male only Drug of choice- food

[jlancaster79 9]

Anyone here want to share how they were able to overcome using food as a "go-to" drug? I am 34 and have recently weighed In at 417 lbs. I did a Jillian Michaels program and got down to 393....Then went back up to 410. Then found out I am diabetic and managed to diet and gym it back down to 400. Now I am 410 again.

Point is... The weight loss is not as empowering to me as the food. I wish it were. How do you stop the food addiction if I were to get the band???

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Unfortunately, the band can't help food addiction. The band will allow you to be satisfied on much less food for longer periods of time but it won't change cravings, head hunger, and/or food addiction. There is a popular saying around here "the band goes around your stomach, not your head".

My best advice to anyone considering the band is to deal with your psychological issues with food first. Seek counseling or a good support group specifically for food addiction. Too often I see people struggle and fail with the band not because the band didn't do it's job but because they never dealt with their food addiction first. Food addiction is very real and often we need very real professional help to tame it.

Best wishes.

[2muchfun 8,927]

What kind of food is your addiction? Simple carbs? Carbs? Fried foods? Fast foods.

tmf

[TexasJeff 179]

When I shop for food I do not buy the foods I know that are bad for me.

I highly recommend you watch the video, FAT, SICK AND NEARLY DEAD.

It was in droz.com last week it still may be there.

[hely88 883]

For me its just part of the journey. I follow the guidelines my doctor gives me and learn to tailor it more and more as I go along. Head hunger is a hard thing to get past. What helped me is drinking tons of Water and slowly my brain has reconditioned. When I eat meals I make the most out of them. I love to cook and I love love to eat. I make sure I eat things I really enjoy and dont waste calories on shakes or processed foods. You are welcome to join my recipe group on Facebook just friend me at hely lb. Maybe making better choices will help you along. I have had chocolate and other treats in my house for a couple months now. I can eat one dark chocolate hershey kiss. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would ever happen to me. Please try to keep a positive attitude and believe you can change!!!!

[B-52 7,113]

The band prevents me from over eating.....it would simply hurt, to mention but one symptom, to continue to eat when the band/pouch says stop.....

But I am not bothered by this because I am also not hungry...mentally, not physically....which also has taken away my interest in food. Not between meals, but 24/7....all the time.

I have to remind myself I need to eat on most days...and if I am busy I will not think about it and forget entirely.

And it's not about being too tight as some may think...it is about having the band adjusted "Optimally" where it is working as advertised....

Below is a picture of all the Vitamins, Omega 3's, etc I take everyday...I do not crush any of them, but take them whole with no problem, and have been for over 2 years now....

I would not be able to do that if my band was too tight......

\

[sunnysweety 15]

I have had the band for 6 months and am dealing with this very issue myself. Although I have lost weight because I had some very good willpower in the beginning, my willpower has diminished over the past month or so. The band does not help with head hunger or food addiction in my opinion. That has been an entirely separate issue for me that I am learning I have to deal with if I am going to be able to make the band work for me. Although it can help you eat less, there are certain foods that it has no affect on and that is where willpower becomes the solution. I, too, would not recommend getting the band before these issues are dealt with because for me, there has been an added guilt to not doing what I am supposed to do because I have a tool that I worked very hard to get and I am not using it the way it is intended - that added guilt is very difficult to deal with.

[jfc193 718]

I love to eat always have.

What the band does is help me with the amount that I eat. As long as I eat slow and chew and chew and not drink fluids with my meal the hunger passes.

Of course the so called comfort foods Ice cream and chocolate go down quickly no matter what.

What I lean on is that in the past I would lose 40 pounds and gain 60 so I I guess it is a victory that at least I am not doing that.

[Puppypaws57 137]

This is my problem too. It amazes me that so many people are able to overcome this once they are banded. I'm not. My insurance doesn't cover the therapy I need and we make way too much money for the sliding scale therapy. I'm just out of luck. I'm back to counting calories because I don't know what else to do.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

Anyone here want to share how they were able to overcome using food as a "go-to" drug? I am 34 and have recently weighed In at 417 lbs. I did a Jillian Michaels program and got down to 393....Then went back up to 410. Then found out I am diabetic and managed to diet and gym it back down to 400. Now I am 410 again.

