I'm just curious about something.

I notice most people who have had about the same amount of weight to lose like myself(75 lbs) lose it in a year and I am thinking if I really stuck to another WW plan I probably could do the same thing in a years time.

Heck I lost 50 in 7 months with WW but because I am a compulsive overeater I stopped working the plan. I'm also thinking that maybe because I am a compulsive overeater this band won't make a difference if my emotional eating doesn't stop.

Problem is I don't ever last that long but I'm thinking I am about to go thru with this surgery and the results would be the same IF I would do what I was suppose to do on a plan.

Hope I am making sense. Any thoughts on this?

TIA

No- This is a off for good solution. You can go off the healthy eating but the band prevents you from gorging yourself. My weight is slow coming off but I know that If I make a bad choice- it is for that one meal and its not the entire 2#bag, or entire bag of chips or the entire pizza- that is now physically impossible!! Thanks to my band! It is a safety net that it wont come back. Losing the weight is NOT the entire problem, its sticking to it and not regaining!! We've all done it- this time I will be successful!!

The band only prevents you from gorging yourself on healthy stuff...like chicken and fish. You could eat cotton candy and wash it down with triple gooey lattes 'til the cows come home.

For me, the band was diet and exercise with a LITTLE help to keep me from overeating SOME foods. But you can pour a Wendy's chili and a shake where no salmon will dare to go!!

Thank so much for responding.

I had also asked previously if the band was for life once you sustain the weight loss?

ABSOLUTELY for life!!! Im not giving mine up!! Once the weight is off the habit isnt necessarily fixed. I want the back up!! Geezer Sue is correct- IF you choose to eat the crap on a daily basis then the band isnt going to help!!

A lot of people here didn't get the band to lose weight. Me personally - I can lose the weight without the band. I've done it before. Many times. My problem comes into sustaining the weightloss. I'm perpetually in a state of "lose" or "gain", without much room for "maintain". So for me the key to the band was about keeping the weight off.

because I am a compulsive overeater this band won't make a difference if my emotional eating doesn't stop.

If the program you use is worth the paper its letterhead is printed on, you will be required to see a psychologist before surgery, and follow-up appointments at the psychologist's discretion. Part of the reasoning for this is to identify your eating behaviors - emotional/behavioral - and identify ways to work around them.

The band does not fix your head.

But it will make a difference. When you feel physically stuffed after a few bites, and CAN'T eat the rest of the yumm'ems, it makes a hell of a difference.

If someone is determined to stay fat, they can exist on a diet of milkshakes, icecream, fudge, and sugar packets and stay fat.

When you're at good restriction, it's very difficult to overeat. Even if you push yourself to that point, the pain it will cause is a fantasticb-mod deterrent.

Personally, I have done WW before with great success. In fact, I would say I had great success on it at least seven different times in my life. I also had success with many other diets as well. The problem is, something would always happen which resulted in my going off the diet, gaining all the weight back that I had lost and usually gaining extra weight as well.

The great thing about my band is I do not diet. I make an effort to make healthier choices. But, I don't count calories, points, carbs or anything else. My band will allow me to make bad choices and junk. But, it will not allow me to eat very much of those bad choices. It is recommended that we lose 1-2 pounds per week with the band, and that is exactly what I am doing and I am very pleased with my results thus far.

As far as asking if the band is for life, for me the answer is a huge YES! Once I get to goal, why would I want to have it removed? If I did, chances are I would balloon right back up again. I don't want to do that. My band is my friend and I intend to keep it forever so it will keep me on track and healthy forever.

And yes, it is intended to be a permanent implant. If there are problems, it may have to come out. I've heard of some surgeons following a practice of removing fill once goal is achieved, under the belief that by then, the necessary behavioral changes should have taken place.

Mine is for life. I wouldn't have done it if it was going to be temporary. I can get the weight off, but I can't keep it off. This tool is my friend that is going to help me keep it off.

My band is my friend for life. She isn't going anywhere.

I'm just curious about something.

I notice most people who have had about the same amount of weight to lose like myself(75 lbs) lose it in a year and I am thinking if I really stuck to another WW plan I probably could do the same thing in a years time.

Heck I lost 50 in 7 months with WW but because I am a compulsive overeater I stopped working the plan. I'm also thinking that maybe because I am a compulsive overeater this band won't make a difference if my emotional eating doesn't stop.

Problem is I don't ever last that long but I'm thinking I am about to go thru with this surgery and the results would be the same IF I would do what I was suppose to do on a plan.

Hope I am making sense. Any thoughts on this?

TIA

I never really had problems losing weight, at least 30-50 pounds. Then I'd get bored and tired and go off my plan. Regain whatever I lost and more.

The results aren't the same. With a band in place, properly adjusted, you have less appetite. You still have to work on issues with emotional eating and all that, but you have a tool to help you with that.

hmm. if you are a compulsive overeater, you should probably get some help for that before you get the band. some people eat around the band and overeat(yes it is possible). overeating can lead to slips, dilated pouches, and other issues. i think, and of course this is my opinion only, you can't go into this thinking that the band is going to save you from yourself. it is a tool. you have to make the right food choices and obey the band rules. it won't stop your desire to overeat or eat the wrong things. you gotta deal with makes you a compulsive overeater. i used to be a really bad bulimic/anorexic, so i know first hand that you must deal with your issues. had i not dealt with mine, it would have been pointless to get the band. i would have slipped from vomitting or worse.

For me, the main thing I needed was appetite control. Yes, Weight Watchers is a great program, but I was always hungry on it. Sure, some days I could eat very bulky foods like beans and whole grain bread, and on those days I was not starving, but it's unrealistic to eat "perfect" foods all day every day. The band lets me eat everything and anything in small portions, and that's how I want to live. I don't want to live on beans and vegetables every day. My diet now consists of 75% healthy foods (beans, vegetables, fruits, nuts, lean meats, sugar free protein shakes) and 25% "normal" foods (pizza, pasta, hamburgers, chicken wings, sweets). It's very, very varied. I eat everything under the sun and am thrilled with the variety and choices I have. If I ate like this on Weight Watchers, I would be starving constantly. One small slice of pizza on Weight Watchers, pre-band, would have me starving an hour later. For me, the band is crucial to the appetite control I need to be succesful.

I'm like Sunta, I never deprive myself of any food, i eat whatever I want that I can physically eat, the difference with the band is whereas before I would maybe eat a few chocolate bars in addition to my very large unhealthy meal...now if I eat a chocolate bar I would have to miss my meal...but I only do this occasionally...

To me the band is my safety net and its here to stay...

I agree with the comments that the band is a safety net.

I'm going to mess up. I'm going to eat stuff that isn't good for me, that goes through the band too easily. But I don't do so nearly as often or with as much food as I did before banding, and it only derails me for at most a day. I wake up the next day and start fresh. Remembering how lousy I felt the day before for overdoing it.

I wouldn't do Weight Watchers again if you paid me. I am a yo yo dieter so with the band it has been great. I love not having to monitor my portion control or anything else. Its been a breeze to lose the 30 lbs I have so far. Good luck.

The band lets me eat everything and anything in small portions, and that's how I want to live. I don't want to live on Beans and vegetables every day.

Sunta, I agree with your entire post 100%!! Because I can and do have "regular" foods, I enjoy the healthier foods even more. I don't have to restrict myself to certain foods or food groups. I eat a lot of beans, and love them, but to be honest, I rarely ate them pre-band. On the other hand, I had Taco Bell this afternoon for lunch. Pre-band, I'd eat 2-3 items, and who knows how many calories. Today, I had about 1/3 of a chicken burrito, and felt very satisfied.

Tami