November Bandsters!

[marni 0]

Good Morning everyone! I am still struggling. I feel like I am working against this band. Why do I do this? I was down to 225 on my scales this weekend and now up to 229. I can't seem to find the place to stop eating, so I end up PBing at almost every meal. I wake up every morning and say that this is the day I am going to stop eating all this junk and then someone brings in homemade oatmeal Cookies to work or my husband decides to make nachos at 9 p.m. It is so hard for me to believe that this band is going to work...since nothing has work in the past. Some of you have lost 60 plus pounds and had your band after me. I'm jealous! I want your motivation and strength. I keep thinking of excuses to eat...it's the weather, it's my horomones..etc. Then I eat and the next thing you know I'm running down the hallway to the bathroom. Thanks for letting me vent...it helps me! Maybe today is the day?

Well you have lost 20 lbs, no? So you have succeeded. Hey and I haven't noticed anyone who has lost 60 lbs being banded in November......Think positive.

[Vikki 2]

Where do you go to find a support group like overeating annoymous? I would like to find a support group in my area to help me deal with the emotional issues I have with food. I am from a very overweight family and was always the smallest but in the last 5 years have gained 75 pounds. I know the band is not the answer to my weight problem but a tool. I need to work on that voice in my head....so to speak.....of the low self asteem that I have now with food. It is the enemy to me. It is an obsession that has taken over me that I have gained weight because I have failed myself. Which is true in a way but I am really hard on myself because I had told myself all my life I wasn't going to be fat like my family. I wasn't going to let myself be in the plus size category..........but here I am. Now I have to work on looking forward instead of backwards. Do you guys feel this way too? I am just trying to be a better me and a support group will help me a lot. Thanks

[AngelaT 2]

Where do you go to find a support group like overeating annoymous? I would like to find a support group in my area to help me deal with the emotional issues I have with food. I am from a very overweight family and was always the smallest but in the last 5 years have gained 75 pounds. I know the band is not the answer to my weight problem but a tool. I need to work on that voice in my head....so to speak.....of the low self asteem that I have now with food. It is the enemy to me. It is an obsession that has taken over me that I have gained weight because I have failed myself. Which is true in a way but I am really hard on myself because I had told myself all my life I wasn't going to be fat like my family. I wasn't going to let myself be in the plus size category..........but here I am. Now I have to work on looking forward instead of backwards. Do you guys feel this way too? I am just trying to be a better me and a support group will help me a lot. Thanks

Vikki,

You can call information or look them up on google. Hope it helps...I also come from an overweight family on father's side... I have been working on my issues for many years and everyone needs help. I now counsel people as part of my practice because I know it is important. reading inspirational books, watching dvd's that are inspirational and help find new ways of looking at life , etc. such as Wayne Dyer is aldo good. If you have not seen What The Bleep Do We Know ...rent it... it is one to watch more than once to understand the messages there and the great information.

[L8BloomR 1]

Good Morning everyone! I am still struggling. I feel like I am working against this band. Why do I do this? I was down to 225 on my scales this weekend and now up to 229. I can't seem to find the place to stop eating, so I end up PBing at almost every meal. I wake up every morning and say that this is the day I am going to stop eating all this junk and then someone brings in homemade oatmeal Cookies to work or my husband decides to make nachos at 9 p.m. It is so hard for me to believe that this band is going to work...since nothing has work in the past. Some of you have lost 60 plus pounds and had your band after me. I'm jealous! I want your motivation and strength. I keep thinking of excuses to eat...it's the weather, it's my horomones..etc. Then I eat and the next thing you know I'm running down the hallway to the bathroom. Thanks for letting me vent...it helps me! Maybe today is the day?

Brooksie, I soooo understand where you are coming from! I am doing the same as you, without the PBs, since I have no restriction yet---even with 1 fill. I watch what I eat for a couple of days, then overeat, the get discouraged and REALLY overeat... then start all over again with dieting, etc. I try not to weigh too often, but find that I am following the same pattern as before I was banded. The scale dictates my mood for the day... and how much I eat. I do think that maybe a support group like Overeaters Anonymous may be the key, or maybe WeightWatchers, etc. Something to give us the daily "straightening out" that we may need to hold onto the new and healthier habits were know we need to keep. I don't go for my second fill for another month, and it is pulling me down so badly to watch myself see-saw like this. So I know I am eating for more reasons than hunger... and I need to get a grip on this. You can do this, and I know I can, also. We just need more help than some others, y'know? Hang in there.... and I will too!

