katie254

I found out today that I've been approved for surgery and scheduled for November 19th. Scared, anxious and excited but have been thinking about doing this for years so now is the time. I've been reading the forums on here for a long time but this is my first post. Looking forward to following along with everyone on our new journey!

Australian doctors actually advocate the band for low BMI banders. The prognosis for banders with low BMIs are very good indeed. As long as a bander shows a history of trying to lose and being active already, they're actually the best candidates for lapband wls, because they already have a lot of the lifestyle elements that assist with losing weight, so the transition is easier.
My BMI was 35 at surgery and I'd already lost about 30lbs on my own by my estimate before deciding on getting a lapband. I walked a lot, and I was strong, if not fit. And had lost and gained many times previously and I was looking for something that would keep it off. What I needed was something that would help with my hunger.
Even before I got the green zone where the band eradicated most of my hunger, I was working out, sticking to band sized portions and in fact, I lost the majority of my excess weight before finding that perfect restriction. I believed that once I got there, the band would help me keep it off so this wasn't a diet where I could 'fall off the wagon'. If I hung in there, it would eventually kick in and would make it easier. And it did.
I won't say it wasn't a learning curve in identifying what the band helped me with as opposed to what I thought it would do, but in the end, what I REALLY needed it to do was control my hunger, and that's just what it did. For the rest of it, I put in the work, and I lost all of my excess weight and more as a result.
I also believe that had I not gotten the band, I probably would have gotten less active as I got older, would have continued to gain (as I had slowly but surely all my life) and eventually gotten to the point of being at a BMI that was much, much higher with possible co-morbs that would have made the surgery more dangerous. I'm glad I did something about it early, because I honestly don't think I could have done this by myself otherwise.