Quick Bio, late 40's male, about 400lbs, High BP, sleep Apenea, high colesteral (now under control). Both knees shot and bad back.

Always been heavy, Never had an issue with it, Now need to drop 100-150+ lbs. Exercise isnt going to do it, Knee's/back makes walking hard and very quickly stop any activities.

Heading to OSU for one of the info sessions but concerned about the question what diet have you tried. Really haven't tried any and the few I had me eating less food than my rabbits do. That doesnt last long for me. Never had any luck with the few diets I tried except when I was on redux. (wife didnt like me on redux, said it made me mean and then it was pulled from shelves.).

So any chance of me getting accepted, I guess I am looking at lapband as a forced diet plan with no turning back.

sorry, I kept saying lab band lol Meaning lap band. I do know to type. :biggrin:

All,

Again many thanks for the comments. I have my intro meeting at OSU tonight. Will see what they say. I need to do something,

Gary

OhGary,

Good luck to you!!! I hope everything works out for you and remember....this is a wonderful board and it's always here for you no matter what your decision is. I know I have found it a tremendous help since finding it in July. I wish you the very best!!!

Have you tried swimming or water aerobics? I have severe plantar faciitis and fibromyalgia and I can barely walk enough to get through my day, much less do any walking or running for exercise. I get in my pool every morning though and walk/jog as fast as I can for about half an hour and it doesn't hurt me one bit. My muscles feel the workout soreness but my foot is fine and I feel nothing in my joints. My heart rate gets up but I don't feel that breathless sweaty feeling that you can get with other aerobic exercise because the pool is cooling me off. I highly recommend it, if you don't have your own pool maybe you could look into a gym, or sometimes public schools have an athletic center where you can pay a small fee to use the pool, usually less than a gym membership.

I don't recommend jumping straight into a severely restricting diet when you've never dieted before, it works better to ease yourself into learning new habits. There's a book called Change One that uses this approach, you introduce one new healthier habit (like drinking more water or not eating after dinnertime) at a time and do it long enough for it to become second nature before adding another.

I wouldn't leap right into the band either without giving it your best effort first. Who knows, maybe all you need is to move more and control your portions :biggrin:

Ohgary, I don't think you are ready and the seminar will not give you enough info to make a truly informed decision. I recommend that in addition to the seminar, you also attend support group meetings (you can even if you are not banded) and "lurk" about on forums like this for a few weeks to even know what to ask your doctor and his staff. I went through my process very quickly (self-pay so did not have all the insurance requirements) and found out much more after the fact. In retrospect I don't regret getting banded, but it certainly has not been the miraculous obesity cure I thought it would be based on the "infomercials" and the billboards dotted along every major highway these days.

Well I went to the program tonight and I agree lap band is not for me. Gastric bypass would be what I would choose from the information delivered in the class tonight.

I will say that the class was good and gave me some good info, Enough to look at some no surgery options first. OSU has some non-bariatric programs but they are 50 miles away, I need something closer. Any way, I appreciate all the comments from folks.