Reality, frustration and emotional eating...

Okay, so one more vent. You know what makes this harder than a normal diet? (The thin liquid diet specifically) It's so extreme. There's no small amount of any food you might find satisfying or soothing. The liquid diet removes all emotional eating from the equation, so even if I'm not hungry and even if I don't have a specific emotional crisis to get through, and even if I am not eating because I'm bored, I'm still left unsatisfied.

And really it's way more than that. For most of us who eat for emotional reasons, it doesn't have to be a big binge because we're upset. It's the small little comforts throughout the day that ease the tension. Even when we don't realize we're doing it.

So the worst and hardest part of this is that without all those little "releases" throughout the day, I'm left just tired and cranky and unreasonable.

Imagine how you feel after a long day on your feet and you haven't eaten. You know those days where you're with friends walking and walking and no one can find or agree on a restaurant. And after a while of being polite and nice to each other, you just start getting testy and you're tired and your temper starts to show.

That's how I feel sometimes. The problem is that I can't go sit down at that restaurant and have that meal. The protein shake is small and just absolutely does not provide that relief. I don't get that sigh that you get after a meal, not even that breath of release before you get full. Any of you long-time dieters probably know what I'm talking about (stop eating after your first sigh...)

But I'm also not physically hungry, and I recognize that.

Instead I'm left to find some other sort of salve. I'm tired so exercise isn't it, I'm worn out, talking isn't it, not sleep, not journaling, not tv and not the computer. Not even shopping shockingly enough. I was a little worried it would be.

From all my research before opting in on this procedure, I know this is that one big bad thing most lap-band patients struggle with! I just haven't read what the solution is...

Any words of wisdom from people who have been banded?