Thoughts before Lap Band

[themis 0]

Hi, I'm new to posting, but not to the forum. I've been reading the forum for about 6 months or more. I figured I would join when I got closer to banding. Since I'm self pay, it's taking longer than I had hoped.

I'm making slow progress.

My question to every one is... do/did you ever feel that you should be losing the weight yourself instead of being banded?

Don't get me wrong.. I WILL get banded. I just have this little voice inside telling me "you should lose it on your own."

My dad died at 47 years old when I was 18 of a heart attack, he was obese. This is my biggest factor in being banded. I am 47 now. I have always fought with my weight and know I'll never keep it off without being banded. I keep telling myself that I'm still losing weight on my own, just with a little helping aid. Still sometimes, I feel like a failure that I can't do it on my own... does anyone else feel that way?

Thanks to everyone who posts, because I have learned so much from reading your posts. This place IS the place to be!:thumbup:

[nanaislosingit 0]

I am 51 and I have lost and gain, lost and gain, done all kinds of diets, diet pills and everytime I lost I gained that back and more after a period of time. It is time for me to get restriction so that I can't eat as much and keep restriction so that I will not gain it back this time. You can do it. Just hang in there.

[heartfire 4]

Still sometimes, I feel like a failure that I can't do it on my own... does anyone else feel that way?

Yep. But I'm here for some of the same reasons you are. High BP runs on BOTH sides of my family. My dad had a massive heart attack a few years ago (they brought him back SEVEN times! The 7th time was the last time the dr was going to try!) I have a hard time losing weight and it's near impossible to keep it off! I'm starting to FEEL the weight on my body and system, if that makes sense.

I also have a husband and a 2 year old daughter that I'd like to be around for for a long time. I'm also sick of working so hard only for it to not work. I don't mind working hard and I know I'll have to after surgery (heck I'm having to BEFORE surgery!) but at least this time, I'll see results and be able to keep those results.

Welcome and best wishes on your journey!

[vegasgirl44 0]

Hi, I'm also 47 and I lived in SA for 30 years before moving to Vegas....so hello! I was just wondering why it's slow for you since you are self pay? I just look at banding like a tool. People who are obese have bigger stomachs and need more food. So we eat more and our stomach stretches and so on. Banding is not a miracle cure. It's our weight loss tool that we are going to use to help us lose weight. We still have to eat right. We are going to make conscious decisions to eat veggies instead of milk shakes, right? I don't know much about it yet, but from what I've seen and heard, it's going to be a lifelong struggle and the band will be our weapon. I'm going for my consult on the 15th and having my psych and nutrition next week. I'm self pay also, and I'm hoping to have surgery in early September. Good luck to you!

[Disney 0]

YES! I felt that way at first thoughts about doing it. I have tried for years to lose and never get there--sure lose some gain some,...it never worked 100%. And I feel I should have tried harder or been more diligent but then I was thinking--I do try really hard and when I hit that plateau for a LONG period of time it kills me--I am hoping the plateaus with using the lapband tool will be shorter and easier to manage. Plus I figure I can't really go off of it--unless I get in totally unfilled and/or totally removed. My doctor said I should consider this and it would help to crack the tough nut of a 100lbs. He said," I

have trouble losing 10 lbs--it is so difficult to lose weight--I think

you would really be a good candidate for the lap band --you should look into it." So I really thought about it and then went to an info seminar and here I am today. I have lost like 20 lbs so far and it's 12 days since the procedure. I am exercising already 20 mins a day on the treadmill and/or walking outside to since it has been so nice.

Well I hope that helps you feel better about it --a little any way. :thumbup:

Best of luck!

[themis 0]

I was just wondering why it's slow for you since you are self pay?

I have to work on raising my FICO score a bit to get the financing.< /p>

Thanks for the encouragment!

Let me know how everything goes with your banding. If I can pull off the financing in time maybe we can get banded around the same time!!:thumbup:

[Thinmint 0]

Hey themis! I have that voice too. The one that says that I am a failure because I can't do it on my own. I am not just doing this for me. I have a 2 year old daughter that I need to be a better example to than my mother was to me. She (my mom) is overweight too and has been as long as I can remember. I need to retrain myself while I'm teaching good habits to my daughter.

I can totally relate to heartfire about feeling the weight...that makes perfect sense to me.

[vegasgirl44 0]

I agree with you guys. I have an 11--almost 12 yr old daughter in New Image Camp in California right now losing weight and exercising. When she comes back in August, I want to be able to do it with her, eat right, exercise, and set a good example for her, too. If I can turn down Oreos, then she won't eat them. I just figure this is a good way for my body to say "Enough now, you are done"...instead of keep plowing into the food because I'm too lazy being heavy to get up and move and do something besides sitting around watching American Idol. I want us to go bike riding and roller skating before she becomes a teenager too cool to hang around her mom. Bonnie

[Disney 0]

That is AWESOME Bonnie--you go girl!

