle with serious weight problems in our lives are undoubtably physically HUNGRIER than average. I mean a DRIVE to eat from hormones. That is also a result of your FAT making you stay FAT.

Now, I acknowledge the psychological and behavioral pitfalls as well. I know that I eat when I am not hungry sometimes-- but for me personally, I eat far more often than not, because I feel a drive to do so-- and I DO stop before crazy fullness sets in. That's why I am hopeful that the band is a good option for me. I actually hate to feel STUFFED-- but I also HATE to feel hungry.

Or rather-- when I feel very hungry, I begin to feel very driven to eat.

Well: there is alot of mixed up stuff in there-- but the bottom line is that it is so difficult to parse it all out. I believe that those who will be most successful are those who acknowledge that the band won't do it for them, and that they have alot of work ahead.

For the original poster who was struggling-- as I said, I feel for you and encourage you to do your very best in prep for the surgery.

You may know this, but try writing a feelings journal or a blog and ready others' blogs for what they went through. That is what I"m doing to prepare right now.

Good luck!