The Lap Band didn't work for me... How many times do we hear this? The fact is the Lap Band DOESN't "work" for anybody... YOU work for YOU... Getting banded and just expecting to drop all of your excess fat is like buying a lawn mower; parking it in the driveway; pulling up a lawn chair; and then complaining that the grass is tall...

Fact is if you aren't getting the desired result then have the equipment fine tuned and try a different strategy. If the equipment is functional then you are the key to achieving success...

Brad

I love my band because it helps me to work on my goals. I did a years worth of research before getting banded. Now, 18 months post surgery I'm completely happy with my choice. I work hard and the results show. I have two friends that were banded around the same time as me. Neither of them exercises. Both lost some weight but neither has had the dramatic results I have. The band is a tool to help us become healthy. We still have to do the work. We have to eat right and exercise.

Just to play devil's advocate (please don't flame me) but the band really does make this all possible--for me.

I'm not good at following diets, I'm rebellious, can't have a scale around or it sends me into a crazy binge state, i get obsessive, etc.... Honestly, if I could have done all this by dieting without having surgery I would have!!! So I don't quite understand all of you who are losing weight by sheer force of will and working so hard... I wish I were like you!!!

I guess I'm just thankful that the band is helping me lose weight without having to work that hard. I show up for fills and eat healthy 50-60% of the time, and I did the pre-op diet without cheating, but that's about it. I'm sure as I get closer to goal I'll have to try harder, but so far this is kinda like a dream for me...

And boy do we do the workkkkkkk.......

When everyone says it is hard work, I would like to know exactly what is so hard about this WLS......don't get me wrong, there is a phase that was very difficult for me, but after that it has been all as easy as can be!!!!

So, I hear it all the time how much hard work this takes...tell me, and others...what do you find so hard???

Like I said, there is an aspect that is difficult....but it is not the entire journey!!

Green Zone:

No Hunger, No Cravings, Head Hunger a thing of the past.......24 hrs a day.....Check!

Portion sizes under control, unable to over eat without adverse side effects...Check!

Steady and consistent weight loss till there was no weight left to loose...Check!

NO Counting Calories, NO weighing or measuring potions....Check!

Does not matter if I am at work, a party, large holiday dinner, vacation, whatever...it is always the same, the band does not change because of where I'm at or what food is available...... so there are no boobie traps or "Falling off the wagon" episodes.....

It can't get any easier than That!!! Can it?

Don't sell the band short!!!

There was a difficult period, but I wonder what everyone else is finding so difficult....then I will share what I found difficult...but I was able to work through it.....

Very well put... I was self-pay. I couldn't afford to Let this new $16,000 "tool" fail without working with it.

Tom, Toronto

Banded July 6 06

Wt. Loss: 160 lbs

The working hard part I think is that there has to be a lifestyle change for most. If you plan on just having a surgery and then coasting - 90% will fail to achieve the desired result. Of course there will always be anomalies but for most the ultimate goal requires sufficient exercise and attention to detail. It requires learning and learning and learning with bouts of trial and error.

Far too many IMO expect a miracle, give a mediocre effort and then complain they stopped losing and the band just isn't working.

Brad

When everyone says it is hard work, I would like to know exactly what is so hard about this WLS......don't get me wrong, there is a phase that was very difficult for me, but after that it has been all as easy as can be!!!!

So, I hear it all the time how much hard work this takes...tell me, and others...what do you find so hard???

Like I said, there is an aspect that is difficult....but it is not the entire journey!!

Green Zone:

No Hunger, No Cravings, Head Hunger a thing of the past.......24 hrs a day.....Check!

Portion sizes under control, unable to over eat without adverse side effects...Check!

Steady and consistent weight loss till there was no weight left to loose...Check!

NO Counting Calories, NO weighing or measuring potions....Check!

