Banded 01/21/2005 . I have gained 20 pounds after losing over 100 pounds . I am still hooked on sugar. At my last appointment at the doctor he wanted to remove some fill , I declined . Also he told me that since I have problems with the skin on raw vegetable my band was too tight . Yea right ! How could this be when I can eat a few deepfried breaded shrimp without a problem ? I must say since my last fill I have not lost a pound . I must also add that all my weight loss was without effort!

This is when weight loss becomes more difficult. My first 50 lb were a breeze now I am faced with 30-50 more and I'm terrified it will be difficult. Just try and think why you did this in the first place. Maybe you could address your sugar addiction through some therapy if you can't give it up. Are you sure you are tight enough? Julie

You are very lucky if you lost 100lbs without any effort. How many of us even with the band have that testimony? Believe me, not many if any.

It just appears that now you are going to have to start trying to lose the rest through diet & exercise. It's not a bad thing, I started out not having to do a lot but when I got down to a point, I really had to put effort with my band and that was OK. I didn't get this far to just give up.

Maintenance has been hard, I have had to go back to the band rules several times. You just need to re-evaluate your way of thinking and determine that this is important to you. Start slow, only eat 1 breaded shrimps instead of a few. Eat only a couple of teaspoons of your favorite carbs and try to give up sweets if this is one of your areas of weakness.

Just remember we can have these things on ocassions, just not all the time. You've done an excellent job & you should be commended. Best wishes.