I was watching Oprah this afternoon and I could not believe all the wonderful non surgeical success stories. What caught my eye were two people (a woman who lost over 500lbs-she started out at 720lbs and a man who was well over 400lbs and is now normal size) who were able to deal with their "food" demons and overcame them enough to start eating right and moving enough to lose the weight.

As inspiring as the stories were, I was a bit sad because I wondered what was wrong with me and why I opted to have surgery when there are people out there who are able to do this the "normal" and hardest and disciplined way.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Its great if they can lose weight and keep it off without a surgical assistance. It seems to me that there's a lot of envy in this thread about it though...Some people CAN and DO lose weight and keep it off without a band or a bypass. Examining their lives in 3 years may very well show the same results as what they have now. There are people who DO have surgical assistance that are bigger 3 years after getting it than when they first got it as well. I think that if it works for them, that's great. Hell, it worked for me until I was basically bedridden and force-fed steroids that made me gain 100 lbs in a year

<p><p><p>&lt;p&gt;As for 'starvation mode' - does it exist? YES - for those like Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. Your body may conserve energy, but you will not go into starvation mode if your body is not starving. Not a darn one of us here has an issue with our bodies starving &lt;img src=&quot;http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/happy.gif&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; smilieid=&quot;60&quot; class=&quot;inlineimg&quot; /&gt; No one with extra weight has an issue with their bodies starving....Overweight people will never starve. They may feel hungry, but no, your body has plenty of fuel to burn. However, a bag of antlers like Nicole Richie was before she was pregnant (she actually looks healthy right now) will slow down. It will conserve - its self survival. But no, your body doesn't think &amp;quot;Hmm...those size 18 pants are getting a little baggy and I haven't had a snickers in 2 weeks. That's it, I'm on strike - everything I get put in me gets thrown directly on the hips! Broccoli, tofu, all of it!&amp;quot; &lt;img src=&quot;http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/happy.gif&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; smilieid=&quot;60&quot; class=&quot;inlineimg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</p> <p>Also, a typical day of food for me when I was in training was about 850-900 calories accompanied by about 600 calorie burn in exercise on top of my BMR - I did that for a long time and never felt better in my life.</p></p></p>

I'm happy for anyone who is successful at weight loss. I don't care how they did it. The increase in self esteem and self confidence is a wonderful feeling-not to mention the health benefits! As far as keeping it off, I just keep my fingers x'd for them and hope for the best.

Like many others here, I've been a successful loser, and did a great job at regaining. (I have bipolar disorder, and went into a major depression.....I wonder a lot if I would have regained all that weight were it not for that damned 8 months of mental hell.)

There is a great book called "Thin for Life" by Anne Fletcher. She interviewed 20 people who had lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for at least 5 years. She wanted to determine what the critical success factors were. It's out of print now, but you can get used copies off of Amazon.

I like to think that if there is such a thing as starvation mode, then wouldn't an aneroxic be overweight? :-)

For over 25 years, I thought if I just tried harder, I could lose the weight and keep it off, instead I piled on more pounds.

I applaud anyone that can lose weight and keep it off and think it's difficult no matter which route you take to get there.

Good for them, good for us. Different path, all ending at the same place.

The reason I went with surgery is that I did not want to be like my parents. I have seen and heard them struggle with their weight for 30 years. For 30 years I have seen Diet Caffeine free coke in the refrigerator and the weight watchers books laying around the house. I am 35 and I am tired of talking about the diets that didn't work. My long time doctor told me he would not write a letter recommending the surgery because I was 8 pounds below BMI requirements. I realized then that I could get the lapband surgery now or a heart bypass surgery later so I made my choice. I am controlling my own destiny and letting my kids grow up without all the tears and struggles.

I know I could do it.Have lost a lot several times but it comes back with many more . I too want to see them in 5 years.

Most people with significant amounts of weight to lose, who lose it "naturally," will not maintain the loss. Sure, maybe if you see them in 4 months it's still off, but see them in a year. 5. 10.

I think the people who have been successful at it were successful to the degree that whatever they received from eating, food, or weight was replaced by something else.

I say good for them. I wish I could have done it, but I was never able to maintain the loss. The closest I came to doing it had me at a borderline eating disorder (eating disorders are VERY common for people who lost significant amounts of weight on their own).

I am happy for anyone who loses weight using any healthy method. That said, I know the real life statistics. Most morbidly obese people will not lose significant weight on their own, and those who do are likely to gain it back.

I know this from the statistics and from personal experience. I successfully "dieted down" on Weight Watchers twice and Jenny Craig once. But never, until the band, was I able to get within the normal weight range for a woman my height. Also, until the band I was never able to maintain a weight loss for more than about 6 months.

I've dieted successfully three times, once low calorie, once with Redux, and once low carb. The first time I kept it off through a pregnancy, but it eventually after 3 years came back with an additional 10 lb. The second time I gained it back within 6 months. The third time I kept it off 2 years, then slowly started gaining back. I was banded in October, so who knows how long this will last. But I know that my relationship with eating and with food has changed drastically with the band, and I feel more confident than I ever have in the past that this time the weight is gone for good. Check with me in 4 years!

The reason I went with surgery is that I did not want to be like my parents. I have seen and heard them struggle with their weight for 30 years. For 30 years I have seen Diet Caffeine free coke in the refrigerator and the weight watchers books laying around the house. I am 35 and I am tired of talking about the diets that didn't work. My long time doctor told me he would not write a letter recommending the surgery because I was 8 pounds below BMI requirements. I realized then that I could get the lapband surgery now or a heart bypass surgery later so I made my choice. I am controlling my own destiny and letting my kids grow up without all the tears and struggles.

Your post really hit home with me. I, too, watched my mom go through years of yo-yo dieting, only to pass away at the age of 40. WW, TOPS, you name it, it was a staple in her household. She had lost about 30 lbs to get down to 150 back when I was about 8 years old, but then regained it and was always trying to get the weight back off of her. I have always wondered if the yo-yo dieting contributed to her dying of pancreatic cancer.

Personally, I know if I could afford the personal trainer 5 days a week, and the zone diet where the meals are prepared, are portion controlled and delivered daily, including Snacks, I would be able to get down in weight.

But since I am not in that financial position, and never will be, this was the way to go to for me.

What really annoys me is the Nutrisystem commercials where they lose 30 pounds. Why eat that crummy food to lose 30 pounds?

The Jenny Craig commercials with Kirstie Allen and now with Queen Latifah show women that had/have to lose large amounts of weight. Again that is another expensive weight loss program, but I respect women of size trying to lose weight and keep it off.