Love this quote that I read today: "The dieting industry the only profitable business in the world with a 98 percent failure rate."

Each day I wake up so happy that I followed through with my decision to stop traditional dieting and seek a tool with a better track record and longterm success rate: the lapband. I remember in the days leading up to my surgery last March, I was feeling fearful and a voice in my head said "Hey, give Weight Watchers one last chance." Thankfully I stood strong. Had I not, I would be weighing more today than I did three months ago, I am certain of it. Instead, I weigh almost 30 pounds less.

I don't see my banded life as a dieting life. I eat smaller now, and this is "just the way I eat." It's not "until I get the weight off." I don't "fall off the wagon" on vacation, during a holiday, or for someone's wedding, birthday, etc. I love my mindset with its dimmed appetite, and am grateful to my band for taking me from the status of "dieter" to "this is they way I eat now."

Such great inspirational stories and the people behind them just AMAZING...im still in pre-op testing and I feel like everything is taking forever....i second guess what i am doing and get scared and then i come here and read such terrific successes...I want and NEED this tool....im ready....willing...and able to do this...I AM!

I can honestly say I have been on both sides of this issue.

I originally had my band placed in December of 2009. For the first year, I loved my band. I found I did not "diet". I just ate smaller amounts, no longer binged and exercised regularly. The weight flew off. Within about 9-10 months, I had lost almost 80 pounds. I could eat anything I wanted within reason. There really were no foods off limits. I just chewed really well and it worked. The band was the best thing I ever did! I looked good but more over, I felt good.

Then my gallbladder began to give me trouble and I started vomiting. Ultimately my band slipped and I developed a hiatal hernia. I had surgery to remove the gallbladder, repair the hernia and I had to have a new band put on. After that the surgeon had trouble finding my "sweet" spot. I would either be too tight or not tight enough. A problem I had never had before. I slowly began to creep up in weight. It took about 8 months but we finally found the sweet spot and things were starting to go good.

Then I got sick again. I had to be hospitalized for an illness that forced the doctor to remove all the Fluid from my band again. After that I was disheartened. I hated my band! I began to gain even more weight and decided I was done with it. I went on for about six or seven months and continued to gain back my weight until I was 20 pounds heavier than when I started!

Then several months ago, I was looking through some old pictures on my phone and found one of me when I had initially lost those 80 pounds and it brought back a flood of emotions! I began to remember what that girl was like when she loved her band! How she felt, the way she ate and I wanted that again.

I returned to the surgeon renewed. We have been working hard to find my "sweet" spot again and are very close. I do experience some restriction and am feeling much better about my band again! I just have a few bad habits that I have developed through my troubles that I need to break. The biggest of those is drinking while I eat. I was able to do that the first go round but I need to stop as I think it has gotten in my way. (By the way, that was VERY hard to confess and see in black and white!)

Thanks for reading. I hope my story does not make you doubt your decision. I have just had an interesting journey and know what it is like to both love and hate your band.

I hope to keep up on this thread as I have found it very motivating. Thanks to all who have posted.