Tony21726

Hi my name is Tony and I just had my lap band surgery September 5th 2013. It took me almost 22 years to make the decision to get it done because I didn’t want to give up Pizza’s but when I made the decision I made it for life. I think before I had the surgery it was easier to stay focused and I did everything I was asked to do. If you or anyone needs to talk please feel free to send me a message on this forum and I will help as best I can. The greatest thing I did to help myself was changing the way I think about eating. Basically I took a rule I had created for dating and applied it to my eating. The rule goes like this: Feelings are not right and they are not wrong they just are, it is what you decide to do with those feelings that will determine the path your life will take. In my dating life this helped me take control and helping me choose a girlfriend that was totally different from all the other toxic relationships I was attracted to. In eating it helped me choose to take action. I started utilizing all those tools I had heard of in the past simultaneously. Portion control, chewing, eating slowly, eating meats first, vegies second, and fruits third helped tremendously. I lost 20lbs before surgery and have lost 18lbs in the 7 days after surgery. Don’t get me wrong I still struggle, but I now know the struggle is with myself. Shakespeare put it best in Hamlet, the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. I have chosen to have this surgery, chosen to give up starches, fired foods and so on. Well I hope this helps, let me know if I can be of service in the future. TTFN Hi my name is Tony and I just had my lap band surgery September 5th 2013. It took me almost 22 years to make the decision to get it done because I didn’t want to give up Pizza’s but when I made the decision I made it for life. I think before I had the surgery it was easier to stay focused and I did everything I was asked to do. If you or anyone needs to talk please feel free to send me a message on this forum and I will help as best I can. The greatest thing I did to help myself was changing the way I think about eating. Basically I took a rule I had created for dating and applied it to my eating. The rule goes like this: Feelings are not right and they are not wrong they just are, it is what you decide to do with those feelings that will determine the path your life will take. In my dating life this helped me take control and helping me choose a girlfriend that was totally different from all the other toxic relationships I was attracted to. In eating it helped me choose to take action. I started utilizing all those tools I had heard of in the past simultaneously. Portion control, chewing, eating slowly, eating meats first, vegies second, and fruits third helped tremendously. I lost 20lbs before surgery and have lost 18lbs in the 7 days after surgery. Don’t get me wrong I still struggle, but I now know the struggle is with myself. Shakespeare put it best in Hamlet, the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. I have chosen to have this surgery, chosen to give up starches, fired foods and so on. Well I hope this helps, let me know if I can be of service in the future. TTFN Hi ya'll hhhHHHHjjhnhhhhhh

I am so sorry for your loss, I am new to this forum so I will make this comment brief. I have a rule that I have applied to my eating that I hope will help you. it goes like this....Feelings are not right and not wrong they just are, let them be and choose how you will react. Grief, loneliness, and anger are all powerful feelings that will take our control away from us if we let it. Ice cream for you, pizza for me or a drink for the alcoholic will destroy all of us and I really can't believe that this is what your lovely little dog would want for you. Sugar free popsicles would be a better choice for me but if I were you and I kept grieving I would go into a deep depression and just keep eating without knowing what I was doing to myself. I hope this advice helps. God Bless ttfn

Well from everything I read this is a heated forum place. I will throw in my two cents just because it helps me as much as it will help you. I have found that I continue to spin my wheels when it comes to eating because I am battling my subconscious. Now I was told not to eat carbs or to eat them last, the truth is I have chosen to say I will not eat any carbs. The reason I have made this choice is as follows: Earlier this week I was talking to a co-worker, she shared with me that in 1998 she had a stomach by-pass done and lost 100 lbs. She warned me that gaining weight after having had any kind of gastric surgery is totally different from before the surgery. The conversation was so intriguing to say the least. She told me she was ecstatic after having lost the weight and she was a great mentor for those seeking gastric bypass however, 4 years later she started driving a big rig and started gaining weight. At first she didn’t think anything of it because the weight came on so slowly, approximately 9-10 lbs. a year. Now she is 80 lbs. overweight. Those same old habits snuck into her life and took over again, now we have an advantage she doesn’t in that the Lap Band needs adjusting. Seeing a doctor and having the opportunity to adjust the lap-band is just one more step to protect us from gaining weight. However, it would be helpful if we could intervene in our destructive behavior before actually stuffing food in our mouths. Ultimately the choice is yours, it really doesn't matter to me which you choose but you know what I chose because when I made the decision to have this thing done it was for permanent change. I hope you found this helpful. ttfn

