I am 23 years old and have been on sooo many different diets so far. Tried Lindora for months and lost about 20 pounds then right after gained it all back... weight watchers and so many other diets by myself.

i weight 162 and am 5 2"

do you think it's a good idea for me to get the lapband? :blushing::cool2:

can i ask u an honest question...r u trying to lose weight for urself...to b healthy...or ru trying to lose weight for society...or to b excepted...r u happy with everything else in ur life besides ur weight?????

Totally for myself.... not a person who cares about people nor what they think.... I've tried and tried to loose weight but every time i bounce back to the same situation.... i mean i do have my own excuses too ... Yes going to Graduate School... Working Full Time.... and other problems that everybodyelse has...

doing and going through this process would only and ONLY be for myself

if ur thinking about having surgery to improve ur health and to end ur battle with obesity...i would say go 4 it...if ur doing it to run around in a bikini and to date guys that don't like "fat-girls"...ur kidding urself...the only thing that changes is the size of ur body...look at ur person...is ur person a good...happy person...then keep her...with or without surgery...its a smaller body...and thats all there is to it...

i'm sorry i didnt read ur reply...if u have tried everything else...and ur doing it strictly for urself...i would do it...ur young..end this battle now...

Well... here's my 2 cents -

I know a gal that was about 40 pounds overweight and worked as a weather forcaster in So Cal. She was told (more or less) that she was "too fat for TV" and that she was in breech of her contract (some strange TV beauty contract - I dunno) She did self pay and got the band - dropped those 40 pounds pretty quick - but still lost her job for other reasons - now she is miserable!! The band completely changes your life - the way you eat, drink, etc! It is quite a commitment to make for just "a few pounds"

Personally, I don't think that you need the band - maybe try following the "bandster rules" and see what type of results you get without getting the actual band installed. Go to the food and nutrition section of the forum - there is a post called "what did you eat today" - try eating like we do - see if that helps you.

The band seems like somewhat of an extreme situation - but it is a personal choice you will need to make - just wanted to share my thoughts! :blushing:

how much weight r u wanting to lose...i'm 5'8...and weight 160-165...i'm not sure how much some1 at 5'2 is suppose to weight...but if its under 50 pounds ur wanting to lose...then i would try another route...like morgan said...this is a physical altering surgery...

i need to loose exactly 50 pounds to be considered as HEALTHY.

Morgan, i'll go on ahead and try out the Bandster Rules... Thank you so much for the info... :blushing:

Well... here's my 2 cents -

I know a gal that was about 40 pounds overweight and worked as a weather forcaster in So Cal. She was told (more or less) that she was "too fat for TV" and that she was in breech of her contract (some strange TV beauty contract - I dunno) She did self pay and got the band - dropped those 40 pounds pretty quick - but still lost her job for other reasons - now she is miserable!! The band completely changes your life - the way you eat, drink, etc! It is quite a commitment to make for just "a few pounds"

Personally, I don't think that you need the band - maybe try following the "bandster rules" and see what type of results you get without getting the actual band installed. Go to the food and nutrition section of the forum - there is a post called "what did you eat today" - try eating like we do - see if that helps you.

The band seems like somewhat of an extreme situation - but it is a personal choice you will need to make - just wanted to share my thoughts! :blushing:

This is a really good story. I think it covers what we go through after the band.

I would never want to put myself in the shoes of someone who was so far below my present weight and pfffft them into thinking 'give me a break, are you serious?'...no friend, I am sure for you the feeling of being unhappy with your body is equal to mine.

What I would add is that surgery comes with many risks and this procedure is for those of us who have tried endlessly to lose weight, some of us for many many years, to no avail. You are very close to goal and you may not even realize it.

I would suggest switching it up to Protein shakes, keeping certain you intake 40 mg. of protein at the least, daily, and see what happens with your body. Don't try and worry about counting calories or keeping track of points or whatever, make it as easy for yourself as possible, then see what happens. If after three months you haven't lost an ounce, you could have another medical condition. Rule out any other problem before banding yourself.

Best of luck.

I marvel at how people who have been banded can forget that they werent born 100lb overweight and can express the view that someone doesnt need surgery because they only have a small weight problem. I dont mean those people are being mean or derisive because you're not fat enough to 'deserve' surgery, but they're simply not remembering the process that it took to get to surgery stage. How many times in years past they have lost 20, gained 25, lost 30, then gained 35, etc. How excited they were to lose weight but how quickly it went back on. How impossible it is to live hungry, day in day out.

Each of US was once 50lb overweight and that went on to become 60, 70, 80, 100 and even more than that. None of US could lose the weight when it was only 50 or we'd not be here.

I think there's 2 things to consider - 1) your motivation to lose weight - health OR appearance doesnt matter, but it needs to be for you and nobody else because it IS a big commitment that you have to be prepared for and 2) you know deep down whether you're a 'fat' person or not. 50lb is right on the statistical brink of being able to lose that weight and keep it off on your own, but I could never even lose 10lb on my own, let alone 50. Some people for whatever reason may carry an extra 50 at some stage of their lives, post pregnancy, middle age, whatever but they can lose it. My mother is like that. Others are truly people suffering from obesity. If you're truly suffering from ovesity then I would consider the surgery worthwhile even if you were only 10lb overweight at a given point in time. If you're truly suffering from obesity it is going to overcome you at some stage and you'll be fighting a much bigger weight problem.

How many of us could have avoided painful, expensive and dangerous cosmetic surgery to fix streteched out disfigured skin if we had simply taken positive, decisive action at an earlier stage? And how much damage may years of obesity have done to our bodies that we wont know about yet?

I want to add my 2 cents. You need to ask yourself honestly why you are overweight?

Is it because you're always hungry or is it because you prefer junk food to real food? If you have a junk food addiction the band won't help you. Junk has a way of going right through even when you're so tight that your meat and veggies won't!

If it's because you are always hungry and never feel satisfied then consider it because it will help you.

If your weight problem can be solved by other methods by all means choose those. Surgery is expensive and is always a risk. Plus bariatric surgery of any kind is life altering just make sure ready. If you are then go for it. If I could have done it 20 years ago I would have.

Good luck!