I am going for my first consultation with my Dr. on Monday next week. I am weighing all my options and am wanting to get an opinion from someone who has been banded.

Any regrets? Would you if you have been banded do it again? Any advice you would give to someone just starting the journey. Any information would be helpful and thankyou to anyone who posts in advance. Ruthie

no regrets at all......it´s been two weeks and i have already lost 14lbs. Dr. Aceves and his staff were great. The hospital was really clean and the nurses were really supportive. Who´s your doctor?

Hi, Ruthie! I am 14 months out and don't have any regrets. This is one of the best things I've ever done for myself, and I am really happy with how the last 14 months have gone and with the progress I've made. I am only about 7 pounds from my goal (gulp!!)! :)

In terms of advice, this is the best advice I can give to any new bandster:

1. Make a list of pros and cons to help you with your decision about getting banded. Writing it out is a huge help, and you can go back and look at it if you have doubts. (I posted mine on my blog and there is a link to it in my most recent post);

2. TAKE YOUR MEASUREMENTS NOW! You'll want to be able to count all those inches you are losing once you are banded!

3. TAKE SOME "BEFORE" PHOTOS! Maybe you won't feel like looking at them right now, but it's so amazing to be able to compare your progress with where you started as you go through this process.

4. Size your closet! If you are like me, you probably have like 10 different sizes in there. Go through and put the sizes together so that when you're losing weight, you won't miss out on wearing outfits that you like as you fit into them again.

5. Write out a post-op plan for success. I have a link to mine in my most recent blog post.

6. Think long and hard about who you want to tell about your surgery. You don't really start losing until you get to restriction (the before-period is called "Bandster Hell"), so it can be frustrating during the first month if people know and are like "You had WLS. . why aren't you losing weight?!?" Plus, it's nice not to have the "food Police" watching your every bite!

6. Make a list of all the things you are looking forward to about being thinner. Then, when you go through this process, be sure to check back to see when they each become your reality. It's so amazing to be able to do that! For me, wearing heels again was major -- same with being comfortable in coach on airplanes! The most major one was getting to the point where I actually feel GOOD about my weight and body, instead of beating myself up about it every single day.

I hope that helps! Congratulations on taking the first step!

Best wishes,

Catherine

I am going for my first consultation with my Dr. on Monday next week. I am weighing all my options and am wanting to get an opinion from someone who has been banded.

Any regrets? Would you if you have been banded do it again? Any advice you would give to someone just starting the journey. Any information would be helpful and thankyou to anyone who posts in advance. Ruthie

No regerts at all - only that I didn't do it sooner - I feel 10 yrs younger - have tons more energy and hopefully added a few more yrs to my life... Icing on the cake - I love going into a store any buy size 4 pair of pants (was 18/20)

Catherine55 gave you great advice -

WTG Catherine 7lbs to go - Congrats !!!!

Thanks so much for your advice/input. I really see banding as a tool, as I have tried and tried to successfully loose weight and keep it off only to put those hard lost pounds back on plus some. Thankfully my insurance covers this procedure, and I am hoping for this to be the start of my new life, more healthy and better for it.

I wonder though has anyone ever failed after banding, and what was the cause? Not that I won't follow the Dr. orders to the letter I am just wondering if anyone has had problems or heard of such. Thanks

Thanks so much for your advice/input. I really see banding as a tool, as I have tried and tried to successfully loose weight and keep it off only to put those hard lost pounds back on plus some. Thankfully my insurance covers this procedure, and I am hoping for this to be the start of my new life, more healthy and better for it.

I wonder though has anyone ever failed after banding, and what was the cause? Not that I won't follow the Dr. orders to the letter I am just wondering if anyone has had problems or heard of such. Thanks

Oh heck ya Ruthie - there are failures with any WLS - the key word is it's only a tool - that is - that's the most important thing to know going in - It isn't going to lose the weight for you - it doesn't make your food choices - it doesn't exercise for you..

Cause of failure - not changing your eating habit - thinking that it's the magic cure all to our issues with food..

Company just got here - so I gotta jam - will post later..

Ok - I'm back - for the most part it's not the bands failure but the person who failed - Like I said before this is truly about making a lifetime lifestyle change in your eating habit and adding physical activity in to you life.. They band our stomachs but the majority of our problems lie in our heads.

I am at my sweet spot - but I can eat around my band if I chose to... Candy, ice cream, gravy, adult beverage all slide right thru (slider foods) so the band has no affect in stoping you from eating large quantities of these foods.. Which are full of calories

It's about eating low fat - limited carbs & sugar - The band will stop you once you get proper restiction from eating a bread basket - salad - baked potatoe loaded and 16 oz steak and dessert

Now I eat 4 oz of the steak - a little salad and a few bite of my baked potato (not loaded) and I am physically full - but even being physically full - I can still want to eat - I still crave more food - the band doesn't take away your cravings it doesn't deal at all with our head hunger issues.

I say I have done 75% of the work by changing my habits (eating & exercise) and the band did the other 25% by providing restriction.

