drsmossy

Well I am just over one year out and have lost 90 pounds and only have 7 to target, so you may ask whats the problem? The problem is that I feel I have not learnt anything about food, being full is all in my head not in my stomach, I will be on a diet for the rest of my life as I only have two ways of eating, either dieting or eating way too much and the band has done nothing to curb this, I still weight myself 5 times a day, I lose unto 4 pounds some days and put unto 7 pounds on some days, I know it is all water weight but just fear the day when I don't jump back on the wagon after bingeing. I know the band helps but I have learn to eat through the fullness, for me it is like if I don't stop when I am full it seems to stretch the band and I can just keep eating and eating and after a year of feeling deprived I just want to binge, what also doesn't help is everyone telling me I have lost enough, I kinda don't want my journey to come to an end, I want a reach my target, I am now 176 pounds and I am 5 foot 7 , so I am still overweight, my bmi is still 27. 7, I just want to know if any experienced bandsters have had the same problem and how to overcome it and try to be normal. Any advice welcome.

Thanks for all your comments, I already knew the answers when I posted I think, seeing a shrink I think is the best option. My main problem is food is my life, I am a chef and I used to eat loads at work, all high fat and high calories, one of the easiest parts of my life change was to never eat at work again, this is something I have managed for a year and feel very comfortable that I can continue with this for life. I just taste and spit out and have to explain to my junior chefs why I am doing this. It is so weird that we all go through this to become normal. In a few years time when I no longer see people who knew me as fat I will be just be seen as me. I think it is almost scary to become normal which is strange as that is what we all trying to be. Jacut saying that they have been banded for 6 years and still struggles is the way I think I will be in 6 years, it is almost a curse but in a way at least it gives us a goal to work to, I already know that when I reach my goal of 169 pounds then I won't just stop because in a way I won't want to. It is like we have been conditioned into dieting and it has become the norm. I either really enjoy dieting or really hate it there is no in between. After 6 years jacut do you still have top ups and do you still have restriction? At the moment some days I feel restriction to a point some days I think I don't feel any but I think maybe we have just got used to feeling restricted and aver the last year we have learn to chew more, eat smaller bites etc and now that has become normal. I just can't understand how I can still binge on loads of food one day and then be sick the next days because I eat a small amount the the foods that I wasbinging on the day before. It just doesnt make sense. All the people who have just been banded or are thinking about being banded should read this tread because I wish I had before I got banded, it wouldn't have changed my mind because I am so much fitter but I would have had my eyes wider opened by it. Every one always asks me if I am happier now as they just think being slimmer must make you happier but I can honestly say I don't know. I was a happy fat chap who loved food and smoking, now I am not so fat, don't smoke, much heathier but I have given up so much of the things I loved and now I am coming to the end of my journey and am becoming what they call normal I have the chance to waer nice clothes but I still see the same guy in the mirror he just doesn't smile as much.

Well here is my story and if you have just had or are thinking about having a band you should read this. I am a 37 year old man from uk. I am 5-7 and I weighted 276 pounds. I had surgery on 27th September 2010, I had diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. I am now 181 pounds and am free of medical conditions now. It has been a hard journey, most of my weight loss was in first five months but my body shape continues to change for the better, I have not done much exercise but I am more active in my daily life. The main thing I want to talk about is that magic word - restriction. I have always felt disappointed with the restriction but I feel that you get used to feeling restricted and your eating habits change to the point where you don't remember how you felt about eating pre band. I have never really been unable to eat particular so called band unfriendly food and my eating felt different day to day which is frustrating. I had my last fill about a week ago, which was my 6th visit to my doctor, and I feel I am finally in the green zone, I hope it lasts so I can finally shift the last 12 pounds and complete my weight loss. I have read this forum over the past year and couldn't understand why some people couldn't eat certain foods whilst I could still eat almost anything. As everyone says on here it is still a diet and you have to stick with it till the band starts doing it's job, you may be luck and get there on first few visits or it may take longer and now I am almost 11months out I am happy that it has taken this long as my body has had time to lose the weight that took so many years to put on. I still love food, I am a chef, and I will always have an addiction to it but I know the band has and will always help me not to overeat and I am so grateful for that. If anyone has any questions I will keep checking this thread over next few days and I will try to answer them. The band is a fantastic tool in helping you eat less so if you are thinking of having one then do and if you have one and feel disappointed with it then stick with it, it takes time to get to the green zone, but use the time it takes to get there by improving your eating habits - good luck all!

