will power

Several books have been recommended here. Before surgery the psych recommended The Beck Diet Book. I must say it circumvented a lot of my emotional issues and went right to the cognitive. It truely helped me get thorugh the roughest part of this journey -- the liquid diet pre-surgery and post surgery.

I had the same fears before the surgery.  You don't realize before hand how different it is.  Your body reacts differently, and it trains you to act differently.  First off, I don't feel hungry, and that "FEED ME SEYMOUR" hunger voice in my head has disappeared.

Second, there is negative reinforcement.  Eat too fast, or too much... ouch.  And maybe foamies or throwing up, if you really didn't listen.  You just don't do that too often (Picture it - if every time you ate a bad food, you knew you would have painful hiccups for an hour, you would probably think twice before grabbing a donut).

I think it depends on why you are overweight, and learning the appropriate coping mechanisms.  Some people with food addiction move it to excersize, or crocheting, or whatever.  Some emotional eaters get therapy and learn to re-direct, or just grab lots of sugar-free popcicles.  Me, I was a volume eater.  Can't do it now, and since I'm not feeling like I'm starving, don't want to.

Don't worry.  It really works.  It can really work for you.  I think for it to fail, you need to conciously decide not to play by the rules (protein first, lots of water, excersize, don't drink for an hour after eating), and knowingly work around the tool (not just eating the wrong stuff, but grazing and eating too often).  It all comes down to choices.  The surgery makes the choices easier.

I don't use will power to make my food choices, I use planning and strategy. I have my food made and ready to go always. At any given time I have bags of beef jerky, bags of sprouted almonds, chicken salad or hard boiled eggs ready to go at a moment's notice.

I bring food with me where ever I go and drinks too. That way when I want to eat, I have something good for me to grab. I make food that's low in calories/carbs and high in protein and therefore I always know that if I eat MY food I'm going to be fine.