Even with the band it's still work - it help make a hard job a little easier - but it's still work - so just don't go into it thinking that it's a breeze - you will have to do alot of head work in order to truly understand that it is about a lifestyle change this is the way you are going to eat for the rest of your life - this isn't a diet - cuz what happens when you go off your diet - you go back to eating normal - Well our eating normal is what got us fat in the 1st place.. Once I understood that - it all fell into place for me - had my ah ha moment - the band has made me be able to live that new lifestyle change -

Edited December 18, 200916 yr by IndioGirl55

I have absolutely NO regrets about being banded. It is the best thing that I've ever done for myself. For me, there is really no downside to it. Best of luck to you!

Catherine 55 , I think I love you for posting that ust wish I ad a printer now I just gotta find it evrytime I wanna look at it or COPY IT DOWN (lol) you hit it on the nose lol I wanna be your friend I need SOOOOO much help noone knows I am getting banded I feel sooooo enclosed and pushed in a closet you helped me alot with that and I thank you... congrats on your life change I hope and pray to be there tooo in the future.......

No regrets here. I agree with "REALIZEinCT", having this surgery really was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I love my band because I still feel "normal". I can still go out to restaurants and eat, I can still eat a lot of the same foods that I did before just in smaller portions. It is hard work and I did have to make some major changes but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! :biggrin:

I have absolutely no regrets. I'm a different person than I was 14 months ago. First of all, I look "normal" now. And I have a more "normal" (or what I perceive to be normal) relationship with food. Listen to Catherine and Indio -- they have been my inspirations on this site. I agree 100% with what they said. The band IS just a tool, and once I got that, I started using it to my advantage. I wanted to lose the weight but I couldn't do it on my own. Once I started dropping the pounds, I realized I needed the exercise too and so I joined a boot camp. I'd taken my measurments before, but I dopped over 11 inches off my body in 3 months!

I've still got a ways to go -- and over the holidays I've been eating more of those "slider" foods that Indio talked about, but the great thing is, I know that I'll be back on the "band-wagon" again soon and that scale is going to continue to move downward.

I live me life - it's just a so much better life! I love my band and only wish I'd done it sooner! Just wrap your head around the fact that it's not the band that does the work -- it's you who's going to have to watch what you eat, make sure you get enough Protein and exercise. That's why I agree with Catherine about not telling people. When people ask how I've lost all this weight, I say, "It's what we've all known all along --Diet & Exercise."

Good luck.

Hi, Ruthie! I am 14 months out and don't have any regrets. This is one of the best things I've ever done for myself, and I am really happy with how the last 14 months have gone and with the progress I've made. I am only about 7 pounds from my goal (gulp!!)! :thumbup: :ohmy:

In terms of advice, this is the best advice I can give to any new bandster:

1. Make a list of pros and cons to help you with your decision about getting banded. Writing it out is a huge help, and you can go back and look at it if you have doubts. (I posted mine on my blog and there is a link to it in my most recent post);

2. TAKE YOUR MEASUREMENTS NOW! You'll want to be able to count all those inches you are losing once you are banded!

3. TAKE SOME "BEFORE" PHOTOS! Maybe you won't feel like looking at them right now, but it's so amazing to be able to compare your progress with where you started as you go through this process.

4. Size your closet! If you are like me, you probably have like 10 different sizes in there. Go through and put the sizes together so that when you're losing weight, you won't miss out on wearing outfits that you like as you fit into them again.

5. Write out a post-op plan for success. I have a link to mine in my most recent blog post.

6. Think long and hard about who you want to tell about your surgery. You don't really start losing until you get to restriction (the before-period is called "Bandster Hell"), so it can be frustrating during the first month if people know and are like "You had WLS. . why aren't you losing weight?!?" Plus, it's nice not to have the "Food Police" watching your every bite!

6. Make a list of all the things you are looking forward to about being thinner. Then, when you go through this process, be sure to check back to see when they each become your reality. It's so amazing to be able to do that! For me, wearing heels again was major -- same with being comfortable in coach on airplanes! The most major one was getting to the point where I actually feel GOOD about my weight and body, instead of beating myself up about it every single day.

I hope that helps! Congratulations on taking the first step!

Best wishes,

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

Are you saying that when you first got filled is when you started losing?? Ive been worried since Ive got banded the 11th and only have lost like three lbs. I get filled the 14th of January ....Im sincerely hoping that is when I will notice a big difference..! POPPyred

Hi Catherine,

Are you saying that when you first got filled is when you started losing?? Ive been worried since Ive got banded the 11th and only have lost like three lbs. I get filled the 14th of January ....Im sincerely hoping that is when I will notice a big difference..! POPPyred

Can someone help me ??? I cant figure out how to change my ticker..H e L P!

just over 48hours post-op and I'm gonna have to say no. Not yet...lil' soon, but I knew what I was getting myself into.

Indiogirl55 thank you so much for your words of advice. I'm not yet banded and considering the procedure very severely. I have seminar tomorrow that I'm going to. Your words resignate with such an impact that I feel like you were talking directly to me. I've been sold on the idea "seeing" the before and after pics but not "hearing" enough about all of the work it really takes. I knew it would be work but I'm glad that you put it in the correct perspective for me. I really needed to hear that!!!

No regrets and would do it again in a minute. Life is too short not to live it to your full potential. I wasn't living it even close to mine until now.

just over 48hours post-op and I'm gonna have to say no. Not yet...lil' soon, but I knew what I was getting myself into.

It gets better - I woke up from surgery (my 2nd in my life) and said WTF have I done - by day 3 I was just fine ;0)