I am exactly where you are right now. I am sure we are not the only ones who have found ways to cheat. Like drinking sips of liquid with your food to help it slip thru the band. I started doing this because my band was too tight and I was "sliming" all the time and the liquids helped. What I should have done was go directly back to my dr and have some saline extracted but nooooo, I was so stubborn! I actually lost more weight after my doctor yelled at me for not losing fast enough and called me non-compliant. My surgery was about a year and a half ago and I have lost 93 of the 133 lbs I want to lose. I only have 40 to 50 more to go before I can get my abdominoplasty and I feel better now than I have since I was in my twenties. I am now a diet controlled diabetic which means I no longer need to take medicine to control it. I no longer have high blood pressure, my asthma symptoms are gone, I quit smoking 6 mos before my banding surgery. My life has totally changed and it is only going to get better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and though I have not been allowed to be filled for almost a year, I now have found the will to continue. I had to wrap my head around the fact that this takes discipline, something that I have never been good at. I am ready now. I have to be honest with myself because I am QUEEN of cheating and shortcuts. Although I have had a lot of success, I have failed in some ways too. I will probably always battle the urging to cheat but then I rely on my faith for strength as well. WE CAN DO THIS!