Hi.

For those of you who have reached your goal weight, congratulations!

For those of you still on you journey, I know you'll get there.

I'm considering Lap Band surgery and would like to know how much "credit" do you give the Lap Band for achieving your goal and how much "credit" do you give to motivation, dietary changes and lifestyle changes.

Thank you so much!

Joe

Most of it was me! It is easy, once you get used to it, to eat around any surgery. Soft foods like ice cream, high calorie drinks, sauces, chocolate, chips all slide down very easily.

Some people choose to keep the band tight enough to physically stop them eating. I followed my own doctor's advice never to do so. So all my band does is help me feel less hungry. That is an enormous help! It helps me not think about food between meals. But I am the one who decides which foods, how much and how often.

For me, still being in the early stages (I'm about 7 mo out, but I still feel like it's early since I only found my green zone about a month and half ago), I find that it's all thanks to the band. Before the band I was on a path of gaining weight year after year, even though I was desperately fighting a losing battle to lose weight.

Having the band is still a lot of work. It's work to change years (even decades) of eating habits for the new banded lifestyle. It's work to eat healthy foods (finding them, buying them, preparing them, eating them). But it's work that would be in vain without the band.

I would have to say 70% is the band and the rest is me. Doesn't mean I have only a little to do with it..I just mean that with the feeling of satiety that the band provides, it's so much easier to stay on track and make good choices. I tried to lose weight for a year prior to deciding to be banded and I struggled that whole year keeping to small portions and better choices and only managed to lose 25 lbs.

I lost 100 lbs. the first year I was banded. And that was because I was able to stick with a food plan of around 1,000 calories a day. It's not a magic wand though. On the days where you are battling head hunger, it's a good reminder of why it's so hard to lose weight without surgical intervention.

Yeah, 70/30 for me too. 70% is the band. I can't tell you why I couldn't eat healthier before the band but somehow the band b-slapped me into reality. I got it. I live it most of the time. But it's a hard lesson and some patients never get it and some get it initially but fall of the bandwagon as time goes by. It really is hard to unlearn many years of gluttony.

tmf

For me it's 50 50

Well, I'll put it this way. Before being banded I went on Weight Watchers for 1 solid year. I found it to be a perfect program for me to follow. I lost a whopping 12 lbs in that year and fought for every pound. Granted , I didn't exercise as much as I should of ( 4 kids at home, no time or money for ME), but 12 pounds ??? 7 months after being banded I had lost 50 lbs, and yes had time and money for me ( a YMCA membership) to include exercise 4-5 times a week. The band dimmed my appetite a huge amount, so by the time I had protien and veggies/fruit I wasn't as hungry for much junk food. There is NO way I could of done this without the band. It's been a win win from day 1.

I would say 60 band/40 me because if I choose to eat unhealthy the band allows it. Not the same quantity as before surgery. It is a mind thing some days are better than others. I'm dealing with head hunger. Not hungry at all but my mind says I need to munch. The doctor operated on my stomach not my mind. I'm glad I have my tool in place it has saved my life.