Point is... The weight loss is not as empowering to me as the food. I wish it were. How do you stop the food addiction if I were to get the band???

the band or any wls wont solve anything

its a 3 inch white necklace that is sewn onto your stomach

it will help you eat less...esp when fills from what i understand

one gains weight by eating more calories then they burn off..

my moment that made me decide i was gonna turn my life around, well

there was 2..i found out i was gonna be a grandmother...i wanted to push her around the block in her stroller and i couldnt.......and i was having trouble wiping my butt...short arms having trouble reaching around my girth....

my go to has changed because my mental game has changed.

best of luck........please note, the band wont solve everything but IT can work

if you follow the bands how to instructions and drop the excuses at the curb.

best of luck, its not easy...but its worth it

[LJCBF 363]

Anyone here want to share how they were able to overcome using food as a "go-to" drug? I am 34 and have recently weighed In at 417 lbs. I did a Jillian Michaels program and got down to 393....Then went back up to 410. Then found out I am diabetic and managed to diet and gym it back down to 400. Now I am 410 again.

Point is... The weight loss is not as empowering to me as the food. I wish it were. How do you stop the food addiction if I were to get the band???

Jlan,

You sound like a perfect candidate for surgical intervention - I have the band but the sleeve is also a good alternative. I am 5ft 8 and was over 450 lbs with lung disease high blood pressure diabetes and given two years to live. I was hospitalized and still couldn't stop eating NOTHING worked anymore. The Lapband saved my life ... I still had to do Work but the Lapband gave me a tool to make it possible.

I have lost over 280 lbs all my diseases are reversed and I am healthier and more physically fit than anytime in my life.

Yes WLS can and will work ...IF YOU DO.

Lee

[LJCBF 363]

I have had the band for 6 months and am dealing with this very issue myself. Although I have lost weight because I had some very good willpower in the beginning' date=' my willpower has diminished over the past month or so. The band does not help with head hunger or food addiction in my opinion. That has been an entirely separate issue for me that I am learning I have to deal with if I am going to be able to make the band work for me. Although it can help you eat less, there are certain foods that it has no affect on and that is where willpower becomes the solution. I, too, would not recommend getting the band before these issues are dealt with because for me, there has been an added guilt to not doing what I am supposed to do because I have a tool that I worked very hard to get and I am not using it the way it is intended - that added guilt is very difficult to deal with.[/quote']

Hi Sunny,

I totally understand how frustrating it feels to believe you "have no excuse" and yet still do the very thing (eating/poor food choices) that you do not want to do! Literally no pain is as great as the feeling you have described... in my opinion and experience.

I have good news if you are interested ? Exercise done in a certain way at a certain time WILL change your behavior slowly but certainly... transforming it into the behavior you desperately desire (making good food choices more often).

My evidence isn't only anecdotal (based on personal experience and of those who have followed me) but several studies are now showing that exercise positively effects the prefrontal cortex which is the part of the brain often referred to as the "CEO" or "parent" helping us make choices based on things other than cravings etc...

Let me know if you would are interested in pursuing this direction.

Hope in Your Future is Power in Your Present!

Lee

280 lbs Lost - All Diseases reversed

American Counsel on Exercise (ACE) Certified Personal Trainer & Health Coach *** I am not selling you anything ***

[LeeB1946 261]

overeaters Anonymous might you deal with food addiction. Has helped me a lot.

[Erin O'Donnell 61]

I got the band before I had really dealt with my food addiction and I regret not being ready mentally. I wish I had understood my relationship with food before I got the band. The good thing is that the band is here for when I am ready. But it would have been nice to be in the right mindset from the get-go. I'm still working through my food addiction, but I definitely don't regret having the band, I only regret getting it before I was ready.

[jlancaster79 9]

Thank you all for sharing your thought and stories. . I went through with a sleeve last November. I am down 150 lbs. so far so good. I have broken up with food...finally. I don't miss it.