I received my pre-op appointments today and after one year of preparing for this and I am terrified. I think I am terrified because I do not want to fail again. I read all of the threads about bandsters still fighting like mad to lose weight and even gaining weight after banding and it scares me. Some bandsters are even eating as much as they used to before the band--how is that possible??? I started this process at 234 lbs. and I am 205 lbs. now and I would be very satisfied at 160. Will I have a harder time losing because I don't have a lot of weight to lose?

I guess my main question is------How does trying to lose weight with the lap band differ from trying to lose weight without it?

Thanks for all your input. It really helps me.

When you don't have as much to lose the weight typically comes off really slow. 1-2 lbs a week average is quite normal. You asked how people can still consume a lot? That is because the bands are not filled to the right restriction level first. It takes about 6 weeks to begin to get fills. Yes, I too didn't think the band would work. I lost about 40 lbs on my own before being banded. My doctor says that I am a success because I lost 65% of my excess weight. 60% is the norm. So don't get discouraged if it takes some time. Good luck.

The biggest difference I found in losing with the band vs. without it, is the lack of hunger involved, and the control I feel.

When you get to a proper fill level, where you can eat healthy food, including hard Proteins, then it controls the amount you eat--and it is simple!

If you do not have proper restriction, it makes the band difficult.

Too tight, and you cannot eat many foods, and most of them being the ones good for you! So you eat mushie things, and unhealthy things, which prevents weight loss.

Too loose, and you simply can eat too much food as before, the band does not restrict it from filling your lower portion of stomach same as before banding.

If you have a good restriction level, and can eat accordingly---you feel full VERY quickly!

The nerves that send the signal of fullness are at the top of the stomach--so with the band properly filled, it holds food in the pouch for long enough to signal fullness, and slowly allows it to process through as normal. Too tight, it takes too long, and food becomes stuck. Too loose, and it flows through, and you do not feel full.

It takes some people several fills to get to that point, and others--myself for instance it only took 2 fills.

While dieting it still easier with the band on the way up to restriction it is not doing its full job until that level is acheived.

When it is a good level, hunger is not something you feel much anymore. I cannot remember the last time my stomach was actually hungry, as far as growling, and grumbling hunger--well over a year and a half ago! Now head hunger, when I crave something still happens! Not nearly as frequently, the healthier I eat, the less often it happens!!!

I chose not to diet per se. I do not avoid any foods, I rely on my limited amounts to drop the weight. It is just much easier to make a wise food choice when you are not starving as you make the choice. When you can go into a restaurant and sit down and not be starving, you can logically look at the menu and make a choice. When you walk in to your home after a long day of work, you have no issue of taking a minute to roll up a piece of lunchmeat and cheese say instead of quickly grabbing a bag of chips or a box of Cookies.

You may go slower than a high BMI patient, I notice the lower I get, the slower it goes. Not sure if that is from personal slacking or whether it is due to the fact I have to do more to help it come off! The less you weigh the less you need to survive! But it will come off, if you work with your band!

The band gives me CONTROL! I did not have it without it.

Good Luck~~~And welcome to LBT!!

Kat

Thanks Julie & Kat---I love having the additional info.

Hi CTerry,

I understand how you feel. I researched the band and wavered back and forth for just over two years before finally deciding to go for it. It's a major decision. I think it's normal to be apprehensive -- I definitely am!

I also know that it's the right thing for me to do and that it can work for me in a way that all of the diets did not. Yes, there are people who don't get the right amount of restriction and it takes several fills to get there. But I didn't get to be this weight quickly, so I don't think it's realistic for me to expect that it will just disappear overnight. There are also people who "get around" the band by eating high-calorie foods that go through quickly. There are people who don't take the time to understand how the band works and don't follow their doctor's instructions. I love reading these boards and I've gotten a lot out of them, but ultimately it's up to me to make the band work once I'm banded. I know that I have problems with "head hunger" and emotional eating, which is why I am beginning counseling to work on this.

I think the weight probably will come off of you slower because you are lower BMI but that doesn't mean that you can't lose it. You just have to work at it. But we all have to work at it. With the right restriction, you will get fuller, faster. That is the key for me -- I never seem to get full. But if I physically can't eat another bite without feeling/getting ill, then I will be forced to pay closer attention to the quantity and quality of what I am eating. I am resolved to make this work. And I know that you can do it too.

Good luck and it's nice to meet you!

I received my pre-op appointments today and after one year of preparing for this and I am terrified. I think I am terrified because I do not want to fail again. I read all of the threads about bandsters still fighting like mad to lose weight and even gaining weight after banding and it scares me. Some bandsters are even eating as much as they used to before the band--how is that possible??? I started this process at 234 lbs. and I am 205 lbs. now and I would be very satisfied at 160. Will I have a harder time losing because I don't have a lot of weight to lose?

I guess my main question is------How does trying to lose weight with the lap band differ from trying to lose weight without it?

Thanks for all your input. It really helps me.