I've been reading lots of posts here and elsewhere from people who say they've "hit a wall" and "need to get back on the program," and who sound frustrated and angry at themselves.

I say to those people: stop beating yourself up!! Active weight-loss mode is not a normal state of being for the human body, and I think your body is telling you something when this happens. It's saying "slow down, take a break, let me recover." Of course I may feel differently about this when it happens to me , but part of getting banded for me is that I hope to be able to counteract negative feelings by realizing that I've got a new plan of attack this time.

The cool thing about the band is that it will still BE there to help me when I decide a plateau has gone on long enough and that my body is ready to start losing again. That's what gets me so excited about this thing--it's not going to desert me completely (like will power does)! If losing my extra 140 lbs takes three years, that will be 38 years less time than it took to come on. Losing that much weight must be done slowly, as far as I'm concerned, to preserve my health and sanity. And that's just FINE with me! :D

I hear you Alexandra. I am in a plateaul and while it is frustrating I'm definitely not panicking. I know that I am not eating anywhere near the way I used to. I also remember when I was on optifast and eating liquid protein at a rate of 750 calories per day. I still hit a plateau. Like you said the body sometimes needs to rest and recover.