For anyone out there considering lap band surgery it is not a fix all. You can still eat and gain weight. Like with any diet program u have to work the diet. I hate seeing people say well I didn't loose weight. Well the majority of those people are eating the wrong foods nd probably not exercise. The lap band only contricts the amount of food you take in. You can still have burgers, fries, pizza, but hopefully if you actually spend money on the surgery you won't eat those kind of foods...........work the program!!

Agreed, too many people go into the gastric band thinking it's a cheaper, safer, reversable bypass. It's not. It's a tool, not a magic wand. I didn't selfpay, but I know that the band in my gut is just the traffic light, I have to chose what cars to let in. I think people need more proper education about the surgery.

Good comparison Matt!

I have to disagree somewhat. Some people have to work hard, I don't. Some people can still eat burgers, fries and pizza, I can't. It has been sort of a magic fix all for me. The thing is, a person doesn't really know how the band will work for them until they are already banded.

agreed with the poster there are few that it will magically help without any effort but for the most part you have to work at it. Making wrong food choices will not let you lose weight no matter how tight you are. If you eat a gallon of ice cream a day you wont lose weight just that simple. Results with no effort are probably about 3 % of the total population of banders if its even that high.

I have to disagree somewhat. Some people have to work hard, I don't. Some people can still eat burgers, fries and pizza, I can't. It has been sort of a magic fix all for me. The thing is, a person doesn't really know how the band will work for them until they are already banded.

AGREED! I am 5 lbs below goal and reached it in less than 1 year. I can't eat burgers which used to be my very favorite food, but funny how when it doesn't sit right in the belly, you simply lose interest. I can't eat fries, can't eat chips...(except tortilla chips or corn chips, weird?) can't eat most cereal's either. Unlike most people I can still eat the heck out of bread though. Can't eat ground beef, but I can eat steak and shredded beef still...that too is weird. I guess I am one of the lucky few that the band has been a "magic fix" and I am happy about it! I REALLY like my newly found size Zero!

The thing is, If I wanted to go on a fancy diet and exercise like a mad woman, I think I could have done that without paying $15,000 to do it. I did do that. I lost 38 lbs. I was banded in july of 11 and now gained all of that back post surgery.

For anyone out there considering lap band surgery it is not a fix all. You can still eat and gain weight. Like with any diet program u have to work the diet. I hate seeing people say well I didn't loose weight. Well the majority of those people are eating the wrong foods nd probably not exercise. The lap band only contricts the amount of food you take in. You can still have burgers, fries, pizza, but hopefully if you actually spend money on the surgery you won't eat those kind of foods...........work the program!!

Sorry, I disagree.

The band not only restricts the amount of food I take in, it also restricts the type of food that goes in.

There is NO WAY I can ever eat a cheese burger ever again! French Fries are dangerous also, as is pizza.

If you are eating these items than you are selling the band short.

Having the band, and having it adjusted properly, is the EASIEST diet I have ever been on, and I have been on many over the past 35 years!

It's hard to call it a diet, because any diet I have tried I have failed at. So I needed surgical intervention to do what I could not do on my own!

There is little or no work involved.

Only thing I needed to learn is how to "Listen to my Band" My band tells me when I am hungry, which is not often, and my band tells me when to stop eating, which is very soon after starting. Also will tell me certain foods are off limits - like CHEESEBURGERS!

When people say you have to "Work the Band". I'm really not sure what they mean.

I let the band work me!!! "Living in the Green Zone"

If you can eat a cheeseburger without getting stuck, then you may need a fill or 2

I can only speak from my own personal experiences and how it is for me.

Not what I have been told.