Two main things I go out of the consultation that helped me to decide that I would pursue the LapBand procedure was this… 1) she has worked with people who are even heavier than I am and they have lost more than the predicted 50% of the excess weight. What was discouraging to me was everything I read said you could expect to lose 50-60%. Thats all fine and dandy, except it still doesn’t put me at what I would like to be my ideal weight. Actually, far from it. But, she reassured me at our consultation appointment that over 3 - 4, if I continued to what needed to be done, the goal could be achieved.
Which brought us to the 2nd reason for my decision. I need to find a nutrionist, and have them help me map out my life’s eating plan — based on what I will and won’t eat. Dr. B encouraged me by saying that sometimes, those picky eaters who will only eat 3 or 4 different things are more successful because they can endure the routine of eating the same thing, over and over. I just have the find the right 3 and 4 things. Basically, there isn’t anything I won’t be able to eat with the LapBand — its just a matter of finding what I WILL eat that has 1200 calories.
Which brings David’s point to light — if I can eat 1200 calories and lose weight with the LapBand, why not do it without spending the $12,000? And he’s right. And millions of people do it every day, with Weight Watchers and TOPS and all those other weight loss programs. But, obviously, I have tried them and not succeeded. What the LapBand does is makes the area where the “hunger sensors” are in your stomach become a much smaller area. So, instead of having to fill a fist sized area before it sends to the brain a “You are full” message — the LapBand has creates a much much smaller space. Its just a tool. Its still up to me to make the right choices. Although — if I make the wrong choices, I can and most probably will throw up. So, that is an incentative to do what needs to be done, the right way
Another phone call I need to make is to have a pysche evalutation done. That is one of the requirements before having surgery. Its not a bad idea, and perhaps can shed some light on what I do and why I do it. The key thing here is you have to pass the evaluation. The person you see has to be convinced that you are motivated enough to make the changes needed to make the longterm outcome of the surgery successful. If you think the surgery is a quick fix and is the answer to all your weight problems, then you probably won’t pass.
I feel like I am putting the cart before the horse by doing all these things before having a surgery date. But, each one of these things, if they can’t be done, for one reason or another, then surgery is out. So, I am trying to see it as … I have a goal (surgery), but step 1(finances), step 2 (nutrionist), step 3 (physche eval) all must be in place and with a positive outcome before proceeding to step 4 - setting a surgery date.
Make sense? It does to me. They all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, and the picture won’t be complete until each piece is in place.



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