What does "it's a tool" mean to you?

[Rainydayz 3]

I've read this dozens of times here and other places: "It's not magic, it's a tool." But I haven't seen anyone yet really spell that out. I mean what does this tool do for you? I know how it's supposed to work - I've read all the packet they gave at the seminar and watched the movie. But I guess what I'm looking for is specifics about what people feel this tool does for them - e.g. Does it make you feel full faster so you stop eating sooner than you normally would? Does it hurt when you eat "bad" things? Does it keep you feeling full longer so you won't snack between meals? How do you use your tool?

[Mimilou2004 13]

LOL, what you said!!!!!

Mimi

[Cocoabean 430]

It's a tool means that it won't make most food choices for me. It won't stop me from grazing. It won't make me exercise.

It will help me with Portion Control. It will help me with grazing from the standpoint that my physical appetite is under control, so I am less likely to graze on snack foods.

The band doesn't do the work, but it sure helps!

[Ponderer 14]

I have not had my surgery yet but for me I am going into it as this being something that will make it a bit easier to do the right things to get healthy. I still need to make the choices and this will not prevent me from making bad ones.....but it will make it a bit easier for me to make good ones. At the end of the day though....I still need to choose to do the right thing right. If I am not going to, why would I even bother to get this done is the way I look at it. You can do the right thing wrong and still it will not work....it only happens when you do the right thing right.

[mattie7632 24]

What it doesn't do:

The band does not stop you from consuming fattening lattes, sucking on candy, eating sugary ice creams and sodas or pouring sugar into your drinks. You can do all these things along with the band, but then you might not lose weight!

The band doesn't necessarily stop the urge to snack. This is not real hunger so if you give into it, you might not lose weight!

What it does:

Makes you feel fuller quicker--I can't eat as much. I stay fuller longer, on smaller amounts of food than before. It curves my appetite--I don't have the desire to snack AS MUCH.

Bottom line--The band helps you control how much you put in there, but WHAT you put in there is up to you!

Hope this helps!

[54Shirley 105]

First of all it starts with your brains... It's up to you to use this device "tool" to your best ability to try to loose weight. Now that means a small amount of food per meal. You should feel full, and then stop,,, don't eat anymore. The tool was surgically implanted, and it's up to you to use good judgement when you eat, what you eat, how much you eat. By getting fills, you will control what you can swallow, and how much. You have to tell real hunger "like stomacg growling" from head hunger... Hope this helps some.

[Rainydayz 3]

OK that helps some. I know WW claims to give you the tools to succeed and diet pills are a tool and all the other diets advertised claim to be the right tool too.I'm just really trying to decide if this tool is worth the $2K and the pain and risk of surgery. I leaning toward yes, but I want to have as much info as I can get going in.

So here's another question: Why did you choose this tool over others?

[Jachut 487]

To me it means it helps with Portion Control - so I can feel satisfied on smaller portions.

it doesnt make food choices, prevent me from eating things like bread, rice or Pasta, necessitate me sticking to ridiculously small portions (like half a cup, who on earth can be nourished on half a cup of food), prevent me eating between meals and it doesnt make me exercise.

Make no mistake, losing weight with a lapband is work, just like dieting without one is. I fell off the wagon regularly but the portion control and slow eating that it provides meant that bad choices werent TOO bad. I couldnt eat a whole cake in a month of Sundays for example, but i can cheat with one or two pieces. In the time that it would take me to eat two pieces of cake, previously i could have done a lot more damage before I caught myself.

Over time, it has trained my brain, my eyes and my body to reconsider what a portion is. I have no fill anymore, and I dont overfeed myself because my plate looks small or pathetic. Small amounts of food are second nature to me now.

I chose it becuase although it is a "tool" you sort of have to use it whether you want to or not, as long as you have reasonable restriction. You cant decide today that you're going to eat a ton just becuase you feel like it, you have to really plan to be able to do that, eat around the band, graze all day, its much much harder to simply decide you're not going to stick with the plan today. With WW or calorie counting, you can simply not do it, with the band, you can not use it to its full potential but you cant really not use it, if that makes sense. Anyway, all I know is I could never have lost what I did without the band.

