I could be getting cold feet as my April 2 date gets closer, maybe I'm looking for an excuse but now that I'm on the preop diet and making a serious attempt to lose weight, I'm losing weight. Im following all the rules, getting myself ready, i.e.: drinking tons of water, stepped up my exercising, dropped all carbs, no alcohol, concentrating on protein. So, the question I'm asking myself that Im sure you all asked yourselves: If I'm losing weight now can I do this without the band IF I continue following these rules which are the same rules I'd have to follow with the band?

Those that asked yourself that question, went through with the surgery and can now look back....what are your thoughts on this?...thank you so much for your insight.

ELCEE, B52 and Corrigan Im counting on you to reply!!!! : )

Don't know about anyone else but I didn't have the sheer willpower to simply do it on my own. The pre-op diet was basically "forced"...I knew I had no choice but to do it. I'm still struggling with the band and I've over a year out. Some days I hate the thing. It works, I've lost 105 lbs...the first 100 is pretty easy even with no exercise at all. Now...I'm fighting for every ounce lost. If I could have done it on my own, I would've been sucessful on one of the bazillion times I tried. For me, I need that gut wrenching pain in the center of my chest when I've taken one bite too much.

I'm only 7 wks post-op but I did this too. However, I really took a long hard look at myself and said "Can you really stay on this without the band?" I realized for myself, that I was only good for about 2 or 3 weeks because I knew it was leading up to the band. So, I went forward with the surgery. But the thing to take from this is that you HAVE to know yourself and whether or not you can keep it up. God bless you on this journey!

My question for you would be can you live like this forever? And I do mean forever!

I am very good at losing weight on very restrictive diets. I've done it 3 times in my life. Never eating candy, cake, french fries, ANYTHING fatenning. After a year or so it starts to get me down. I say to myself well I can have X today and that will be fine. Then the next day I do it again and before you know it I am well on my way to regaining that 100 pounds.

Recent research has shown that the all or nothing mentality makes you doomed to failure. As part of my presurgery process I had to meet with a psychologist about my eating habbits and triggers. I learned a lot about what triggers me to eat. I've really created a new philosophy about food. Do I eat the items listed above? No. But they also don't call out to me. The band helps me with my illogical desire to eat all the time. It helps the rational side of my brain during the "Are you sure your hungry" discussions with the irrational side. If I've just eaten I am not hungry enough to need to eat something else.

Once every 3-4 months when I do have a piece of someone's birthday cake I have a normal person size piece of cake. I don't need to eat half of the cake.

I never had any problem losing weight. Heck, that's the easy part! Keeping it off was the problem. Without the lap band I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be where I am today. I would have gone back to eating junk, not exercising, and being miserable. The lap band is the key to my success, period. My one year anniversary is tomorrow and I've lost 79 pounds in that time. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I never had any problem losing weight. Heck, that's the easy part! Keeping it off was the problem. Without the lap band I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be where I am today. I would have gone back to eating junk, not exercising, and being miserable. The lap band is the key to my success, period. My one year anniversary is tomorrow and I've lost 79 pounds in that time. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Jenn1214 I just looked at your before and after picture, You look amazing!!! And I'm sure your insides do too!!haha congrats! For thise of us that are just being, it really helps to her from you guys that are on the down side of the hill!! I to was just thinking "I'm I sure I can't do it oon my own this time" I have been heavy the last 10 years, and during that time I have lost the same 60 pounds twice, but the minute I make the goal. I try to return to a normal life of 1300 calories and exercising 2-3 times a week....a start gaining..eventually I gave up..so if I need to only consume 900-1000 calories a day to stay at a healthy weight, then I need something to help me feel statisified at 1000 calories.

Jenn, you look great!!! Congratulations.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Ditto what the above posters have said. Diets - been there done that and lost a lot of weight - but always re-gained - it was just a matter of time. I need to be physically stopped from overeating - period. This was truly the only way to go for me.

Allison, you've had amazing success since being banded in July. What would you say have been your biggest challenges?

I had my surgery 2 m1/2 years ago. I had it because even though I can loose the weight, (have lost hundreds of pounds over the years), I get bored with dieting and yoyo back up! That is why many of us have had the surgery. Good luck and best wishes for your decision.

I lost weight plenty of times before the band but always gained it back with extra. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...I finally had to do something different and I did get different results.

I could be getting cold feet as my April 2 date gets closer, maybe I'm looking for an excuse but now that I'm on the preop diet and making a serious attempt to lose weight, I'm losing weight. Im following all the rules, getting myself ready, i.e.: drinking tons of Water, stepped up my exercising, dropped all carbs, no alcohol, concentrating on Protein. So, the question I'm asking myself that Im sure you all asked yourselves: If I'm losing weight now can I do this without the band IF I continue following these rules which are the same rules I'd have to follow with the band?

Those that asked yourself that question, went through with the surgery and can now look back....what are your thoughts on this?...thank you so much for your insight.

ELCEE, B52 and Corrigan Im counting on you to reply!!!! : )

What a great question, GLove! The same types of thoughts have been entering my mind.

I have always been able to lose weight but was able to maintain a healthy weight only when I had access to Phen-Fen. I am getting the band to control my overeating. As I age, I am likely not always going to be able to walk at least 5 miles daily. I did the math a few weeks ago, and when the time comes that I am unable to walk as much, I would probably gain over 50 pounds in a year. Hopefully, the band will be the tool I need to help me learn to eat average portions.

Well as you see for yourself, If you follow a proper plan weight loss is possible...

But,, can you keep it off ! My Guess is NO !....

That's where the band really comes in handy. If you fall off the wagon, and your not banded ! I feel for you with trying to get your self back on that wagon... Its very hard.

If your banded, and you have a day where you went out, and over did yourself, There's always tomorrow, and you simply start all over again.

You might kick yourself for messing up, but the point is, is that you can still get it together all over again.

That alone is a blessing with this band.

Shirley.

See, the great thing about the band is this: if you can do all the right things to lose weight, you're likely going to succeed with the band.

Why?

Because it takes a while to get to restriction.

I lost the majority of my weight while not in the green zone. I worked out, ate well and the weight moved. Like it did every single other time I dieted and exercised. But where I'd lose before, and then either get sick, or get busy, and fall off the 'wagon', with the lapband, falling off the wagon when you have restriction is pretty hard to do.

It wasn't until my leak, and having zero restriction, that I've realised how much the band does for me. I am struggling now with hunger and working really hard NOT to gain. I hate how freakin' hard it is. The band made it easy.

THAT'S why I have a band. That's why I want to keep my band. That's why I'm getting regular fills again now my leak is fixed. I want my hunger to go away, I want my band to help me maintain my weight without me obsessing about food and hunger like I have been this last few months. Because doing that forever, the obsessing, is not only tedious but is driving me mental.

So yes you can lose the weight, but with the band I eat the equivelant of a 5 year old and never feel hungry when I'm in the green zone. That's how little I have to eat to be this thin. I know I personally couldn't do that for the rest of my life without the help of the band.