i was thin most of my life until i had my daughter at 30. at that time i was about 140lbs on a 5'10" frame. the pounds slowly began to climb and then kicked into high gear when i turn about 48. by 50 i was 270/bs with hypertension, high cholesterol, and my sugar level was climbling. i exercised a little but not enough to keep the pounds off. i finally to to something different and that was to get banded. it's been almost 1.5 years and i have lost 86lbs so far. what's been difficult is that i ahve not told a soul that i had the surgery. the result is that it has isolated me but on the other hand, it was worth it. that's my story.