Joschieffer

Wow! This post is so similar to a post I made today but I feel like these answers are much better than the ones I was getting. My health is important to me, but I've been holding off on the surgery due to the fact that I feel like I will only be young once and I'm being selfish and don't want to give up my partying. I've been talking to many people in their 40s and 50s who are all looking at my like I'm stupid for wanting to still have fun. My 21st birthday is in 2 months and I'd love to be able to drink. I know this sounds stupid but alcohol is such a big part of my life. My friends enjoy it, I dont want to be the one who's always left out or making my problem affect everyone else. I don't know what 21 year old doesn't have a social life that includes partying. I have other things in my life that I enjoy, but on weekends this is how my friends and I have fun and socialize and if im being 100% honest with myself, I'm not ready to give that part up. I'd still love to drink once a week, I read above that many people still do. I understand that it's a lot of empty calories but I am almost positive that the amount of calories I will be taking in with the lap band combined with exercise, I would have no problem losing weight. Anyone who has gone through the same thing, or thinking about going through the same thing, please message me or add me! I'm very concerned and need to do something about my weight & understand that takes lots of commitment and changes. At the same time I'd love to still have a somewhat decent 21 year old social life. I'd like to hear if that is something someones been successful at doing with the lap band. This has been one of the only things holding me back and if I saw this post a while back and realized I could still have a social drinking life with the band, maybe I would have started this process a lot longer ago.

Hi all! Im new to this site so Itd be great to find some people to help encourage me & get some support! Its going to be a long post, Im sorry, but I thought Id share my story to see if anyone else is in a similar situation. Id also love to hear about any ideas or advice that would help me in my weight loss journey. Thanks I reached 285 lbs & Im now at the point where I dont think I can live like this anymore. I had a tough life & used food to help with stress, comforting, & in general its been a huge part of my social life. My mom actually has gastric bypass & lost about 100 lbs 5 yrs ago & suggested lap band. Im deathly afraid of surgeries, but Im at the point where I dont know what to do. Ive been researching it alot, & the results sound great, but If Im being honest w/ myself, I really dont kno if I could do it & I dont want to commit to something if Im not 100% in it. Maybe Im not really ready yet? My friendships revolve around social drinking & eating. All of my friends have busy lives, so they dont have much free time to get together. When they want to have fun, they want to go out to the bars or go out to a nice restaurant. I feel like if I have the lap band Id have to worry about going out w/ friends. Id always be the one who cant drink, or the one out to dinner who has to worry about what Im eating or I might puke & thats no fun.I know my friends would always be in my life, but if Im always the one left out I feel itd slowly cause my friends to be pushed away which would cause more eating & itd just go in a circle. I've tried weight watchers in the past & was successful but I've tried again & Im not doing well. I was seeing a dietitian & was doing great, but found out 3 weeks into it that its not covered by insurance & Im paying over $300. I liked the check ups w/ the dietitian but now if I over eat or drink, theres no consequences. I know this band isnt a magic solution but I feel like Im always hungry & would like to feel full after a small meal. I feel like I can give up everything for the most part, I can still have fun w/ friends w/o eating & drinking all the time, but Ill still be 21 & want to have that occasional day to "go out" with my friends even if its only 3 times a month & I dont know if thatd be a huge issue with the lap band? Im not trying to make excuses but just trying to be realistic. My health is important to me, but Im only young once. Maybe I should wait a year or so until life slows down? Maybe this is a perfect thing for me as long as theres still some flexability to let me have my fun occasionally? Has anyone my age ever been in a similar situation & still managed to keep their 21 year old social life with the band? Ideas & suggestions would be appreciated because Im not really sure what to do. Quote MultiQuote Edit

Hi scrazyp, Thanks for your reply! Im sorry to hear about your bad experience & that you had to go through that. I hope you can still be successful without it! As far as my eating habits, I am the type of person who eats like 2 very large meals a day. I have never liked snacking. I was even seeing a dietitian for a while & she recommended small Snacks throughout the day to keep me full & I didn't like it. Even if I wanted to I am always "on the go" so its very hard; I guess were on opposite ends there. I really only had enough time to eat in the morning & then the evening so when it was time to finally eat, I'd be starving and basically binge. On top of that, since I was always so busy, when I sat down for a meal it was nice to relax & it was comforting. I've always kind of had a problem with over eating but it's always been under control, now that life's gotten more hectic it's gotten out of hand & have gained too much weight. The other problem is that I am a "semi vegetarian" I guess you could call it. I rarely eat meat but the food I replace it with is food that isn't good for me. I don't eat junk food, Cookies, chips or anything like that. I'm Italian & my favorite foods are pastas, bread, cheeses etc. Basically all carbs & food high fat like cheese which is terrible for me. I was hoping since I'm not really a snacker that the band would help me to cut back on those 2-3 large meals I eat a day.

I just realized I posted more than one topic. Can someone please tell me how to delete a topic I posted??? THANKS

l

Thanks for replies everyone! I'd love to hear more, thanks for all the info and ideas! Papoose, when I said lap band diet, I was referring to the diet a website I found online that said I should try. It was something along the lines of a high protein/low carb diet for the first few weeks, then the liquid diet, then the soft foods, as well as keep the portions down to a few ounces.I didn't know much about it so I thought I'd ask around. As far as the food and alcohol goes, I'd be lying to say there wasn't a part of me that didn't want to go out with their friends once or twice a month, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as it's in moderation. I'll only be young once. I can deal with the smaller portions and giving up the alcohol the majority of the time, but not many people my age want to sit out on everything for the next few years. Maybe this means I'm truly not ready to commit. From what someone said above though, it does sound like there is some flexability if I do choose to have a lap band done where I could have my fun every once and a while. If this is true, maybe this is something I should look into more.