Deep Thoughts (Not by Jack Handy)

Someone on another board posted something that I'd actually been thinking about lately... "The band is designed to HELP us lose weight, not MAKE us lose weight" I think this is a crucial distinction and can really help manage expectations. We always talk about the band being a tool...and it's so true. I get a little concerned when I see people who are hardly eating talk about not having restriction or having the expectation that the band is there to actually STOP them from eating. These are often the people who are most likely to get frustrated. The band is not around our brains, just our stomachs. We're still accountable for everything we put in our mouths and it's not there to punish us for eating, but to help us manage portion size and dim the seemingly endless hunger many (or most) of us have lived with so long. It allows us to have the chance to have real body signals when it comes to hunger/satiety. When I hear *But I can still eat bread (or rice or insert whatever food here)* what I think a possibly better premise is, is to go on the assumption that we pretty CAN eat anything...we have to make choices. Fortunately, the band does not require perfection on our parts, just a good honest try...and if we get it right 70-80% of the time, we do pretty well. I also sometimes see posts on the various boards that indicate the poster thinks the band has somehow changed the inherent principles of weight loss...it doesn't. We are still dealing with our individual metabolisms, and sensible weight loss still occurs just as it would the "old fashioned way", but with the band, we have help with 2 of the biggest reasons traditional dieting fails: Portion control and satiety/hunger. Just some late-night thoughts... Nancy 394/299/180

Very true Nancy, I like your thinking...thanks for posting this valuable reminder. My surgeon has a favorite saying which is very much along the lines of your post. He says the band levels the playing field between an obese person and a non obese person. I have started watching what and how the "skinny world" eats and you would be amazed at the ability a skinny person has to push the food around their plate all the while making it seem like they are eating. ~lisa

Great post, I know for me I was one of those that thought the band was gonna do it ALL. I mean I thought I would NOT be able to overeat, well guess what, the reality has kicked in. I'm at 3.0 cc's in my band & I'm starting to think that my expectations were unfounded. I do have good restriction at this point, but I tend to push my band & see just how much I can eat sometimes. I don't do it intentionally or conciously, but I find that I do do it. So I'm going back to the basics of getting in my water & trying to make better choices. This is what I have to do for me to help my band b/c that poor thing just can't do it all by itself. Keep those deep thoughts coming. Candi 276/250/150

Nancy, I couldn't agree more with your "late night thoughts." We have to be committed to the basic principles of weight loss and understand that the band is a tool to help us stick with that commitment. It doesn't lose the weight for us or make the food choices. For me, the main thing the band has done is calm that panicky feeling I used to have that "made" me stuff myself to quiet it. BUT if I don't make good choices about the food I put in front of me -- if I bring desserts into the house, for example -- the band can't help me. It's too late at that point! One other thing that has made a huge difference for me is that I cannot eat bread, toast, pasta -- because these are foods I used to eat in large quantities. It remains to be seen if, when I CAN eat them, I'll be able to do so in moderation. I am taking the long view of this process. I went into it knowing the goal was slow weight loss, so I am not pushing to go faster. (Currently -44 lbs at 5-1/2 months) For me, the whole point is to be eating and exercising at the level I would need to be at to maintain my ideal weight. As long as I can pretty much do that, I'm satisfied with my progress. Thanks for your posts -- they are always thought provoking.

Nancy, what an excellent post! I totally agree, and really value any of your thoughts, late night, or not! Sharon

If I may serve as an iconoclast, I must respectfully disagree (to an extent). A tool is no good if it does not work properly. To work properly, a tool must be adjusted properly. If you apply a 1/2 inch wrench to a 3/8 inch nut, it will not remove that nut. A closed-end wrench is the right tool, but the wrong size. If we could control how much food we put into our bodies, we'd all be thin. The band is there to regulate how much we put into our bodies. If the band is not properly adjusted, then chances are, we're going to put too much into our bodies. I do agree that we are all responsible for WHAT we put into our bodies. A properly adjusted band can be defeated by daily doses of ice cream. But as somebody who needs an adjustment, I can tell you that I am hungry all the time and can put down my throat as much of anything I want to. That's not what I signed up for when I had this surgery. Having said all this, I am patient. My doctor will give me a fill soon and it will get better for me and my losses will pick up again. The primary factor is not control. None of us have that, or we wouldn't be here. The primary factor is patience. Work with you doctor and with your band to find the spot where the band controls the amount. YOU control the quality of food.

Hmm, I'm trying to find in my post where I said anything about the band not needing proper adjustment...or where I said it wasn't supposed to help with portion control and hunger? or where I said that it all came down solely to willpower???? Nancy 394/299/180

I'm one of those people that can eat bread or anything I want to in any amount. The point I'm trying to make is the band is a tool, but when those of us who are not properly restricted can eat whatever we want and however much we want, the tool is not working. After all, if we were capable of making rational decisions regarding food, we would not be overweight. I am powerless over food. I need the band to restrict my apetite.

Right...and where did I say the band wasn't a tool? If you can eat a food that's not liquid/very soft in any amount, you need a fill. Where did I say people shouldn't get fills as needed? Where did I say that successful bandsters are only successful because they're rational about food and/or have willpower? Where did I say that the band doesn't help with hunger/satiety (appetite)? I think you really haven't read what I said. Nancy