Is there anyone else out there that has second thoughts on having done this procedure? Please share with me your success and if it has been long term.......I am starting to wonder why my doctor continues to tell me to eat the right foods???? If I was able to do this perhaps I wouldn't have been fat all my life!!! The advertising on the lapband is that it will stop your hunger therefore you will eat less. The only way I was able to lose weight on this is because I had lots of restriction and would puke. Any other people with the same issues?

The band really does require that you moderate your lifestyle for it to work. Some people simply cant manage to do this, and probably are just not good candidates for a lapband.

I've had great success with mine, but yes, it has taken work, willpower and dedication to exercise - all habits which after almost 3 years are pleasurable to me now because they make me feel good. So the willpower element has dropped away, I just dont want to eat like I used to.

The band is just one tool. No magic wand. And yes, you are not the only one who has had this problem, so don't feel alone.

I recommend going in for counseling to figure out why you continue to sabotage yourself by choosing junk food instead of healthy foods. Truly, if you have good restriction, you should be able to choose mostly healthy foods and feel satisfied on them. If not, then something else is going on -- eating for emotional reasons and not physical hunger is the most likely. Which means you will need someone to help you work through those issues. The band is around your stomach and can only help with the physical side of things -- the emotional stuff is going to need another approach.

The band is not a hoax -- a whole lot of people have successfully lost weight and kept it off with the band, who were unable to do so before. I can feel the frustration and pain in your post -- I hope you find a solution.

I guess I should explain that I have had the band for 2 1/2 years and lost a bit of weight (30 pounds) and then gained 1/2 of it back recently because I fell back into my old habits as I have done my entire life. I guess I was expecting a miracle. If I had known I had to put this much work into it I maybe should have gone to weight watchers? I think that most of us are emotional eaters and have had issues with weight all our lives? I have tried everything else with no success. Maybe my money would have been better spent on the sleeve procedure? I still don't believe what the advertising states and in my opinion believe it is somewhat deceiving to the public. Like I said, If I could change the way I eat and what I eat and portion size what would I need the band for? Thanks to everyone for their input that may help me and others.

I understand your situation. If I eat mashed potatoes, ice cream and candy- they go right down my band with no problem. If I eat chicken and other good foods that have some bulk to them, the band works as it should.

I can eat a whole order of Qodoba's queso dip and chips with no problem but give me chicken with BBQ sauce and I can eat 1/2 cup.

I wasn't losing weight and realized I was sabtoaging myself. So I went back to the basics and just give myself a FEW chips and I am exercising regularly. And I'm losing weight again.

I also joined weight Watchers and weighing in every week REALLY helps! I didn't tell them anything about the band cause I feel like I am working pretty hard at this.

So try laying off the easy foods and use the band as it is supposed to be used.

If I had known I had to put this much work into it I maybe should have gone to weight watchers?

Most of us tried WW multiple times and failed at it before banding, so that probably wouldn't have worked either. There's no reason why you can't try it now though -- plenty of banded people are doing WW, South Beach or other diets along with their band.

I guess it depends on the doc you went to -- it sounds like he/she did not do a good job of explaining the band and the work involved. Mine did, and I knew up front that I'd have to do a lot of work to get and keep the weight off.

Sorry you feel bamboozled. Is it an option for you to have RNY or the sleeve? Even those can be "eaten around" with liquid calories though. You will still have to make good food choices no matter what WLS procedure you have. :wink_smile:

I know too that the foods that I instinctively think "nah, dont want that" are the foods that fill me the most (and therefore take time and CARE to eat). The foods I think I dont want are precisely what I should be eating.

Whenever I have a choice, I try to take the one I dont feel so much like. Because I can guarantee if a food really appeals to me, its because its a slider food that I can eat easily - and lots of HEALTHY foods fit into this category - like yogurt, cheese and crackers, etc.

When I do this, it makes a remarkable difference to my hunger levels.

I agree with what everyone is telling me and do appreicate it. Does anyone feel as if this approach i.e., eating right, counseling, portion control would work to lose weight if the band wasn't there to begin with? Or does the band actually help with portion control or we tend to do what the doctors tell us because we spent the money on the band and it is most peoples last chance to succeed with weight loss?

The band definitely helps with portion control.

And I always knew what I should be doing, the trouble is motivation waxes and wanes. With the band, you cant go too far off track, a really "bad" day (which we all have) might be 1800 calories, not 4000. You can always pick up where you left off again.

Does anyone feel as if this approach i.e., eating right, counseling, portion control would work to lose weight if the band wasn't there to begin with?

No, I don't think it works. At least for me, I can lose weight that way but I can't keep it off. I can't keep it off because of extreme hunger and never feeling full no matter how much I eat.

The band is supposed to help with hunger as well as portion control and that's why I want one. I've dieted for over 30 years and was never able to keep the lost weight off even one time. I'm not doing it again.

