My friend had gastric bypass and did GREAT, my BMI is 35 and the Lap Band seems much less invasive however the weight loss also seems lower and slower any ideas from those who have researched the differences?

with a bmi of 35 which probably means you have about 50 or 60 pounds to lose i would not rearrange my organs !!.. i had a bmi of 36.7 and would never ev3en consider by pass... my friend had bypass but she basically LOST me!!!you know what i mean she lost a lot of weight.....i love my band so far and cant imagine doing anything else!!

Please look at the top of this board in the sticky list. There you will find a thread about "Comparing All Weightloss Surgeries". I hope that that can help you out some and give you some answers.

If you have more questions - feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help!

Ask yourself, what exactly is so great about rapid loss? Really? Is it healthy? Safe? Is it what all the medical/health literature advises? Or...is the emphasis on slow, sensible weight loss as being healthier, safer and more likely to be maintained?

Truly, rapid loss merely appeases the inner child who wants it now...and yea, that's appealing in our Instant Gratification culture, but it doesn't make it as safe or healthy as slower, more sensible loss.

In reality, if someone is losing faster than 1 to 1.5% of their total body weight per week, they're guaranteed to be losing more than just fat. And the REAL goal is to only lose fat. We need lean tissue to maintain our metabolisms. And that also means we need to add weight training to the mix to ensure we only lose fat and keep that metabolism going.

Loss of lean tissue, especially during massive loss, can have tragic results in rare cases...namely, sudden heart failure. The heart is a muscle. And the body tends to not really like sudden change. One of the people I lost to the RNY died 18 months out of heart failure...and yes, she ate plenty of Protein...probably about 100g/day. Didn't matter. All the intake of protein in the world isn't going to stop lean tissue loss during rapid loss especially when no muscle is being built through weight training. She dropped dead at the age of 37 of massive heart failure and had had no pre-existing heart problems. She lost about 180 lbs in 1 year...it's just too much too fast.

Nancy

Thanks Nancy and all others for your information, I do appreciate all your help. I went to the Lap Band seminar in my area (Sandy,Utah) last night learned tons and getting so excited hopfully the insurance will approve if not I think I will self pay. Thanks again for the support.

I thouroughly agree with Nancy. I had ahigh BMI- I am very pleased with my progress. I really know I did on the high end, and it is slowing down to 5- 10 lbs per month now, but I feel great and I am very happy- I never want my innards rearranged and this worked well. I really feel I will make my goal weight long before my date of December 31st.