snapper17

Hi all, My name is Daniel, I am 165kg / 364 pounds and I know I need to do something about it but I am struggling making the right choices. I have always been overweight, in fact I was born overweight. I have never won the battle to get to a "normal" weight range. I have tried several times to diet and exercise, mostly lasting a few weeks maybe 2 months then giving up because it was really hard to stop the temptations. Once (about 6-7 years ago) I was successful to some degree in that I started at 127kg and got down to 82kg which I was happy with however that was short lived. I had an episode that lead to a state of depression. When I am depressed I eat, so I ended up putting the weight back on and then some more. I have researched a little bit about all the different solutions and the lap band seems to be my only real choice. I have been thinking about it for a long time now (close to a year now and did not do anything about it). My weight continues to rise and I know soon I will be in big trouble and may even have a stroke or heart attack ect.. I feel as though I am not motivated at all to lose weight and I do not think it will work if I am not motivated enough to do something about it. What can I do to get more motivated? I love food and the one thing that really upsets me when I think about this procedure is that I will have to give up on the one thing I really love about life. I feel that if I had this band on I would be miserable for the rest of my life. The only real positive things I can think of is that the band is adjustable and removable. Sometimes I feel it is better to live a shorter happier life then a longer miserable life. How did you feel about giving up food? Also, I love a good coffee, with this band on can I still drink it with out being "punished"? thanks

I am not experienced in this area but if I were you I would ring the doctors office and ask them they may need to delay the surgery

hi terry, thanks for the link, I read a few pages and below are the points I would look forward to: My recurrent back pain is almost gone completely - I dont have alot of back problems but certainly I feel back pain sometimes. I have way more energy and feel much stronger food is not always falling on my shirt. - LOL I always thought it was because I was a messy eater, it was only recently pointed out to me that its because my stomach sticks out so much and instead of the food falling on the floor it falls on my shirt. I hate having to clean them all the time because of this. I have more energy I feel stable in the shower...before I was always thinking what in the hell if I fall in here??? LOL, I have been in a few peoples showers and always felt uncomfortable, i always felt unsafe like I might easily slip and break something. I got used to my shower but I don't like showering other places because of this. My knees don't hurt. - At the moment they dont hurt much but if I walk for 10min or so my shins and knees begin to hurt and my ankle feels weak so I stop. I longer do very much exercise and avoid as much walking as possible. I like getting up from the sofa or chair and not "pulling or pushing". - Yeah I struggle getting out of bed or couches, in my own home I dont mind because I live alone but if I go somewhere where the people dont know me I feel embarrassed. Also, it is very difficult for me to sit on a high stool and it must look odd to people when they watch me try and sit on the stool. Most times I avoid it by just standing but if I have to be there for more than 15min I must sit because my knees and legs kill me if I stand too long. I like turning over in bed and not "flopping" like a beached whale. - LOL yeah I have to roll out of bed too. Also my mattress cover always comes off I didn't put much thought into it but now I realize its because of the weight I put in the middle of the bed. When there are two people on the bed its ok because the weight is spread out over the mattress but with just me in the middle it always comes off. Grocery and eating out bills are MUCH lower. - I spend approx 50% of my wage on food, I eat out every meal because a. I am too lazy to make something b. for one person I calculated it was cheaper for me to eat out but only at cheap places (you need to consider buying cutlery, pots and pans ect..) I don't cook anything at all at home. If you think about it though the cheaper food items are more fattening and the health costs in the future will be through the roof. I can go for a walk without back or leg pain looking forward to an airplane flight in August.... no seatbelt extenders!! I rarely take flights, in the last one I went in it was the first one where my seatbelt did not fit and I had to use an extender. It was very uncomfortable because those seats are smaller than say a cinemas seats ect.. I do want to take a holiday in dec but I fear that I will not fit in the economy seat, I can't afford business class so I guess I may not be able to go I smile for pictures...I do not avoid the camera! Before pics of me are few and far between. I have taken, willingly more pictures in the last 6 months than I have in the last 10 years! And I even like some of them! - I hate pictures of me in them and I hate it when my friends take pictures of me. One of them showed me a picture of me 3 years ago when I lost all my weight, I couldn't recognize myself I am now double that size. ----------------------------------------------- These things bother me now and I guess I look forward to improvements in these areas: personal hi gene - It is very difficult to wash my feet, in between my toes without feeling like I am going to slip out of the shower. I use a bucket now but its very uncomfortable. It is very difficult to wipe myself after going to the toilet, it hurts if I twist my stomach in certain positions, sometimes I take 10min just on clean up, people think I must have fallen in. It is hard to cut my toe nails, sometimes I get my dad to do it for me. holes in jeans and hard to get clothes - I am constantly buying new jeans and pants and having them repaired because they keep getting holes in them and ripping apart at the seams. They are good quality jeans and cost me around $150 each. I have to go to high and mighty because you cant just go to any store. In Australia there are only 1 or 2 stores that I know of that stock these sizes for males so I must pay their high prices. I too just put on what ever fits me and sometimes this means I have to wear boring plain clothes and I have to wear the same clothes all the time. I can't wait to just go into any store and buy what ever looks good and know if they don't have it in my size its because they are sold out not because they don't make them in that size. hard to put on socks and shoes hard to buy shoes - Its very difficult to put socks and shoes on, in fact I buy shoes without shoe laces because it is very difficult to tie them all the time. My feet are wide/fat so it is very hard to find shoes that fit. Last time I needed shoes I went into about 20 stores and only found one pair that barely fit me so I bought them even though I didn't really like the look of them, what choice do I have? I guess I could import them but that is a risk. able to choose where I want to sit in a restaurant - I love to go to the crown and eat at number 8 and the braisery and sit outside however the chairs there are hard to fit into. Most restaurant seem to have cheaper chairs outside because of the rain element. When ever I am about to sit down a part of me thinks is this chair stable enough to hold me? I have broken a chair or two in my time its probably the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me. ----------------------------------------------- Thanks for pointing out life could be easier being a normal weight. Ultimately if I do end up doing this it is because of my health but I feel really sad thinking I may have to give up on food. Is it possible to order say an entree mushroom risotto and eat it without burping and sliming?

hi, Yes I am seeing a professional, have been for a few years now. I am better now but I still feel a lack of motivation when it comes to helping myself. I too use food as a comfort and a form of stress relief. I was told what happened to me 3 years ago was caused by a build up of stress. I talk about all the stresses I had back then and feel that I still have a few of them. I am thinking that if I do lose weight and force myself not to eat then I will build up all the stresses again and have another episode. My doctor says its possible but that is why I need to find other ways to deal with stress like talking things through with people. I was and still regard myself as a fairly private person, most people do not know what I stress about because I do not like to talk about it. I am trying to open up now but it is very difficult for someone that is so used to keeping it inside. I live alone and that does not help. Tran, I think its great you gave up smoking but how do you just wake up one day and say I quit? Surly there was some motivation to get you started. That is what I am searching for some motivation and reason to lose weight. I too want to be high on life. Well im off to the daily grind of the 9-5 thank you for listening to me. Thanks