I've had my band for over a year and lost about about 80 pounds in the first 9 months, but have put back on 25 pounds. I've never had a fill and can really chew food and it passes through with little resist. It seems like losing weight is just as hard as it was before I had the band. I'm not sure if I need to get my first fill, or just concentrate on gettng back to "band basics"....or both.

PEOPLE... WTH? The problem was in the second sentence. This is a tool that needs to be used. If you are not getting a fill, you are not taking advantage of this new device. I cannot beleive youR DR told you not to get a fill. IMO he is not giving you sound advice! CRAZY!!

I did have a tiny fill, only 0.75cc at 5 months post op. But I've decided to do this with basically just diet and exercise. The band gave me the kick and the motivation to do something about my weight, but I'm doing this on my own (for the most part), yes I get hungry between meals, so I'm not in the green zone. But I've chosen this. Last time I went to the doc my weight loss had and still has slow down and he wanted to give me a fill, but I declined. I knew what I needed to do to change things up, and I'm still losing. Would I like to lose the weight all at once, sure, but I'm losing and that's all I care about. Personally IMO I feel if you lose it fast you are more likely to put it back on and you have not had time to thoroughly change your habits so when you go to maintenance down the road you're gonna start slipping back to your old ways. That's just my opinion though.