Reason number 142 to love my lapband: portion control

[parisshel 1,892]

I recently got a new PC and was transfering files from the old one. While doing this, I went through some old bookmarks; weight loss blogs I would read "for inspiration" when trying to stay on my traditional diet. The blogs I followed were people with situations similar to my own, i.e. bloggers with a substantial amount of weight to lose, bloggers who were also working on the psychological aspect of why we are overweight and bloggers who were losing weight sensibly by using diet + exercise. Most of these bloggers were following Weight Watchers, or a doctor's program. None of these bloggers had had WLS nor were they planning on doing so.

I stopped reading their blogs once I decided to have my lapband surgery, since I felt their paths were no longer that similar to my own. I switched over to reading WLS bloggers, finding more compatibility with this group.

It was a shock (and quite sad) to go back and see where the "traditional" dieters were today. There was the very famous weight-loss blogger (famous in the fatosphere, in any case), who had hundreds of followers cheering him down from 505 pounds to 140. I remember reading his post the day he hit goal; it was so moving and so incredible. He blogged daily and was a fantastic writer. He went on to self-publish a book and do seminars and weight loss coaching.

Today he has gained back 143 of those pounds.

Another popular blogger blogged her Weight Watchers journey from 400 pounds down to around 250. She was quite motivational at the time. Then she got hungry.

Today she is back up to 335.

Another young man with a well-followed blog started at 638 pounds, lost 300 of those and is today back up to 450 pounds with no plans to stop the regain. He's tired, depressed and just plain hungry.

One of the most famous writers in the weight loss world who wrote one of the first books of its genre (Passing For Thin) about her transition from 365 pounds to 140, is now back up to her original weight. Also depressed and beaten down by the constant hunger and teeth-gritting it takes to keep the weight off.

I don't cite these examples to point fingers or shame them. On the contrary, I feel such empathy for their stories which are all the rule, none the exception. As I read through my old blogroll, I just keep thinking that I wanted to tell them to at least look at the option of surgery. (But I didn't, as I'm sure my suggestion would have been met with much anger and opposing views.)

My takeaway from this moment of re-visiting my past "motivational blogs" was such gratitude that I surrendered to my inevitable truth: I could not be successful with traditional dieting. I could not beat the constant hunger and perpetural deprivation. My body's cravings and urges would always, at some point, override my willpower.

Had I not opted for WLS, I am sure that I would also be in the situation that these bloggers are today. My weight would be up, and my blog posts would be a constant refrain of "I have to get my head back in the game. I'm disgusted with myself. Why am I so weak?"

I know that the lapband is not magic, and it does not prevent me from gaining weight. But it sure does level the playing field, giving me a much-stronger shot at not only getting to goal, but staying there.

[Jim1967 3,569]

I am another of those people. I did Atkins for 19 months and dropped 170+ pounds. I am sure if you Google and Lowcarber.org and search for my username you will see my old journals and posts. From 2003 to 2004 I went from 393 to 219. 8 years later I put all 170lbs back on plus an additional 90!! I loved Atkins and it was a real easy diet for me but the problem was maintaining and embracing that lifestyle permanently. In the end I was depriving myself and that was part of the problem.

Now that I am close to goal with my band and I have re-lost all the weight I had gain from Atkins I do worry about history repeating itself. For this reason I get on the scale every day no matter what. For me its about accountability. Band has given me Portion Control and has helped my appetite but I also see stories on here every day about how people are starting over and that have regained weight. So I know that can happen just easily as it can with a diet if you let your guard down.

I like to think I have fully made the lifestyle change but really have I? Or is a combination of the band and my very strong will power.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Jim1967

[catfish87 3,471]

Great story Shel and very well writen.

I'm also a Atkins (diet) success....Ummmm, I mean failure.

[NaNa 878]

I recently got a new PC and was transfering files from the old one. While doing this, I went through some old bookmarks; weight loss blogs I would read "for inspiration" when trying to stay on my traditional diet. The blogs I followed were people with situations similar to my own, i.e. bloggers with a substantial amount of weight to lose, bloggers who were also working on the psychological aspect of why we are overweight and bloggers who were losing weight sensibly by using diet + exercise. Most of these bloggers were following Weight Watchers, or a doctor's program. None of these bloggers had had WLS nor were they planning on doing so.

I stopped reading their blogs once I decided to have my lapband surgery, since I felt their paths were no longer that similar to my own. I switched over to reading WLS bloggers, finding more compatibility with this group.

It was a shock (and quite sad) to go back and see where the "traditional" dieters were today. There was the very famous weight-loss blogger (famous in the fatosphere, in any case), who had hundreds of followers cheering him down from 505 pounds to 140. I remember reading his post the day he hit goal; it was so moving and so incredible. He blogged daily and was a fantastic writer. He went on to self-publish a book and do seminars and weight loss coaching.

Today he has gained back 143 of those pounds.

Another popular blogger blogged her Weight Watchers journey from 400 pounds down to around 250. She was quite motivational at the time. Then she got hungry.

Today she is back up to 335.

Another young man with a well-followed blog started at 638 pounds, lost 300 of those and is today back up to 450 pounds with no plans to stop the regain. He's tired, depressed and just plain hungry.

One of the most famous writers in the weight loss world who wrote one of the first books of its genre (Passing For Thin) about her transition from 365 pounds to 140, is now back up to her original weight. Also depressed and beaten down by the constant hunger and teeth-gritting it takes to keep the weight off.