[Rainydayz 3]

To me it means it helps with Portion Control - so I can feel satisfied on smaller portions.

it doesnt make food choices, prevent me from eating things like bread, rice or Pasta, necessitate me sticking to ridiculously small portions (like half a cup, who on earth can be nourished on half a cup of food), prevent me eating between meals and it doesnt make me exercise.

Make no mistake, losing weight with a lapband is work, just like dieting without one is. I fell off the wagon regularly but the portion control and slow eating that it provides meant that bad choices werent TOO bad. I couldnt eat a whole cake in a month of Sundays for example, but i can cheat with one or two pieces. In the time that it would take me to eat two pieces of cake, previously i could have done a lot more damage before I caught myself.

Over time, it has trained my brain, my eyes and my body to reconsider what a portion is. I have no fill anymore, and I dont overfeed myself because my plate looks small or pathetic. Small amounts of food are second nature to me now.

I chose it becuase although it is a "tool" you sort of have to use it whether you want to or not, as long as you have reasonable restriction. You cant decide today that you're going to eat a ton just becuase you feel like it, you have to really plan to be able to do that, eat around the band, graze all day, its much much harder to simply decide you're not going to stick with the plan today. With WW or calorie counting, you can simply not do it, with the band, you can not use it to its full potential but you cant really not use it, if that makes sense. Anyway, all I know is I could never have lost what I did without the band.

Thank you! That makes so much sense to me. Wow you've done great.

[GlitterG 1]

OK that helps some. I know WW claims to give you the tools to succeed and diet pills are a tool and all the other diets advertised claim to be the right tool too.I'm just really trying to decide if this tool is worth the $2K and the pain and risk of surgery. I leaning toward yes, but I want to have as much info as I can get going in.

So here's another question: Why did you choose this tool over others?

For me, and this is unique to everyone, I have tried all those "tools" that WW offered, diet pills, exercise, pay for meal plans, etc ... and they all worked - in the beginning.

Will power - I hate hearing "you just need to have more will power" - will power is not something I lack.

I am not sure if anyone else will have had this issue - but when I started gaining weight I would replace meals with Water or coffee, tried making better choices for foods - anything I could.

What I didnt do was make sure I ate consistantly at the same time every day- it was easy to skip a meal and then have a large meal in the evenings. I couldnt understand why I was gaining and gaining, (Actually I just didnt want to admit what was happening ).

I work at the computer all day and kept saying it was because I am not getting exercise... then realized I had gained so much it hurt to move too much.

Had stress fractures in my feet, my blood pressure started climbing, and my back started hurting.

I have friends who have had WLS and just couldnt admit that I was that big or to think of it as anything but "cheating" - yup I just said that!

I have ten year old twin daughters I homeschool and several months ago I realized - I may think I am helping them and giving them the best I can - but I am not. Because I dont want people making comments about their mom if we go out in public (because people are mean that way), or that I can't participate in their lives because I have to watch on the side lines, I am not giving them the best of ME!

I want to be an active participant in life - not a bystander always taking the pictures so I dont end up in the picture.

Once I made this decision and researched it more - I wish I had done this years ago (but I get to benefit from all the experience of those who came before me)

So there is my long ramble on why I did this .... I am doing it for ME and those around me will benefit as well.

As for why this one over other options for WLS - this is an individual choice and their surgeon what would work best for them. For me I needed that Portion Control and a little reminder to eat regularly. I dont think one is better than any other - its just the needs of the 'wearer"

For me I was more comfortable knowing that if there was an issue it could be reversed easier than other options.

[mattie7632 24]

You sound so much like me!

I get so angered also about the "will-power" thing and people will say "just exercise", just do this, just do that because it's so simple according to them. People don't understand that many of us have long engrained, eating habits that likely started in childhood. When it comes to other destructive behaviors, society accepts and pushes you towards counseling. This is no different, simple will power cannot undo how we've learned to live and eat.

