If You Were An Emotion Eater Before Lapband Surgery

[speck 1]

How did/are you coping with that?

I am in the process of trying to get approved with insurance.

This surgery is something I have looked into for a little over a year now.

I know this isn't a cure all. I know I have to do my part. I do plan on going to counseling because I am a binge eater and I dont' believe it just goes away.

What about you- how do you handle this?

TIA

Sandra

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I am an emotional eater too. I keep the 100 calorie packs of things around for those times when I just plain want to eat even if I am not hungry. That and sugar free fudgesicles.

When you lose weight and are wearing smaller sizes, it really helps. All I have to do is think about shopping in the plus sizes again, and I think eating this or that just isn't worth it. I make sure to keep all junk food out of the house.

[jjsmiles 3]

Hi Sandra,

I have spent my entire life eating for every emotion. You are right that the lap band does not change the "want" to eat and the head hunger. It is really good that you look into counselling before the band, so you can start to wrap your head around your patterns. The more you know about yourself, the better you can be at adapting your life to what you need it to be to be successful.

What the lap band does for me is it helps me to not be hungry (when I have good restriction - although I think I am less restricted than most people seem to be). I don't really have the actual physical ravenous hunger that I used to experience all the time (you know where you can eat an entire meal and then start all over again). It also helps you with portion size, so even if your choices aren't great, they are at least smaller :biggrin:.

This is very helpful, but almost 7 months after band I still struggle with wanting to eat, just to eat, because that is what I do and have always done. Evenings are particularly difficult for me. I find it very helpful to write down everything I eat, this way I am accountable to myself for what I eat and I actually have to make the choice to eat it, rather than just unconsciously continuously eating. I also plan my eating for the day and I always include at least one snack (around 100 calories or so) for the evenings. Sometimes I even have two evening Snacks. I pick foods that satisfy me (turkey pepperoni or 100 calorie popcorn) and make me feel like I have eaten something.

I also distract myself. I know my hardest time is right after supper. For some reason, I eat supper, I feel full, but I still want to eat! If I can distract myself for about 1/2 hour, I am fine. I often come to this forum or I call someone during my trouble times and this works well for me.

I also exercise after work, so by the time I get home and have my supper, it is usually close to 7 pm before I am done. This makes the evening shorter.

Do you see my drift - figure yourself out and do what you need to do to cope :smile2:

Good Luck!

[lanie527 0]

I had similar experiences with binge eating and the band does help me. It limits the volume of the binge. When I am stressed out I want white cake. In the past I would buy a whole cake and several other binge favorites and now I can buy a piece of cake. It takes me two days to get through it and then I am satisfied for a month or so. Most of the time I eat healthy Protein and veggies, but I find that if I recognize why I am eating the cake and allow myself to enjoy that cake; I am able to feel the difference between wanting and needing food.< /span>

Everyone eats for emotional reasons at some point, the beauty of the band is that it slows down the amount and, for me, the frequency of binges. I was low-carb for three years pre-band and re-gained all 130 #s when I stopped low-carb. With the band, I can eat a small amount of carbs with no ill effects, I am eating a more balanced diet and so the carb cravings are less severe.

Best of luck and remember it is a process.

Lanie