Bingers with band

[retlanta]

Hi all,

I had my surgery on Jan. 29th. weighing 210lbs

I am a binger and have been since I'm probably 5 y.o.

Out of 2 weeks preop liquid diet I bindged once and now I am supposed to be on my liquid diet this and next week and I have already binged... not much of course luckely I did not throw up, but I was in serious pain in addition to my shoulder pain and difficulty breathing. Yesturday I had mashed potatoes with butter and milk, today I had puding, cream cheese and chocolad...

Even though I have lost 6lbs since I had the surgery whitch would tell me that it works, but I am in tears and pain due to phycological confusion, I have realized that I wont be able to turn to food as an answer or a releif... What do I do? How should I deal with it?

Guys, especially bingers.. please tell me if you have been succesful with the band.. I am so scared.

[tuesdaythecat]

Hey! I consider myself a binger too, that is why I felt the band would be for me. I had no sense of full and didn't seem to want to know full either. I would get off work in the morning and go to the bakery and get an egg custard and 2 bagels and have them down in no time. After sleeping I would wake up and eat a medium pizza (yes by myself) and have 1-2 pieces of cheese cake afterwards. I could terrorize a 20 piece chicken nugget and chase it with a large fry. I still have the psychological need to binge, but with the band the pain/need to puke stops me short just when I think I am about to go crazy. That is one thing I have really loved about the band, I don't have the dieting binge cravings like I used to because I am not on a diet. I allow myself to have indulgences, but it is all in moderation. As long as you stick to solids, the band will keep you in check. Until my first fill though, I pretty much could eat as I wanted with no restriction. Now with my second fill I am even more in check.

[Kristi Ann]

maybe you also could use a little fright... it helped me keep on the right track after learning this! the doc that does my fills said that he is seeing a trend with some of the banded bingers... said that if you eat too much, continue to eat after you are full, and/or constantly pack too much food into your pouch that you will stretch it [which most of us know]... but that it is very possible you will actually form a reservoir off the side of your pouch that acts almost as a second pouch! he showed me an xray of a patient that has just this and it was wild! my first thought was "his band is now useless!"... my second thought was "i have come this far and i will never, ever do that to myself!"

take your time, chew good, and always STOP EATING WHEN YOU ARE FULL! > good luck!

[Kim927]

Hi, I think most of us have been bingers at one time or another. The "head hunger" is much harder to get past, than the actual hunger, but you really need to work on it, especially this soon after your surgery. You don't want to risk having your band slip, or something that would undo or injure what you just had done. Just knowing how much I had spent to have this surgery was enough encouragement for me to stick with the plan! I cheated a tiny bit while on the liquid diet, like about 2 tbls. of mashed potatoes on Christmas and a bite or two here and there, but not much. I was too scared to do any damage. You need to prepare yourself emotionally for when you start back on solids. You may not have much restriction then, but you don't want to go nuts and gain all your weight back. It was actually a help for me to have the holidays come up right after my surgery, plus I had lots of company, so it kept me busy and my mind off eating (even though I was constantly cooking for everyone else). Besides, there were always people around, and I wouldn't have wanted to cheat in front of them!! I am a night owl, and would tend to go without eating much most of the day and then munching till late into the night. That's been hard to overcome, but when those feelings hit, I try to get busy doing something else. My husband sometimes thinks I'm nuts when he finds out I cleaned out the linen closet or the cabinets in the laundry room at 2:00 am, but I just look at it as though the band is helping me get an early start on spring cleaning!! Now I actually like feeling my tummy grumble at night, it tells me that the scale will probably go down the next day or so, and lets me know it's working for me.

Hang in there, we've all had our struggles and cravings, but it does get better. I've only lost 25 lbs. so far, but already my clothes are baggy and I have lots more energy and looking forward to even more!

Good Luck, Kim