I have been banded since 01/08 and have lost ten lbs only to find them again.....I feel totally deceived. you are right, when I lost 5 lbs in a week it was because it was too tight and I couldnt eat a thing and puked several times.........yuck, that is sooo gross and unpleasant, no way to live your life, I had him take some out and I try and I mean try to use portion control and I also exercise regularly, but still dont knwo if i have lost any weigth, I wont weigh myself unlessI go to the lap band doc, it is way too depressing! I feel bamboozled! I am hungry every 3-4 hours and eat quite often, I try to fill myself with fruit, btu I am hugnry and I cant sleep if I am hungry.......wish I had done the bypassl...oh well, such is olife, what can I do now? live with it and do my best, every single moment is a challenge.....I am consumed with it, I am obviously feeding something else and need to take a different approacvh, i will attend OA this week,,,,I simply can t take it anymore:sad:

I'm having a @!%# of a time with lap band. Right now I wouldn't recommend it to my worse enemy.

I am such a positive person that it is hard for me to handle these feelings. I tend to find the bright side of everything.

To admit that this has failed me... brings up a plethora of feelings. I wake up and blame myself, but decide that 'today is the day' I will not fail. I decide to do all the perfect things ... I do all the right things, and maybe go off a bit, then whatever that means... but if I could DIET, then I wouldn't have done the lap band to begin with.

I am feeling hopeless and this is so not like me.

Because I can guarantee if a food really appeals to me, its because its a slider food that I can eat easily - and lots of HEALTHY foods fit into this category - like yogurt, cheese and crackers, etc.

When I do this, it makes a remarkable difference to my hunger levels.

What's a slider food?

Edited May 19, 200818 yr by atallen06

The band is just one tool. No magic wand. And yes, you are not the only one who has had this problem, so don't feel alone.

I recommend going in for counseling to figure out why you continue to sabotage yourself by choosing junk food instead of healthy foods. Truly, if you have good restriction, you should be able to choose mostly healthy foods and feel satisfied on them. If not, then something else is going on -- eating for emotional reasons and not physical hunger is the most likely. Which means you will need someone to help you work through those issues. The band is around your stomach and can only help with the physical side of things -- the emotional stuff is going to need another approach.

The band is not a hoax -- a whole lot of people have successfully lost weight and kept it off with the band, who were unable to do so before. I can feel the frustration and pain in your post -- I hope you find a solution.

Thanks for your input molly. I see that the band has really worked for you.

I just wanted to point out a couple of things, hopefully it will be taken in the light it is sent. You are obviously a kind person, but please don't assume that when someone is not losing with the band that they are self-sabotaging. I was already eating healthy foods before I got the band... am I perfect? No. But I am eating WAY less food and my body is simply not going to lose.

I was never able to lose on a diet, while others would drop weight I would be stuck at the same size. The fact that I have lost anything at all, is a miracle. So with that respect, maybe I should be grateful.

<crying> there is only so much a person can take, and I feel like my dreams of being thin, are just that, dreams.

There are two words I always use to describe life with the Band: Commitment and Discipline.

I honestly think that some people think this is another instant diet device--like someone who said recently that she didn't want to go "Hog Wild" until after she had a fill! "Hog Wild" is for NEVER AGAIN!

I advise everyone to study the band and learn everything they can about the new lifestyle they will be living FOREVER. To rush into this is a major mistake, as you have found out.

I don't think the surgeons are totally aware of the psychology of the obese--they know how to do their jobs very well, but are oblivious to what we really go through on a daily basis. I tried to talk to my surgeon about the stigma attached to the obese and he just said "I don't think there's a stigma with obesity". But he is an excellent surgeon...

And atallen06, I think Jachut was referring to those foods that I consider totally safe! Ones that won't get stuck, ones that won't have big pieces that can slip down into the pouch unexpectedly before you have a chance to chew them up--nice "Slider" foods like yogurt and cheese and a whipped up tuna salad! :confused_smile:

i personally do not think the band is easy at all, and i was never an emotional eater, one who loved sweets, etc....i had a problem w/the fork. i loved good food and lots of it, putting down the utensils was my issues = portion control.

my psych exam lasted 15mins; i was never asked questions regarding what types of foods i ate or when. i never had a nut appt, so nutrition was not necessarily discussed.

i am however someone who was able to handle diet with willpower while waiting for restriction, because i never really had a hard time loosing weight & i like healthy foods - keeping it off was something else.

i also enjoy working out. so the combination of regular diet along w/exercise didn't bother me one bit, i actually craved it & my body slowly responded. if you don't fit in that category, i think you could be set up for failure thinking the band is a one stop shop to fix your weight issue.

i think false expectations by drs - or those who don't have an indepth prescreening process to explain all these ins/outs is a problem, along w/those who think getting the band requires no effort. it's a lot of effort even when your hitting all cylinders, doing everything by the book. this of course is my opinion.