My parents are trying to talk me out of Lapband. They said it will "ruin my entire life". It will change my life but I want to be reasonable and not so head-strong for Lapband that I will not even consider anything else.

Lapband is great. If you have faith in your surgeon and follow the instructions you will lose. Good luck to you.

I am going through the same thing with my parents, only they are split on their support. My dad thinks it is a great idea and my mom thinks it is a horrible idea. I think my mom is against it because she is also overweight and doesn't want to see me weigh less than her. I look at this something that I have to do for my health. I have high blood pressure and it runs in my family. I do not want to die before my time.

The lapband is great. I am eating healthier and I can wear a size 10 pant now. I think everyone should get banded.

I am 37 and just went to an informational seminar last week. I took my Mom with me. =) I did it because, while I didn't NEED her approval, I knew that she was very nervous about the whole process and would feel better once she heard all the things I'd been spouting from the actual surgeon. It helped. She liked the surgeon and his talk put her mind at ease.

If you are really close to your parents, educate them. Print things out from online. Don't make it one sided, either. Throw in some of the "good, bad AND uglies" like someone else said. Then they will know you understand the pros and cons and still want to go ahead with it. Give them info on gastric bypass too, so they will know you have chosen a safer route.

And most importantly, when you are banded, when you have bad days (which it seems everyone does sometimes), come here and vent about it. Don't tell your parents or you'll hear " I told you so!" =)