Soapbox

So here's where I get kind of preachy and soap-boxy. Does it help that I realize it?


I spend a little time on some lap-band surgery online forums, and there are two things I've noticed:

1)There are a lot of posts from people who are frustrated with how they aren't losing at the rate they'd like/expected with the band ("I thought it would be easier than this!", "Why do I see other people losing every week when I go weeks without losing?")

and

2)There are a lot of posts about "cheating" and requests for people to validate that cheating.

Might these things be related?

Now, don't misunderstand-- people can lose at different rates and you could do everything "right" and still get stuck at a plateau or have the weight come off slowly and I know that is true of a lot of people. Also, no one is perfect and I'm sure many many successful bandsters go off-program at least occasionally. But it seems like I see a good number of people posting both of the above comments and I'm really curious about why they don't see the connection. I've decided I really don't want to be one of the latter types.

My goal is to follow my surgeon's program as closely as possible.

My goal is to try not to "test" my band to see if I can still eat foods that I know I shouldn't be eating, because what the heck am I winning if I beat the band? NOTHING. I seriously doubt I will be 100% successful at this, but I have absolutely no plans to "check" to see if I can still eat everything I did before-- to what gain? (weight gain, hahaha, ba-da-bump)

Yes, that means that I'm going to give up some beloved foods for a while until I an figure out IF I can safely work them into my diet in moderation (and that probably won't be until I've reached a maintenance stage-- I'm looking at you, french fries). Yes it means that sometimes I will get frustrated with craving things that have no nutritional value and will set me back (cupcakes, anyone?). But I know I can do it, and I know, after looking at the bill that was submitted to my insurance company for this surgery, that I damn well better do it!

So yeah, bandsters, give yourself a break and don't go into it looking for ways to beat the system. You're just screwing yourself if you do that, and why bother with the surgery if you aren't interested in changing your lifestyle?