A question for fellow people in there 20's

Hi all, I never made a post on this board before, so here is a quick introduction. My Name is Steve I'm 25 years old and I live in Springfield Ohio. I recently got the lap-band surgery on 5/29/07 and I’m just a week now post op. My starting weight was 342 three weeks ago starting the liquid diet. Now I weigh 311 one week post-op. The question I think is best appropriate for this form because my guess is most of you are like me age wise and can maybe add some positive feedback or support to what I'm feeling. As I mentioned I'm one week post-op and I'm having regrets. I know all the positive and life changing thing that come out of this procedure and how older people who have had this done are saying "great that you’re getting it so young it will change your life." But as for me Lately I've been kind of depressed that I'm going to have this band in me for the rest of my life. I mean that could be 50 years of eating small bites, slow chewing, and a hell of a lot of water every day, and hoping that the next thing you put in your pouch won't get stuck.  Many people say a small price to pay for all the wonderful things I will be able to do in my life being healthy. It possible it’s just my food addiction coming out of withdraw. I just don't know. I'm just seeing if anybody can relate. Thanks for listening. ~Steve

 

It is normal to have regrets. I'm 7 almost 8 weeks out now from my banding and I lOVE It. I don't miss the food. I'm not hungry. But Ive been there. It is normal and you are so close to eating good food again. AND look at how much you have already lost! That is amazing!! You have done something that has saved your life. I just wanted to share with you that your feelings are normal and they will pass. Try to walk atleast 30-45 mins a day. That will help with the semi depressed feelings about what you've done. Congratulations on being a loser!

I cant speak about the band personally since I had RNY but I am sure the "journey" is similar... it is very rough early out... but trust me, it gets better over time... you will adjust to everything and one day you will just feel "normal". As each day passes you will notice a change... even a small one... once a month, two months, three months pass you will be feeling much better. It is a lot to deal with at once... surgery, not being able to eat, all the rules... just know we are here for you and understand!

Hi Steve, I'm still pre-op for RNY, but I can relate to your fears.  Sometimes I get totally scared that I'm making a HUGE mistake because I have so many decades of life ahead of me... and there's very little data on the longterm affects of the surgery (say, 60-70 yrs out).  So I wonder if I'm being too drastic too soon.  I wonder if I can keep up the dedication and work for the long haul. But then I look at the very flat, 2-dimension quality of my life right now.  It sucks.  My fatness has filled up the space where joy, love, adventure, and possibility should be thriving.  Instead, I'm fat, depressed, boring and really really sick of living this way.  Even my knees and back have suddenly started aching (yikes!!).   So that fear is quickly squashed with the realization that yes, WLS causes huge life changes and some restrictions.  But how great would life be in even five years if we DONT have the surgery, you know? The changes are hard, but you will adjust.  Start building new dreams for yourself that your LapBand will help you reach.  You're gonna do great! :-) Heather

Hey Steve,

Congratulations on your surgery and your weight loss thus far. I had RNY 3 ½ months ago and feeling that I have made the best decision in my life. Don’t get me wrong it took about 3 months for me to realize it. The day I knew I made the right choice is when my Aunt looked at me and started to cry telling me how great I looked and how proud of me she was. That was a great feeling. It is a journey with food; I am an addict as well. I love food especially fried! I have been working out everyday and making the right choices with food that when I see fried foods, candy, or cookies I tell myself to walk away because I have accomplished so much. Instead I will walk it off and do some sort of exercise or drink water. This has helped me so far with food cravings. Steve, you did make the right decision health wise and probably added another 30 years to your life. Once the compliments start rolling in and your throwing away old clothes and buying new clothes that you would have never thought about fitting into you will realize. Just keep your head up and look forward to this great and adventurous journey! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

 

~Diana~

Hello from a fellow Ohioian! I am pre-op, however I cannot tell you how many stories that i have read that talked about the very thing you are talking about! The good news is that you are NORMAL!!!!!  Yeah!!!  The better news is that you had enough sense to come to a place where people can support you!  You are making a ton of positive steps!  My doctor and I were just talking about this on Tuesday...I told her that I needed to go to a meeting, stand up and say "Hello, my name is Colleen and I am addicted to food..."  One of my 10 year goals is to be able to go to a meeting and say "Hello, my name is Colleen and I am addicted to life and living it out loud!!!  You are going to be fine and this is the perfect place to come vent! I am proud that you made a decision to ask for help and I hope that I will be strong enough to do that also! If you need to vent just send me a pm! Colleen

Many people say it's normal to go through those feelings.  As a fellow bandster, I'm almost 4 months out and don't worry! It won't be eating nothing forever!  I ate steak for lunch today...no problems with it.  I had a low cal/carb soft tortilla with refried beans and black bean salsa for dinner.  Perfect size to be full afterwards but no problems to eat.  I eat about a cup of food at a time and don't feel deprived ever.  Yup, you'll have the lifetime of lots of water...but in reality, 64oz isn't much, that's what ANY adult should be drinking on a regular basis. Come visit the lapband board too, there's soooo much great support there and I've learned so much from them, especially my first few weeks.

Steve: Sounds like you are going through the very common phenomenom of "food mourning"...food has been our friend, our comforter for our whole lives and now it seems lost forever. I assure you though it is not lost, as the week pass you will be able to rediscover the relationship, just in the healthy way that didn't exist before. It is said that the number 40  is very signifigant when it comes to important events and changes. It takes about 40 days for a lifestyle change to become habit. So for now you have to try to hang in there and you'll be OK....and stop by the men's forum when you get a chance to discuss WLS from a man's perspective, we're allways looking for new guys to join the "locker room"...