I don't cite these examples to point fingers or shame them. On the contrary, I feel such empathy for their stories which are all the rule, none the exception. As I read through my old blogroll, I just keep thinking that I wanted to tell them to at least look at the option of surgery. (But I didn't, as I'm sure my suggestion would have been met with much anger and opposing views.)

My takeaway from this moment of re-visiting my past "motivational blogs" was such gratitude that I surrendered to my inevitable truth: I could not be successful with traditional dieting. I could not beat the constant hunger and perpetural deprivation. My body's cravings and urges would always, at some point, override my willpower.

Had I not opted for WLS, I am sure that I would also be in the situation that these bloggers are today. My weight would be up, and my blog posts would be a constant refrain of "I have to get my head back in the game. I'm disgusted with myself. Why am I so weak?"

I know that the lapband is not magic, and it does not prevent me from gaining weight. But it sure does level the playing field, giving me a much-stronger shot at not only getting to goal, but staying there.

You mentioned:

I know that the lapband is not magic, and it does not prevent me from gaining weight. But it sure does level the playing field, giving me a much-stronger shot at not only getting to goal, but staying there.

Exactly:

This holds true with the fact that the band IS ONLY A TOOL...it does NOT work properly until we work it and use it wisely. My lap band DOES NOT STOP me from eating, IT DOES NOT STOP me from eating junk and sweets, even in the green zone I can eat a whole bag of chips if I choose to do so, I can eat unlimited amounts of JUNK...but SO can my friends WHO HAVE A SLEEVE....ALL these surgeries are TOOLS.....not magic wands..

BUT --- what my band does help me with is Portion Control (with solid food) and it keeps my hunger level under control and to ME that is A LOT OF HELP...lol...

I got cocky in my 6th year and assumed I could KEEP my weight down WITHOUT being in the green zone, well -- that did not work well at all, my hunger returned and my portion sizes got bigger (pre op size) and I had gained 50 pounds back in no time....

This is why I will cherish my band in the green zone and I will never push the limits because I know I will gain every pound back WITHOUT the help of my lap band...been there and done that....and I will respect this wonderful tool as long as I have it and hopefully can keep it functioning properly.

Edited January 17, 2014 by NaNa

[Bandista 7,466]

Wow, what a great post! I feel so fortunate to have realized that I would never be successful at dieting. No matter how good at it I was, I was never good enough. I can't get over how differently I am feeling about myself now that I am banded. It isn't just the thirty pounds down and physical changes, it's the knowledge that this dilemma of eating has finally been solved. What a relief! Yes, there are harder days and temptations and all the blah, blah, blah, but I am filled with hope.

[lisacaron 5,075]

Great post! Thank you for sharing all that information with us. I used to attend a local WW meeting before being banded actually long before even thinking of WLS and I made lots of friends there some who where at "goal" and had that free seat at WW.

After getting to know them well, they were never really "overweight" to begin with. They were maybe 10 or 20 pounds over their goal weights as defined by WW.

Then there were those of us who had so much weight lose that 20 pounds over weight seemed like a joke. There were people there like the leader who would tell us how she gained and lost her 80 pounds time after time till she finally reached the day where she was able to keep it off for now going on 20 years. That was amazing and seemed so unreachable to me no matter how hard I tracked and tried to lose it.

Being that the center is in my local neighborhood, I have run into a few of the members who used to attend the meetings who were largely successful in losing significant amounts of weight while I was attending losing upward of 100 pounds. So I was taken back when I ran into them a few months ago and found that they had gained back nearly half the weight they'd lost or more. They would tell me how life circumstances got in the way, houses, babies new jobs etc.

Of course I do not judge them, I know how hard it is to lose weight!

Today as banded person, I know that things are going to happen in life, and now I have my little life preserver in there to help me.

When they tell me I look great and like I've lost a lot of weight I don't lie. I tell them I had WLS, and I tell them it's not easy it's not just a quick fix, it takes 100% commitment, food tracking and all of that, but I know that with this band I won't gain back the weight I have lost plus some. I know it's gone and this time it's gone for good!

Edited January 17, 2014 by lisacaron

[Lady VS 1,147]

I too was a successful dieter in the past. My highest weight ever was 242 which was over 15 yrs ago right after I got married. I started out on weight watchers and lost 73 pounds. Man was I happy. I exercised every week with coworkers doing tybo on our lunch breaks. Then we moved as a result of me getting a new job. No more support system. Life was busy and I never blogged about or talked about my weight until lapband. After some time, I gained most of it back especially after having my daughter. So I spent money on quick weight loss centers. Did fabulous yet again and got down to 165. Omg!! I had not gotten that small since I had my first child and this was around 2006 but she was born in 1994 so yeah, a long time since I saw the 100s on the scale. My hubby loses job, we lose house, I'm an emotional eater so yeah you guessed right I ate my depressed self right back into the 200 club again a vow that I broke. This go round I just except the fact that I will be fat because insurance doesn't cover weight loss surgery for which I did consider back in 2005. Fast forward to 2010, yeah five years later who would have thought I would be able to control my weight and get healthy by having surgery at the very place I couldn't five yrs previously???? I sure didn't. Of course life's circumstances had changed, I had a hiatial hernia which qualified me to have my surgery. God is so good. I am below goal and I weigh myself everyday as I've posted here in another post because I want to make sure I stay on track this time. No matter what life circumstances may bring me, I now have a tool that will help keep me in control because I need that help. I absolutely can't overeat if I tried. For those whom you are talking about, I wish they knew the blessing in having wls. It has saved my life. Thanks for posting.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Lady VS