:girl_hug: I 'm not banded yet and have many questions. Some people who have had gastric bypass do not change their eating. They strech out their pouch, and regain their weight. Is this possible with a lap band? I know that if it is removed there is danger of weight gain, but is it possible to gain weight with a band?

it is possible with the band to gain weight, but i think the safe guards (vomiting if you eat to much) will help prevent that. However you can totally eat around your band. Junk food tends to go right through your band stuff that melts easy (chocolate, ice cream, etc) can be eatin in fairly high doses, which may cause you to not lose weight.

It is possible to gain weight even with the band. You will need to be diligent about getting fills when you know you need them in order to keep proper restriction and limit the amount of food you can eat.

Also, there are many high calorie foods that have no problem slipping right through a properly restricted band. chocolate, ice cream, alcohol - basically anything that is a liquid and is high in sugars and/or fats. So it does require some dedication on your part to avoid these types of foods.

I believe that with the band it would be far too uncomfortable to stuff yourself until your pouch was "stretched". I haven't experienced this but I've read that overeating can result in a Productive Burp (PB) which is the food coming back up when it wont go through the band or there is too much in the small pouch.

Also, if for any reason you need to have a fill removed and you are left with no restriction while a medical problem is resolved, it is likely that you would experience more hunger and require more volume of food to keep you saited. However, if you are making good healthy food choices this would not be detrimental to your progress.

So, yes it is very possible to gain weight with the band. It is only a tool that has to be used properly in order to work at its maximum effectiveness. The good news is, this tool empowers those who do use it correctly to stay the course and keep going forward where in the past they would have stopped progressing and gained it all back.

I just thought of something else....

If your band is ever removed due to slippage or erosion, it will require your own will power (or won't power, as our favorite LBT Pirate says) to keep from gaining it all back. There are a few people here who have lost their bands. Some are gaining quickly, while others are maintaining their loss.

Also, stats show that bypass patients will lose faster but within 3 years the band patients and bypass patients have reached the same average weight loss. However, I have read about bypass patients regaining the weight after that three year mark while those who still have healthy bands do not regain. Seriously, there are very few long term stats out there yet. So its hard to say which one will be most successful. The only thing I know is - if they both prove to have only short term success, I'll be thankful I chose to have the one that can be easily reversed! :girl_hug:

What I was told by the nutrionist is this.....YOu can fill the pouch a ton of times during the day. This is NOT good. 3 small meals with limited snacks is best. Protein is best at snack time. Filling the pouch 10 times a day, which can be done is not a good thing.