That is why I value the band so much, it puts me in a place where it's easier for me to change the habits that I have lived with for 43 years. We can all lose weight on WW, diet pills, whatever, but the band helps us learn to reverse our habits and when we get weak and cheat....for most of us, the band gets in the way and stops us from completely messing up.

For me, and this is unique to everyone, I have tried all those "tools" that WW offered, diet pills, exercise, pay for meal plans, etc ... and they all worked - in the beginning.

Will power - I hate hearing "you just need to have more will power" - will power is not something I lack.

I am not sure if anyone else will have had this issue - but when I started gaining weight I would replace meals with Water or coffee, tried making better choices for foods - anything I could.

What I didnt do was make sure I ate consistantly at the same time every day- it was easy to skip a meal and then have a large meal in the evenings. I couldnt understand why I was gaining and gaining, (Actually I just didnt want to admit what was happening ).

I work at the computer all day and kept saying it was because I am not getting exercise... then realized I had gained so much it hurt to move too much.

Had stress fractures in my feet, my blood pressure started climbing, and my back started hurting.

I have friends who have had WLS and just couldnt admit that I was that big or to think of it as anything but "cheating" - yup I just said that!

I have ten year old twin daughters I homeschool and several months ago I realized - I may think I am helping them and giving them the best I can - but I am not. Because I dont want people making comments about their mom if we go out in public (because people are mean that way), or that I can't participate in their lives because I have to watch on the side lines, I am not giving them the best of ME!

I want to be an active participant in life - not a bystander always taking the pictures so I dont end up in the picture.

Once I made this decision and researched it more - I wish I had done this years ago (but I get to benefit from all the experience of those who came before me)

So there is my long ramble on why I did this .... I am doing it for ME and those around me will benefit as well.

As for why this one over other options for WLS - this is an individual choice and their surgeon what would work best for them. For me I needed that Portion Control and a little reminder to eat regularly. I dont think one is better than any other - its just the needs of the 'wearer"

For me I was more comfortable knowing that if there was an issue it could be reversed easier than other options.

[Cocoabean 430]

Why I chose this tool? Because I had tried the uninvasive tools over and over again. WW, pills, diets. The definition of insanity, do something over and over and expect different results....at 43 years old and after some 33 years of "dieting," I was done expecting different results.

So, I looked at more permanent tools. WLS. At the time when I first started looking, my choice was bypass, insurance would not cover banding at the time. That scared the heck out of me. My BMI was on the "low" end of obese. I considered bypass very drastic for my condition. My DH was dead set against it. When I attended my very first seminar, they said that bands would be covered by insurance soon. So, I did more research and waited.

Sure enough, insurance companies started covering bands. I decided I liked the fact that none of my digestive tract would be re-routed, no malabsorption would be involved.

My biggest issue pre-op was Portion Control. I knew banding was a restrictive procedure. I did some grazing, but getting my appetite under control has allowed me to get the grazing under control. I also didn't have any problems with diabetes. My surgeon will not do a band on a diabetic. He feels that bypass is a much better treatment for diabetes because it has an immediate effect on blood sugar.

So far for me, it has been a great decision. The sleeve was not an option for me at the time, I hadn't even heard of it. I don't know if I would have considered it if given the chance.

[54Shirley 105]

I have been dieting all my life, and they don't work. I didn't want my intestines cut, and pulled out, because there is no going back! So I chose the band. It was good in the beginning. You stick to what your Dr. and Dietitian tell you, and your good to go. You will lose weight. I lost over 120lbs. with a 4cc band. I went in for a fill, I was at 1.8cc, and they filled me with0.2cc.

Total of saline in the band 2cc. It blew the band ! I kept trying to figure how could this happen? It's only 1/2 full? Well I quit beating my head of the wall and believe that it was defective. I never had any problem before, and it blew the line, or port. I'm hoping to get in to see a surgeon soon now that I have Ins. again. When I went back to my surgeon, he seen some weight gain, and told his student to instruct me to control my appetite, come back when I have lost weight, and will talk about a fill. Then I was escorted out. I was furious ! This was my last month of Ins. due to being laid off, but no one would let me see him so I was escorted out. I have regained all of my weight, and I am trying threw things that I have learned to cut back. It is hard.