CHEERS to your Health, and your Happiness, and your daughter!

[themis 0]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate you all sharing such intimate thoughts with me and for making me feel that, more than ever, this is the right decision.

Thanks again!

[BonnieMcC 0]

oooh that voice!

When I decided that I was going to go to the first consultation and I scheduled my appointment I felt like I NEEDED the lapband and it was the only thing that could change my life. I was desperate for it. I am a big time yo-yo dieter and getting bigger everytime. I keep losing 50 pounds and gaining more back that I lost..and I have done that several times! Even my husband wonders why if I can stick with long enough to lose the first 50 pounds, why can't I stick with it to lose the last 50 pounds? And why do I let myself gain it all back???

So a week before I went to my counsultation I got tired of the voice in my head saying I HAD to have lap-band or I would continue to be a failure. I decided that I was going to lose this weight WITH or WITHOUT the band. I am tired of spending my life obese. I hate what its done to me physically, mentally and emotionally. Obesity has destroyed the last 10 years of my life...and with every year it gets worse! I am not going to let it take any more joy away from me.

So now it will be three weeks tomorrow since I made that choice and I have lost 16 pounds on my own. I feel like mentally I have made a change that I never had before when I lost weight. Any other time I have been "on a diet" I felt like things were being taken away from me. This time I feel like I am GIVING myself more things. If I don't have fries I used to think "Sheesh, not fair, everyone else gets fries but me" but now i think "I don't want these fries because I WANT to ride rollercoasters or wear a smaller size or want to lose x amt of weight this month" With saying these things in my mind everytime I am confronted with a bad food choice I make good choices everytime!

Now to get back to your question...sorry I rambled too much...now that I have lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks and have made this major attitude adjustment I keep thinking "Do I still need the band?" Sure I have over 90 pounds to lose...and that is a long journey. I worry that this new change will not last me through the holidays when I have always given in (and gained every thing back!) and that's why I feel like I still want the band. I have been through it too many times before. I am not doing self-pay though...so my depends on insurance. Hubby and I talked about self-pay if insurance doesn't cover it (waiting on approval now) but I know in my mind that one way or another I will lose it this time...for the last time!

I know this didn't really answer your question, but start trying to lose weight on your own. I still battle with the voice in my head about to do it or not to do it everyday, but I keep moving forward. My surgeon is booked 3-4 months in advance and if I wait to lose weight until then, I could end up weighing a lot more than I do now (because I would be eating everything thinking "this is the last time I can have this") instead, I would like to go into the office weighing 40 pounds less than I do now and have a lot less to lose after the surgery.

These are just some of my random thoughts!

Good luck with any decisions that your make and keep coming back here. The support here is amazing!

[georgebals 0]

My self, I could not lose the weight & keep it off on my own. It took about ten years from 1st seminar to being banded. First other surgerys. Then stopping morphine, booze, smoking & working. I've read its 95% against you to lose the weight & keep it off on your own. Thats not good odds. " Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band" Buy this book at Borders because it has= Everything You Need to Know Before & After Surgery to lose Weight Successfully. It's new. It covers your (our) concerns in detail. Some rules I follow are for (from) my Las Vegas SWCC clinic only. Each Doctor & bander is different. I have given up the following= carbonation, bread, Pasta & Soup. More to give up later. 4oz. a meal, 3X a day is enough for me. Build a large support group, make it a lean group. Three Times Better Weight Loss with Groups. Me 2X a month at clinic, 1 at shrinks & trying to join a city wide group. I was banded on 1/15/08. I had a prime rib dinner & all the fixings on 1/14/08.The last supper! I'm down 120 pounds. Dr. Soong & Dr. Atkinson preformed this operation. Dr.Soong's friend hurt his back doing my spine fusion surgery. Half the parts stuffed in from front, roll 352 pounds over carefully & install more parts. Best move I've made. No fills. My G.P. Doctor told me to have Bypass operation as band is to slow. He is a band man now. Hast pronto, George

[LibbyS 0]

I have had that voice for more than 5 years. I have lost 70 lbs once and 90 lbs another time and 25 lbs several times. I can lose weight, but then I can't sustain the loss because I know I will have to be "on a diet" the rest of my life to do that. So once I am off the diet, I gain the weight back. For me the band, next Tuesday, is not so I can lose the weight. It is so I can finally get to my goal weight and stay there forever! And so I can and will stay on a diet the rest of my life.