Hey guys. I am recently banded. I had my surgery on March 28th. I am already down 12 pounds so far!! MY starting weight was 250. I am now 238. I like it so far but I have been noticing that my family and friends are saying things like, I shouldnt keep it in forever, Its a cheat blah blah blah. How do you deal with the negative comments without getting discouraged?

I only told my husband and daughter and no one else. I didn't feel like dealing with people's opinions.

WOW ! all i can say is if im ever in a war i want all of you in the foxhole with me ! (especially you Cocobean ! You go girl !!) i love how everybody is so supportive of each other and how we really encourage each other to be strong and make good decisions. I told my family and they were 100 % supportive. I kept it low key but open at work and also got 100% support and it has continued since got banded 3 months ago,(down 30 lbs, several nice compliments, woohoo !!) i got a few normal , healthy questions about how the band worked, but nothing remotely negative. Im pretty outgoing, funny and positive anyway, (my glass is usually half full) so as i think people saw me discuss it in a positive way to get healthy, they reacted the same way. Pure support ! So if you have to deal with the haters, just realize they're either ignorant or need to put someone down to feel better about themselves. It's not about YOU, its about how they negativly feel about THEMSELVES !!!!

Same way I dealt with haters before I got skinny: your opinion would be best kept to yourself. The constant compliments I get far outweigh the negative ones. People are surprised when I do tell them but I also usually share that I've lost 60 pounds since last may, more than halved my triglyceride count and have almost all normal blood values. A far cry from last year.

Bottom line: the decision to get banded is a medical decision that is best left between you and your physicians. The naysayers would hate on you if you didn't make the choice to take control of your weight. Now they have a different thing to pick on. They will move on eventually. Until then keep your chin up!

The only person that knows, outside of my doctors, is my husband. I am a very private person by nature and don't share much of my medical history with anyone. I also knew that this would be a journey that I needed to feel positive and good about to be successful and negative remarks were certainly going to have me feeling bad about myself and would affect me. Fortunately for me I have lost about 100 lbs in the past (of course gained it all back plus some) so family and friends know I can get it off....so I haven't had any questions about my weight loss....only difference this time is that I will never regain it.

Unfortunately people who do not have weight issues have no idea what we go through. I am always amazed when I hear that wls is a cheat....a cheat at what? Losing weight to stay healthy? Better quality of life? Cocobean said it all very well.

I put a post out to my friends and family via Facebook initially when I was considering the surgery. I of course got a lot of feedback. No one said they thought it was good idea, everyone said that I could do it on my own, or that I didn’t need surgery.

Most of them didn’t know that I was at risk for a heart attack, had high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. All they knew was that I was “big”.

After I was approved for surgery I told everyone that I was having it. I got a lot of supportive comments but I also got several private messages about why I was doing it or people offering to help me lose weight without the surgery.

I’ve been strong since then and very open. At this point I would just tell someone to kiss my ass if they have something bad to say. They don’t know you and they don’t know what you’ve been through.

Being fat is something that a skinny person will never understand unless they have been there…

Check out my blog for more information on my Lapband Journey:

http://sarahclover7.blogspot.com/

The only person that knows, outside of my doctors, is my husband. I am a very private person by nature and don't share much of my medical history with anyone. I also knew that this would be a journey that I needed to feel positive and good about to be successful and negative remarks were certainly going to have me feeling bad about myself and would affect me. Fortunately for me I have lost about 100 lbs in the past (of course gained it all back plus some) so family and friends know I can get it off....so I haven't had any questions about my weight loss....only difference this time is that I will never regain it.

Unfortunately people who do not have weight issues have no idea what we go through. I am always amazed when I hear that wls is a cheat....a cheat at what? Losing weight to stay healthy? Better quality of life? Cocobean said it all very well.

boy oh boy.. . i can identify so much with this post... thank you for saying it like i would say it. i dont need any negativity to get in the way of this way of life ive entered into.. thanks for posting. (( hugs ))