I have gotten the attention of another surgeon to see me VERY HARD TO DO! So I weight daily for a call, I will call tomorrow and see if they can work in a outsider.

Just so you know. This is a plastic tool, and can break, and will somewhere down the line... So,, make sure you have a excellent surgeon. Find out if you develop a leak will he fix you,

Ask questions! Find the answers to your questions before surgery. Then do what you want. Yes it is a Weight Loss Tool! It also works ! The choice is up to you. I know it works, but I know it can come with some problems. I wish you Luck.

Shirley

Banded 10/31/2006

Dr. Jeffrey Genaw "Chief Bariatric Surgeon"

Henry Ford Hospital "Center of Excellence"

Detroit, Michigan.

[stateofzen 46]

It's a tool is shorthand for the idea that the band isn't a magic weight loss wand. Abbra cadabra! No more hunger! No more cravings! No more bad-for-you-foods! You'll lose weight no matter what and it will be super-duper fast for everyone!

Because if that's what people are expecting, they are going to be sorely disappointed

The band helps me stay not-hungry (notice I say not-hungry, which is different than full) longer on much smaller portion sizes. That's its job, and it does it well. I lose weight faster or slower depending on what *I* do, like whether or not I make good choices (my band doesn't stop me from eating ANYTHING), or whether or not I push past the point of not-hungry because I'm just enjoying the taste of the food (because it doesn't make me throw up either).

It is pretty awesome. In some ways, it might seem like the same old diet but it's not. It's so much freaking easier to maintain over time than any diet has ever been because I really don't feel like I'm dieting. A lot of that has been my own hard mental work, because the other thing that the band doesn't magically do is change your brain or your habits. It is work. But it's potentially easier work, and more importantly, you stand a better chance of your work actually lasting more than a couple of months before the big rebound happens.

That's a deal I'm willing to take.

[Rainydayz 3]

I have been dieting all my life, and they don't work. I didn't want my intestines cut, and pulled out, because there is no going back! So I chose the band. It was good in the beginning. You stick to what your Dr. and Dietitian tell you, and your good to go. You will lose weight. I lost over 120lbs. with a 4cc band. I went in for a fill, I was at 1.8cc, and they filled me with0.2cc.

Total of saline in the band 2cc. It blew the band ! I kept trying to figure how could this happen? It's only 1/2 full? Well I quit beating my head of the wall and believe that it was defective. I never had any problem before, and it blew the line, or port. I'm hoping to get in to see a surgeon soon now that I have Ins. again. When I went back to my surgeon, he seen some weight gain, and told his student to instruct me to control my appetite, come back when I have lost weight, and will talk about a fill. Then I was escorted out. I was furious ! This was my last month of Ins. due to being laid off, but no one would let me see him so I was escorted out. I have regained all of my weight, and I am trying threw things that I have learned to cut back. It is hard.

I have gotten the attention of another surgeon to see me VERY HARD TO DO! So I weight daily for a call, I will call tomorrow and see if they can work in a outsider.

Just so you know. This is a plastic tool, and can break, and will somewhere down the line... So,, make sure you have a excellent surgeon. Find out if you develop a leak will he fix you,

Ask questions! Find the answers to your questions before surgery. Then do what you want. Yes it is a Weight Loss Tool! It also works ! The choice is up to you. I know it works, but I know it can come with some problems. I wish you Luck.

Shirley

Banded 10/31/2006

Dr. Jeffrey Genaw "Chief Bariatric Surgeon"

Henry Ford Hospital "Center of Excellence"

Detroit, Michigan.

How did you know the band was blown? Your surgeon wouldn't even check it or fix it for you? He sounds like a real jerk. At least there is a clause in my insurance that states that if anything goes wrong with the surgery or something later that requires replacing or more surgery to fix they will cover it. My surgeon asks that you attend his support group twice a year for 5 years after the surgery. So I really feel like he will take care of and keep up with me.I hope you're able to find someone to fix it for you. Good luck!