Does not matter if I am at work, a party, large holiday dinner, vacation, whatever...it is always the same, the band does not change because of where I'm at or what food is available...... so there are no boobie traps or "Falling off the wagon" episodes.....

It can't get any easier than That!!! Can it?

Don't sell the band short!!!

There was a difficult period, but I wonder what everyone else is finding so difficult....then I will share what I found difficult...but I was able to work through it.....

I think you are the exception. So far I've been very successful with the band, but it does nothing to quell head hunger. Many of us have gotten to this point for reasons other than actual physical hunger. The band doesn't cure the emotional urge to eat. THAT is the hard part.

I commend you for having worked through all of the difficulties with the compulsion to eat. I also commend you for not finding it necessary to track your food (I've read in several of your other posts). But again, for the most part, I think you are the exception, not the rule.

I believe that as much as we seem to have "it" licked, our addictive behavior is always there, waiting to take over in any weakened moment. I'm really happy for you, that you've got all aspects of this under complete control. By the same token, I don't believe any of us are actually cured; band or no band. It takes continual attention; sometimes more than other other times.

I think I've been at a place where I can agree with every single post on this thread. When I first started, I was in the same place as B-52. It was super easy!!! I really didn't work at it at all! Sure, I followed the rules and as I lost weight I became more active, which in turn made me lose more weight. But I didn't struggle.

THAT's when I became complacent. I decided my lifelong weight loss battle was over and I had won. I ate whatever I wanted and still didn't gain weight - at first. Slowly, old habits crept back in. I learned how to eat even more of whatever I wanted.

I woke up one day (5 years later) to find that I had regained 60 pounds. Imagine that! 60 pounds overnight. It wasn't there one day and it was there the next day. Turns out, this lifelong battle is far from over!

Bad news - I'm the only one responsible for what I weigh.

Good news - I'm the only one responsible for what I weigh.

If I'm not responsible for it, I'm not in control of it. Plug in anything you want for the word "it" in that sentence. My weight, my happiness, my health, my behavior, my anything!

So now - although I'm 7 years into this journey and have maintained a 100 lb weight loss (at least I didn't undo all of my progress!) - I feel like I'm back at square one with the lifestyle. I'm learning to work the band instead of letting the band do all the work. I log everything I eat. I'm working out. I'm getting and giving support.

I have always been in love with my band because I really thought it was the magic answer for all my life's problems (because - of course - every single problem and every single thing that made me slightly unhappy or uncomfortable was all because I was fat, right???). Now I'm in love with my band because it's not a magic answer. It doesn't work for me. It doesn't "make" me lose weight. What it does do is force me to take responsibility for my own life. And when I do that, I have more control, more confidence, and more satisfaction that I could ever have imagined.

Shelly

THAT's when I became complacent. I decided my lifelong weight loss battle was over and I had won. I ate whatever I wanted and still didn't gain weight - at first. Slowly, old habits crept back in. I learned how to eat even more of whatever I wanted.

EXACTLY what I'm saying.... We are never cured of this curse. When I hear people say that they'll never be fat again, I wish them well & hope (for their sake) that they never have to revisit their demon. But that attitude scares me, because how many of us THOUGHT we had it licked at one time or another, only to have the weight creep back on? May take 3-4-5.... years, but the propensity is always there. The "it's so easy, what's your problem" attitude, certainly raises an eyebrow. My wish for everyone (including myself) is continued success, but it takes a concerted effort (more at times than other times). As you said, when you became complacent, little by little......back it comes.

@B-52.....I PRAY to god I can be in your shoes some day.

But IT is very hard as 9 months out and still no help from my band. I wasnt expecting it to take this long so it is a damn hard stick to diet. I am doing well but not having much results yet for losses but am hopeful if I ever get to this green zone everyone talks about...it will be easier than it is now and that is what I hope for.

MY fingers are crossed to be like you and others like you very soon

I'm like B-52 in that when I'm in my green zone I have no hunger, no cravings, nothing.