I'm reading lots of blogs and getting lots of info here. Really a great site.

I'm being banded on July 27th. I notice that a lot of you are young women and with BMI's in the 30's. Good for you for not letting things get too out of control.

I'm wondering how many on here are extremely overweight, as I am. At 5ft 3in, I weigh between 280-285 depending on how much Water I'm retaining. My BMI, is 49. Yikes, yeah I know. I'm really hoping this will work for me. Is there any of you out there that have lost over 70lbs? and how long did it take? Does the band seem to help with emotional eating. You know, you're not really hungry, you just want that feeling that comes over you from mindless carb munching?

Also, I'm a self pay and since I had no insurance comp. to deal with, I've had no psychological evaluation. I'm not sure if this is a good thing. I'm sure I want to lose weight. I'm very worried that soon I'll be the person that needs a motorized cart to get out of my house. My knee are very bad. I so want this too work for me and I chose the lap band because I felt it was not too invasive or drastic.

What do you think? Am I being realitic thinking this will help me?

I have lost 116 pounds and STILL have a higher BMI than you do currently.

If you go into this realizing the band is a tool, not a magic bullet, and that you must make eating habit changes for a lifetime then I think it's totally realistic to think the band will help you. Really, it all falls on the person being banded. The more committed you are to change and a healthy lifestyle, the better you will do.

As for me, I still have a long ways to go, but I couldn't be happier with my decision. Getting banded is the best thing I've ever done for myself.

My BMI is also 49 it started at almost 51, and I hope to lose about 130lbs. I'm also a self pay, and my doc still had me do psych eval and all the classes as an insurance pay would do. Im so glad he did, I think it has helped a lot! I have surgery in 2 weeks, and start preop diet tomm! I think lap band would be a great choice!!!

I have a total of 214 pounds to lose. I lost 100... regained some... relost some. Currently 77 pounds down.

Absolutely it is doable.

Make sure you research what to expect. I struggled for a long time with unrealistic expectations. It is a lot of hard work. You still have to make healthy choices. You will need to exercise. The band will help you with hunger... but you can still sabotage yourself if you are not mentally ready to make a change.

Well i was an 'older' woman and lost 237 lbs i started off with a bmi of 68.7 before surgery and got down to a bmi of 61 on the day of surgery.. if your determination to change your life and make this lapband work for you outweighs your eating habits then it is likely this will work for you.

Nothing will be easy, the lbs do drop off initially then comes the hard work, it is an emotional rollercoaster, but learning to reach for something other than food to comfort u will make alll the difference ..

the above posters are right ... research and gain all the information u can regarding expectation and timelines etc. Here in the uk we dont have Psych evaluations, but i suppose we could request one if we felt the need to, i never felt like i did personally but having a good support network around you will help u make the changes needed a little easier.

I've lost 67 pounds and still have about 40 to go. It is alot of hard work One of the things that makes me mad people think all we do is get the band and thats that..but its not we have to still work our booty off and battle food. The only difference is we have a tool. I am very grateful for the chance to have this surgery. I get mad at times because I feel like I should be further along but you know I realize I should be proud of where I am...so to say We are all here for ya and please ask any questions you have

I've lost 88 pounds and it has taken approximately two and a half years. I still have times when devoting myself to the consumption of coconut and mint M&Ms seems the proper thing to do, but the band does help with other foods I used to OD on like bread and potato chips and cookies- I just can't eat them like I used to.

The psych eval was interesting and since I didn't have to pay for it, I rather enjoyed the process. Didn't really learn anything I didn't already know: when I asked the doc if I was neurotic or psychotic, she answered, "Neither... but you are unconventional."

I was so proud.

She did tell me her only concern was that I tended to resist authority and didn't care much for rules and might struggle with following the dietary rules that go along with LBing. And, true enough, I don't follow all the rules, e.g. I never learned to not drink with my meals. That is probably why it took me a couple of years to lose what some folks lose in months, but it was a lifestyle I could live with and it worked in the long run.

