Okay, I'm gonna say it: I am seriously regretting getting the lap band and now I'm thinking I should have opted for gastric bypass instead.

The story: I had surgery on March 26th and have lost a whopping 25 pounds since then. The first 20 pounds came off during the liquid/mush phase during the first five weeks, so that means I've only lost a total of FIVE POUNDS in almost 2 months???

I am so disappointed and discouraged at this point. I've been doing cardio and weight training FIVE TIMES A WEEK....AND I had my first fill of 1.5 cc's on May 16. My hunger level is still much higher than I expected and I am no where nearly as restricted as I would like to be.

Anyone else struggling with this?

WASabubblebutt, Thank-you for your words of wisdom. They are in line with my friends suggestion that I go back on atkins for a while to get things kick started again. As I am sure you are aware, on Atkins there is not quantity restrictions only carb restriction (and of course NO SUGAR)

I have to go grocery shopping today anyways and think I will pick up some stuff to help me get back on atkins. I lost almost 70lbs last time I went on it - and have actually managed to to keep 40 of those off. Maybe the combination of Atkins/band will do the trick.

WASabubblebutt, Thank-you for your words of wisdom. They are in line with my friends suggestion that I go back on atkins for a while to get things kick started again. As I am sure you are aware, on Atkins there is not quantity restrictions only carb restriction (and of course NO SUGAR)

I have to go grocery shopping today anyways and think I will pick up some stuff to help me get back on atkins. I lost almost 70lbs last time I went on it - and have actually managed to to keep 40 of those off. Maybe the combination of Atkins/band will do the trick.

Keep in mind, once you break the cycle you don't have to do NO carbs, just good carbs. And when you do eat carbs go run them off within an hour or two of consuming them. Veggie carbs are great. It's the bread, Pasta, sugar that most of us have a problem with. But if you run them off right away you'll continue losing weight.

I really cant tell you more than anyone else has, I just wanted to reiterate that you cannot say at this stage the band is failing you.

You say youre hungry all the time, well that means you dont really ahve restriction...for the band to work optimally you need optimal restriction.

10fills and 6 mths it took for me to start really losing weight with my band.

I know it is hard to see now, but it will happen.

<p><p>I absolutely second that!!! I use the FitDay software (opted for the whole 9 yards) and it's funny, because I am now addicted to my FitDay charts!!! I RUSH home from work to fill it out for the day. I mark down the good, bad and ugly faithfully. I weigh everyday and put it down, bad or good. I can graph to the "nth" degree exactly where I sit!</p></p>

This thread was SO encouraging to me! I totally related to the original post. I was wishing I had just opted for bypass. Then reading this helped me realize that I haven't even really given this a chance and I was looking for a quick fix AND I wasn't doing MY part! No real point to posting this other than to say I really appreciated this thread and the advice given. I'm going to take some of that advice and apply it!

I remember being so hungry in the first couple of months that I was ready to eat the next thing that walked by me! Please give it time, I'm almost 7 months post op and very seldom do I ever get hungry. Problem now is that I catch myself eating when there's no hunger?!?! It's all a learning experience that you'll get through with patience. Good luck!!