Fellow lappers and prospective one's- if you are thinking about it- it is the single best thing I have ever done in my life. I have lost about 53 pounds in a year! I haven't been this way since before I went to college! and love every minute of it. My success is not so much in the band but in my attitude. Even before the surgery I went in knowing that this was NO magic bullet and this weight didn't come on in 5 months and sure as heck wouldn't come down in that time either. Instead it will come down the same way it went up- but I will help my body a bit by giving it the tool (lap-band), the committment (5-6 days of one hour biking religiously) + 2-3 days of lifiting and the attitude (being little more selective about what I eat).I feel like a new man and this has changed the way I look at everything in life! To those who think I took the easy way out- I invite them to a work out session with me and live in my active lifestyle shoes for a week- so don't give me that crap that I took the easy way out!

For those thinking about lap band-this is NO magic bullet. Don't expect that you will get this around your stomach and volla like magic you will wake up three days later and have a six pack! I know many of my fellow lappers had such expectations and relapsed into eating sweets and junk food (albeit in less quantity) and are wondering now- "damn this thing failed"- NO IT DID NOT!- YOU FAILED and not the band. You will need to look at the band as a TOOL (a boost of sorts to get you to your destination) and really change your relationship with yourself and with the foods you eat. That means make a commitment and NOT excuses to get off your butt and exercise most days of the week and be vary of what you eat. I still eat most of the things that I used to before- the key here is MOST (not all- I can't remember the last time I went to a drive thru!) and eating the things that I love sensibly (i.e. eating a scoop, may be a scoop AND half of ice cream instead of the half gallon!)

So the secret to the band success is really inside YOU and what you make of the tool- GOOD LUCK!

"So the secret to the band success is really inside YOU and what you make of the tool "

So true !!! This made me think of the line from the Wizard of Oz :

"You've always had the power, my dear. You've had it all along." - Glenda, the good witch

The Lap Band Just helps to bring out your own inner will power

Congrats you look great !!!

finally somebody whose wieght loss story is similar to mine...i have been banded for a year and i have lost around 48 pounds but when i read other people's posts i feel so confused...and worried...they have all lost atleast over 70 pounds and there is somebody there who has lost 130 pounds!!! in 13 mnths...i feel so pressured...infact i have been worried for last 3 mnths about my weight loss taht it has been very slow...in last 3 months i have barely lost 2 kgs...

Congrats on your loss - and THANK YOU for posting the real deal about exercise! I am determined to lose this weight - I have not been banded yet, but feel it's the final block in the wall I'm going to build between the formerly fat me and the strong, slender me that is going to be.

I already walk several days a week (I see myself upping the time and the speed) and I love the weight room - I'm looking forward to the operation (hurry up and schedule me!) and can't wait to post my own success story.

Thanks again - you look awesome!:thumbup:

Dear lovingit- please don't be dismayed! There are many (I mean MANY) factors in your 'numerical' weight loss. See if I had given up all the things I loved and didnot do weights at all I probably would have lost like a 100 lbs in the same period- and then would be sitting again under the knife to get the tummy tuck. Allow your body to adjust slowly to the new you and all the while continue to tone yourself so you don't end up looking like an unhealthy skinny person- but a firm, toned, no second operation needing yourself! Also note that some of those people you are talking about who lost 130 pounds- started at 300lbs too- so they will lose more much faster than you or I would. Because I started at 248 of mostly flab- and my goal was to get to a toned/ built 160-170lbs, I have started losing less and less- but that it is not necessarily bad- b/c I am replacing flab with muscle.

Keep your chin up and stay the course. This is much like investing in your retirement plan. You cannot put in a million bucks one time and expect to have a nice nest egg (you may have bought at the wrong time!)- so you want to keep putting aside a few bucks but do it regularly-and in a while you will look back and say- "damn!"

thank u so much for ur encouragement i also started at around 235 pounds or 107 kgs...i m more comfortable in metric i have to use calculator to get the pounds right...n i have lost 22 kgs in these 11 mnths going for my fill on this sunday got really motivated...sometimes u knw u play slack on fills hoping u can eat a bit more...for a bit longer but no longer...another 15 kgs to go before i hit my normal BMI

Dear lovingit- please don't be dismayed! There are many (I mean MANY) factors in your 'numerical' weight loss. See if I had given up all the things I loved and didnot do weights at all I probably would have lost like a 100 lbs in the same period- and then would be sitting again under the knife to get the tummy tuck. Allow your body to adjust slowly to the new you and all the while continue to tone yourself so you don't end up looking like an unhealthy skinny person- but a firm, toned, no second operation needing yourself! Also note that some of those people you are talking about who lost 130 pounds- started at 300lbs too- so they will lose more much faster than you or I would. Because I started at 248 of mostly flab- and my goal was to get to a toned/ built 160-170lbs, I have started losing less and less- but that it is not necessarily bad- b/c I am replacing flab with muscle.

Keep your chin up and stay the course. This is much like investing in your retirement plan. You cannot put in a million bucks one time and expect to have a nice nest egg (you may have bought at the wrong time!)- so you want to keep putting aside a few bucks but do it regularly-and in a while you will look back and say- "damn!"

I absolutely loved the complete honesty you've displayed! I think that many of us obese are looking for a quick, easy way to the promised land and don't research enough about our futures.

It IS serious business, and although the results are extremely gratifying, they are not easily come by. And I am so glad you pointed that out!!

Thank you for posting this. I have been so concerned about the fact that I am not losing at the rate that other people seem to be losing. I should remember that this is not a race. Thanks for the honest portrayal. You look awesome! Keep up the good work.

when will the little burping stop

been banded for 4 days and had a hernia repair

You are awesome!! I love, love, love your story and you have answered alot of questions for me! I have not been banded yet and are in the beginning stages of lap-band procedure. I have really done some research on this and everything you are saying has to be true! I also think it is the difference between success and failure with the lap-band. Thank you again for showing me the way! You rock!