If you have emotional eating issues, I suggest finding a good counselor and start working through some of those problems now. I saw a counselor every couple of months the first year I was banded and I think it was helpful.

Good luck to you.

I have a 46 bmi surgery 6/7 and i am looking to loose about 130-140 im 20 in so its all a work in progress good luck to u!

I'm 5'1 with a BMI of 52 at starting weight 262 ( currently 253) I hope to drop 140 lbs after being banded. My doc said my BMI is way high, and I have sleep apnea!

I am 5'3 with a bmi of 69... starting weight before surgery was 408... I lost 18lbs before surgery and on day of surgery (6/5/12) I weighed 390... I have yet to weigh myself again but I have every confident in the fact that I will lose 100+lbs. I'm sure I'll have struggles but if you want it bad enough (and I do) it's possible.

My starting weight was 297 and was down to 274 before surgery ( 3 days ago!). I'm 3 days post op now. I'm 5'5 and trying to get to 150 so I have over 100 to lose. I would actually be happy with 100 I think.

I'm a huge emotional eater and addicted to food. I realized this during my Preop liquid diet for 2 weeks. I was faithful to it but I could tell when I most wanted to eat was only emotional and then I would go thru periods that I had anxiety because I couldn't eat something I was craving. It was horrible and hard at the time but I think it really helped me realize the extent of my disfuctional relationship with food! That's the first step toward knowing how to deal with it!

I want to lose at least 110 lbs. My BMI is currently 45. I am Pre-Lapband. I have two more supervised visits with my Dr. Before I can even be submitted to insurance. Everything looks good so for. I have been trying to prepare myself for this surgery so it does not blind side me. Since I do not see the nutritionist until the 23rd I have no Idea of how protein I should be consuming. LOL I have just been consuming the hell out of some protein....and Chewing....A LOT! ha. I am sure I will be much more informed by the 23rd. Thankfully I have this website!

I'm reading lots of blogs and getting lots of info here. Really a great site.

I'm being banded on July 27th. I notice that a lot of you are young women and with BMI's in the 30's. Good for you for not letting things get too out of control.

I'm wondering how many on here are extremely overweight' date=' as I am. At 5ft 3in, I weigh between 280-285 depending on how much Water I'm retaining. My BMI, is 49. Yikes, yeah I know. I'm really hoping this will work for me. Is there any of you out there that have lost over 70lbs? and how long did it take? Does the band seem to help with emotional eating. You know, you're not really hungry, you just want that feeling that comes over you from mindless carb munching?

Also, I'm a self pay and since I had no insurance comp. to deal with, I've had no psychological evaluation. I'm not sure if this is a good thing. I'm sure I want to lose weight. I'm very worried that soon I'll be the person that needs a motorized cart to get out of my house. My knee are very bad. I so want this too work for me and I chose the lap band because I felt it was not too invasive or drastic.

What do you think? Am I being realitic thinking this will help me?[/quote']

I am also 5' 3" and weighed 283.5 before surgery. I'm 15 days post op, and have lost about 15 pounds. I'm so ready to be all healed up so I can start exercising in order to lose more and fairly quickly.

Sent from my MB865 using LapBandTalk

I want to lose at least 110 lbs. My BMI is currently 45. I am Pre-Lapband. I have two more supervised visits with my Dr. Before I can even be submitted to insurance. Everything looks good so for. I have been trying to prepare myself for this surgery so it does not blind side me. Since I do not see the nutritionist until the 23rd I have no Idea of how Protein I should be consuming. LOL I have just been consuming the hell out of some protein....and Chewing....A LOT! ha. I am sure I will be much more informed by the 23rd. Thankfully I have this website!

For protein, my nutritionist said to multiply your body weight by 0.3, which would give you grams of protein needed daily.

So 150 x 0.3 = 45

My BMI starting out was 51 and now it's 39. I would like to lose a total of 140lbs or more.

Good luck

For Protein, my nutritionist said to multiply your body weight by 0.3, which would give you grams of protein needed daily.

So 150 x 0.3 = 45

Ohhh thank You So So much!! Very Helpful