The lapband does not fit well around the brain, and the lapband isn’t meant to. But the lap-band does give you an opportunity to reflect on what you eat. The lapband gives you a tool that allows you to limit the amount of food you can eat, so you can use this tool to retrain yourself about portion sizes, as well as think about the food you are eating.
This is called “mindful eating,” or “reflective eating.” The band gives you the opportunity to consider what and why you are eating the food in front of you. Like crossing the street, “stop, look, and listen,” is another way to consider “mindful eating.” In other words, with the lapband, you need to eat slowly; your new mantra should be — slow, small, and easy.
Many people who are overweight eat quite fast. By quickly shoving food in the mouth, they have little time to consider the consequences, and it becomes all too easy to consume a large quantity of calories without thinking. It becomes easy to eat food that has a high quantity of calories — or what we call “calorie dense.” Not thinking about what they eat does not absolve them; unfortunately the body is still a perfect calorie counter. Eating too fast leads to another bad habit, that is, having to drink a lot of liquid with the meal to help move the
food along.
The lapband forces you to slow down when you eat. You cannot eat too fast, and indiscriminate eating can harm the band. Foods that can cause obstruction of the band, like pizza, breads, pasta, or some processed foods, can even lead to band slippage — meaning that piece of pizza could lead to another operation to readjust the, or loss of the band. Overeating and throwing up frequently is a recipe for lapband slips.
The band is a first step to begin thinking about what choices you make. It is the culmination of small choices that make the difference over time. The lifestyle changes required now are small daily changes that boil down to the simple question: “What do I want more, to be thin, or to eat something that is less nutritious?” Perfection isn’t required — but awareness is.