Karen

[Betsyjane 2]

L8BloomR...why wait so long for a fill? Sounds like now would be a good time.....

[L8BloomR 1]

L8BloomR...why wait so long for a fill? Sounds like now would be a good time.....

I agree, but my doctor only does fills on Mondays, and is booked up way in advance. By the time I realized I didn't get any restriction with my last fill and tried to get in to get another, I could only get a date 9 weeks later! My doctor is about 3 hours away, and I have to go there for my insurance to cover it, so...... I am stuck!!

I am so happy for all of you that are doing so well, but feel a bit envious because I don't really know what you are experiencing...I don't know what a restriction feels like, being "too full", even a PB! I think that is why I haven't felt like posting much here lately, because I don't really feel like a banded person....:think

Karen

[Betsyjane 2]

I went through exactly the same thing until just 1 week ago. Having the right restriction is like being let out of a cage! Try not to kick yourself too hard until you get there......

[L8BloomR 1]

I went through exactly the same thing until just 1 week ago. Having the right restriction is like being let out of a cage! Try not to kick yourself too hard until you get there......

Thanks, Betsyjane.... it is good to be reminded that others have been through the same thing. I can't wait to be let out of the cage, too!!

Karen

[Beckie 0]

My new motto is "There are no problems that are bigger than me." It's a matter of sticking with the problem solving in this complicated new journey we are on.

I love your new motto Betsyjane. I'm glad that you shared it. Putting it up on my desk!

PRbrooksie-When I am tempted to over eat or eat something I shouldn't I ask myself, "Will that taste better than loosing a pound will feel? Will it satisfy me as long as the the feeling of loosing that pound?"

Not alot will feel or taste that good. I'm not feeling restriction, but I know what I should it and then stop. If I feel hungry and need a snack I always have a healthy snack on hand. That is key, having it there so you have something to reach for and not that bag of chips or candybar in the back of the cabinet.

[AngelaT 2]

Thanks, Betsyjane.... it is good to be reminded that others have been through the same thing. I can't wait to be let out of the cage, too!!

Karen

karen...you have lost 30lbs! Slowly but surely you are getting there!!! And that is really w/o restriction at all...I think it is great!

By the way....I hope things are better with family. Let's talk this weekend.

[L8BloomR 1]

karen...you have lost 30lbs! Slowly but surely you are getting there!!! And that is really w/o restriction at all...I think it is great!

By the way....I hope things are better with family. Let's talk this weekend.

Thanks, Angela.... I'll look forward to it....

Karen

[kjojojr 0]

Due to frozen pipes, I didn't make it to work on Monday. I went to the fitness center last night and did my 2 sets of 12 on 5 different lower body weight machines. I did 15 minutes on the recumbant bike. (Was suppose to do 30 minutes but one must walk before they run. And if I did 30 minutes, I'm sure I wouldn't be walking! :faint: )

I also weighed myself. (There's a scale in the locker room.) Not believing it, when I left I stopped at the nurse's station and weighed again as that is the scale I had been using. Having too much fill and not eating for almost 4 days makes a HUGE impact on the amount of weight loss. I was down 12 pounds from the previous Monday at the doctor's office. In the past, the nurse's scale has been within a pound or two of the doctor's fancy digital scale.

Today is my 3 month annivesary from getting the band and I'm down 40 pounds! The "readjusted" second fill is doing it's job. I heat a bit over a cup of food and am full. I REALLY need to be more careful on the eating slow as I find myself often having stuck food and needing to bring it up to relieve the pain. Fortunately, I've always been able to puke on command (hey, we all need talents of some sort <G>) but it still is inconvenient when in public. I don't have a specific weight goal per se, but 225 was my and my doctor's range. I've got 25 pounds to go!!! Not sure I'll be in the size slack I want with just another 25 pounds so may have a bit more but I'm making progress.

