bandpal

I have either felt fat or been fat for nearly all of my life. I started binging as early as fourth grade. My weight yo-yoed until early adulthood, when I settled in at about 180 lbs, about 30 lbs overweight. I repeatedly failed in programs like Weightwatchers and Overeaters Anonymous. After short periods of weight loss - one to commemorate getting married, another while getting divorced - I hit 200 lbs in my early 30's. After remarrying at 38, I began therapy. It didn't stop my weight gain, but brought several important issues into focus for me. I decided I needed surgical intervention. I was banded on November 21st, 2007 in Tel Aviv, Israel. I was 47 years old and weighed 286 lbs.    l    The band clicked for me right away. I was ready to make a change. I lost 30 lbs during the first month post-band, another 84 lbs during the first year, and reached my goal weight of 150 lbs in March, 2009, one year and four months out. Since then I've lost another nine pounds or so - my current weight is around 141 lbs, a little more than half my pre-op weight.    l      Food is and perhaps will always be a struggle. Slowly, however, the band is helping me change many of my behaviors around food:  my portion size, the speed and manner in which I eat, the times of day and the amount of time spent eating, my desires regarding specific foods, my binging and emotional eating, the way I experience hunger and the way I repond to it. Having been banded has been a miraculous event in my life, and the people whom I have met at lapbandtalk.com have been an essential part of my ongoing recovery.