I am on day 12. Two times I cheated, once I threw up and once I spent 6 hours with a stomach ache and pooping. I am new at this and the head game is the worst. I haven't had my first adjustment but I am trying to live one day at a time and stay in the moment so I don't eat when I am not hungry. I have a stationary bike and I ride it but the toughest thing is the head games we all play with ourselves. Don't let fear keep you from making the right decision when it comes to surgery. Like the song says I get knocked down but I get up again so try to find new things to keep yourself busy. The best part is I don't physically feel hungry but once a day now the trick is teaching my mind that its ok.

I just joined this forum this week and it may be too late for you but in case anyone else is looking at this posting here is what I did. First I adjusted my attitude about eating. I took my rule for dating and applied it to eating, it goes like this: Feelings are not right and they are not wrong they just are. Choose what you will do today and you will have a better tomorrow. In other words I chose my wife not based on my feelings because my previous dating experiences were with toxic people for me. When it comes to eating I choose what I eat, when I eat and how much I eat. I realized that the taste of food wasn't any different today than it was yesterday so I could begin to apply various techniques to control my eating habits. Portion control, calorie counting and increasing my H2O intake all became a regular part of every meal. I also decided to consider myself an addict to food. I began praying at every meal to ask for help in identifying when I was full and the strength to stop when I was satisfied not when I was stuffed. The diet I was given was similar to my eating after the surgery. It focused on meal replacement with protein shakes that contained 14g of protein or more and contain no sugar or low sugar with no carbs or as little carbs as possible. I went to Sam's wholesale club and looked at all the shakes they offered and compared before picking one. I chose Pure Protein because I am a man and I didn't want to ingest anything that would add estrogen to my body while I was losing weight. Being that I am a male in my late 40's I did my research and found out that certain protein forms once ingested help your body produce energy and estrogen a female hormone that men don’t need. I pray you have found this information helpful and please feel free to contact me if you need further assistance. This is my 8th day post-op so I pray everything goes well for you on your new journey.

Fee I had my lap-band surgery 9/5/2013 so I am completing my first week. I heard about this procedure back in 1995 and I decided that I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to give up pizzas. Growing old sucks but choosing to be old and in poor health just bites. I came to the realization that life is meant to be lived with a purpose and that I am more than just my next meal. I created a rule for dating that I applied to eating earlier this year. It has helped me move off the bench, to use a football analogy, and put me into the game. The rule is as follows: Feelings are not right and they are not wrong they just are, it is what you decide to do with those feelings that will determine the path your life will take. Where you end up tomorrow is by your own design so choose well and take control of your life. In dating this rule helped me get out of dating the wrong kind of people I was attracted to but in my eating it helped me make a decision. My feelings about eating are twisted so I need to channel Mr. Spock and think logically about what I choose to eat, how much I eat, and when I eat. I will not die from not eating that pizza today but I will end up 6 feet under if I eat that pizza today for I am an addict when it comes to food. This distraction has taken me away from my health, my spirit, and reduced the quality of life. A life given to me as a gift from a creator that loves me and wishes above all things to see me again, not defeated by His enemies nor by my inability to stand steadfast in His promises. If you haven’t guessed I am a Christian, and although many people have a problem giving up control of their lives to a God they cannot see I find comfort in that I am more than just this being here and now. If I didn’t believe there is a God then I would know exactly when the earth would be destroyed because it would be the day I died, and no one would be left on this 3rd rock from the sun. One scripture meant more to me before the surgery than any other and it was something Jesus Christ said: Mathew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” Life for those who believe is about choices, a test if you would, to see our resolve to live, act and participate in the battle for life, love and faith. Christ chose to die on that cross for me, so I could have this time to learn how to exist in Love for my wife, kids, neighbors, and friends. No matter where you exist today, nor if you believe in God or not Shakespeare had it right when he penned the immortal words in Hamlet. “The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves” For those of you who made the choice to participate in your life and take control of the hunger that never leaves us I will pray for you all. For those of you who haven’t done the surgery yet but get this posting as an e-mail or clip I also pray for you because the future is now up to you. I have given you the keys to take control, thrown down the gauntlet, drawn a line….find the courage to cross it.