Tom

Conrats Tom, Way to go! It's an awesome feeling to actual lose weight instead of steadily gaining. That's why I'm not too stressed about losing slowly. I'm still losing. I'm such a loser, your such a loser, we all are such losers:clap2: Kelley

[Oberhasli 1]

One of the things I had to do before they would band me is go through a psychological evaluation to make sure there wasn't a psychological component to overeating. One of the concerns is that if you eat as a coping mechanism, when you remove the ability to do that, you can no longer cope. My family doctor said the 3 patients of his to have the gastric bypass are all in therapy and heavily medicated now. You've GOT to handle the reason for the overeating. The band isn't going to stop the desire, just make it much more difficult to do.

Granted I live alone so it's much easier, but remove the temptations from the environment. If you don't have nachos in the house, you're not going to be able to eat them. If the Hagen Daaz isn't in the freezer, you can't have a bowl. I've found that fixing only the amount of food for one meal is better than trying to fix several meals at a time. Once I've eaten the appropriate amount of food, it becomes an effort to have more as I'd have to cook more.

In addition to continually drinking Water, I also suck on sugar-free hard candy and chew LOTS of gum. It gives me something in my mouth to chew on without lots of calories.

I was fortunate that I didn't eat as an emotional response. I rarely snacked but ate LARGE meals. The band helps in that I can't eat large meals. But you've got to handle the emotion before you can stop the reaction to it. And please, don't forget to acknowledge your accomplishments, even if they're small. Go back to the basics. Right down EVERYTHING you put in your mouth. Just knowing you have to list it can help to at least make you think before doing it. I worked with a dietician at my local hospital for my weight management program pre-surgery and it didn't cost a thing. Once a week I took my food log in, she reviewed it and weighed me. I worked through the LEARN program but probably what helped the most was knowing she would be reviewing my food log.

Tom

[Oberhasli 1]

Conrats Tom, Way to go! It's an awesome feeling to actual lose weight instead of steadily gaining. That's why I'm not too stressed about losing slowly. I'm still losing. I'm such a loser, your such a loser, we all are such losers:clap2: Kelley

You're absolutely right, Kelley. While I was happy to see the scale go down by a big amount, it was NOT the way to lose weight. I've had weeks where I'm up a bit. That's life. As long as overall my weight is going down, even by a little bit, I'm making progress. I didn't put it on overnight and don't expect that it will come off overnight.

While one doesn't need to be "the biggest loser" we can all be winners by being losers! Remember 1 pound a week is GREAT. November 1 was 14 weeks from yesterday. That means anyone here that's lost at least 14 pounds is doing great and if you were banded towards the end of November 10 pounds is right on track.

Tom

[prbrooksie 1]

Good Morning!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking after my post yesterday. Yes…I was a little offended by the comments that were made to me about my struggles with my eating.

<O:p

I know a lot of us want to find out the reason why we eat so much that it has created our weight problems. I do too, but I believe I could never find out the true reason. I think one doctor might say it was because of this reason and another might say for another. Heck, since I was a 9 month old baby doctors were saying I was too fat and telling my mom to put me on skim milk.

<O:p

I am not super obese, but I do like to eat. I have controlled my weight some or I would be. I just like food! I like to cook it and eat it. I do believe that our senses control a lot of it…which trigger hormones that tell us to eat.

<O:p

1. It could be because of a medical condition. I am diabetic that I can’t process the food intake like a skinny person

2. It could be because I see, smell, and taste food that I am overweight.

<O:p3. It could be that I don’t get enough exercise because my internal body doesn’t use the food I consume as energy…etc.

<O:p

What I eat has this powerful ability to influence on me. We all know too that carbs trigger something to make us hungrier and I love my carbs! Even when we are stress…our bodies react by telling our brains we need this and that.

<O:p

Obviously, we have to eat to survive. It’s not the same as an alcoholic or drug addict. We can’t take the drug away and it will all be better. I could wear a clothing pin on my nose all day…LOL.

<O:p

It’s not that we don’t have the will power or that our physics are so weak that we can’t control our hungry. I don’t think I had physiological problems at 9 months old. I think we all have physiological problems to some extent. I find the best person to talk to about a problem is some who is going through what you are going through. I hope that you guys are my support?

<O:p

I can't think of myself as thin because I never have been! I know the band is working…I am far from eating the way I use too. I am just the type of person that has a hard time waiting for anything. I want to wake up in the morning and be thin.

<O:p

Thank you for support! We are all in this together or we wouldn’t have gotten the band!

<O:p