Good luck it will make your life better

I was the same pre band with my sugar, I though I could eat whatever I wanted as I seemed to stop gaining weigh but a lot of my sugars were not being absorbed, my surgeon said to me on my last visit that after I reach goal weight I still need to visit him when the retraction fades maybe every sox months to keep me topped up so I don't regain inn the future - the thing about losing is you have to reach your goal or you will forever feel that you are depriving yourself and will stay on an up and down diet which isn't good for body and soul, just think from today that you will put your best effort in for a month and try and lose another 20 lbs and then take a step back and you will soon be even closer to your goal- good luck you can do it you have already come a long way, but to me the journey isn't over till you get to your goal, you will not be happy till you get there! By Xmas you could easily be there, just think how you will feel at Christmas if you haven't got there and loo back to this date and know that you could have done it

I say eat less as that is the key - I am 3 months out from banding and I am down 58 lbs with 32 to go which I will lose in next 10 weeks, I have little or no restriction other than the mental restriction that is making me do this, I have had two fills and next one on jan 11th which I hope will give me more restriction, I dont exercise much and eat about 1200 - 1500 cals a day - I was at 800 - 1000 a day for first two months, I have to be focused everyday to achieve my goal, unless your mind is set on the task 100 per cent then i feel this wont work for anyone - I cant believe all the people on here who could never diet but then get there minds set on dieting and then do great - most addicts cant diet for more than a few ays without cheating but we all want he chance to be thinner an fitter and we manage the pre op diet, then we set off on the journey to restriction - i think it is a great journey that we all go on here, but the people who come on here an say they are eating 800 cals and not losing are lying to themselves less calories in verses more calories used makes you lose weight and thats a fact!!

eat less!!!! its not complicated

how tall are you and what weight did u start at? I am 11 weeks post op and including a 1 week pre op I am down about 50 lbs, I am eating about 1000 cals a down, most of my weight was lost in first 6 weeks, now I am losing about 3lbs a week and you have just got to get used to it. I have had two fills but only occasionally feel much restriction, I think everyones journey is different as everybody is different, all you need to do is keep your mind in the right place. I am 5-7 and started my journey at 267lbs

I read all these failure stories on here and I hope they dont put anyone off having the band, it may have put me off if I had found this site pre op. This will change your life if you let it!!. I did one week pre op - cheated on that, gave up smoking a couple of days before surgery. Had the op, had very little pain. Followed my own post op diet ( 10 days of liquids and the 5 days of soft and then about 14 days of solids). Then I had my first fill 5 days ago. I had 4cc when banded and they put 3 more in. I was solids on the first day after fill and had very little restriction, then in past three days I have really felt the restriction kick in and it feels good. I have spent my life struggling with food and ciggerettes and it feels liberating to be a slave to neither! I know I am still very new to this and people who have been banded for a long time may think that this is just the novelty and maybe it is but I will ride this feeling as long as I can. 6 weeks ago I had high sugar levels and hypertension, right now I have neither. I am down 37 pounds in 5 1/2 weeks, I am exercising a bit more but nothing crazy. I am 5-7 and currently about 230lbs. Anyone considering this surgery, stop considering and just do it, it will be the best choice of your life. :wink2:

I am please you feel inspired by my story - I am now a month further on and I have lost another 13lbs, the weight loss has slow but I expected that. I have had a second fill about 10 days ago, another .5cc, I still can eat what I want so I still haven't got good restriction. Good luck with your op and make sure your mind is set right and you will be fine

try eating less - i have lost 50lbs in 11 weeks and still dont have much restriction. I dont do much exercise and I try to eat 800-1000 cals a day. I am now 218 lbs and 5-7inches and I have 50 more lbs to lose - I want to and will achieve this over the next 3 - 4 months.

Electricgypsy You can only put on weight over a period of time if you have consumed more than you have burnt off - thats a fact - weight can fluctuate day to day and that will be down to Water retention etc but not over a long period of time - so be real with yourself and get on the program!! - you cant cheat yourself in the long run

If you burn more calories than you eat you WILL lose weight - it really is that simple, so look at what you are eating, it must be more than 1000 - 1200 calories a day - be real with yourself, even if you were at full restriction you would consume about 800 calories a day - so if you are having 1000s calories a day now you would still only lose 1 lb every 16 days with full restriction!! The average person uses over 2000 calories a day just living, so if you can stick with 800 cals a day and you exercise to 500 cals a day you would lose 3 lbs a week - dieting isn't rocket science, either eat less, move more or do both and you will lose weight, if I was your doctor he won't think you are some medical miracle - he will know that you haven't been following the program as you should have been or you would have lost at least 16lb in last two months!!!!!!!

I started with 4 ccs in the band, the surgeon told me it empty and then the guy who did my first fill under xray said i already had 4 ccs in and then he put another 3 until I had seven - as for feeling full - i dont really know how that really feels, if i am determined then i feel full i think, if i am down i never feel full - it in the mind not in the restriction - but what ever it is it feels good - no more high blood pressure and 36 lbs down in 6 weeks and i feel great

I had my first fill about 10 days ago, I still feel that i can eat just about what I want but on a few occasions I have had some cabbage and it gave me a little stuck feeling, I try to eat crunch foods because I think it will fill me better, I dont chew too much and easy foods I dont have to chew at all (pasta in sauce etc) I eat allot of raw vegetables but today I had some raw carrot and it made me have some pain in my throat, 2 mins latter I vomited it back up, is this normal to have restriction to just a few different foods and does that mean I need more fill next time i see the doc (two weeks time) or does restriction come and go? I have 7cc in 10cc band at the mo. Please help!!

Peppermint tea worked for me

Just set your mind straight and DO IT. This can and will be the best thing you have ever done, all you have to do is follow the program, write down every calorie you eat, set a target not to go over, if you do then have a lower amount of cals the next day, you just have to stick out the bad times and think of how healthy you will be in a few months time, maybe buy some a nice new outfit to fit into for Christmas day then hang it somewhere that you can see it everyday and keep telling yourself you will fit into it. I am a hopeless dieter and even though I am only 5 weeks in I am down 38lbs and already all my weight related illnesses have improved. The Lap band will change your life all you need to do is let it!!!!:thumbup:

Heres my story, I was banded 4 week and 3 days ago and including 1 week pre op diet I have lost 32 pounds down from 278 to 236 and I am more than happy, I feel great - I had my first fill yesterday and feel no different, after I recovered from surgery after about two weeks I felt no difference to how I was before but I tried so had sticking to below 1000 calories a day but still eating alot of heathly food. I feel under pressure to do well as people who know you have a gastric band think the weight just drops off you but as we all know that isn't the case. After surgery I asked my surgeon if my band had anything in it and he said no, when I had my fill yesterday I was told I already had 4cc and he put another 3 in to make it to 7cc in a 10cc band. What I am thinking is that maybe I have felt restriction and thats why I had lost 32 so maybe it is the band helping me or is it that my mind has helped me lose the pounds by reacting in a way not to make me seem to myself and to others that I am failing. All my life, which I am sure that many of you can relate to, when I have dieted I am so committed and can lose alot but the second that my mind stops wanting to lose weight then the diet is over and I find myself looking for the highest calorie food!!. What I am hoping is that band is help even though I am not feeling a restriction and that in the next few weeks I will not fall off the band wagon as this is why I have had the banding in the first place - hope this make sense!! - next fill on November 23rd so have to stay strong till then!! p.s another thing is that I was self funded which I feel may make my mind stronger as I dont want to waste 7K pounds!

how does it change?