I thought I would stop by and say hello. I've been enjoying reading through this forum and reading up on some of your experiences. For example, I had no idea that I'd pretty much never get to drink diet soda again! Fascinating!

Anyway, I got banded on Feb. 27, 2009 so I'm about 9 days into this. I started my Medifast pre-op diet on January 2nd at 224 (I am 5'2) pounds and I have lost 24 pounds so far. I'm only a pound from my "triple digit rollover!"

I've a had a little history with yo-yo-ing weight. I was pretty much large all my life, but when I was 21 I decided to go to a doctor and get some help. He put me on a medication diet (Phentermine, Adipex) and I lost 50 pounds! I felt the best I have my whole life. I then moved to New York to go to graduate school and moved away from my doctor and started to gain weight gradually again.

I tried SO HARD to keep the weight from coming on. I went to the gym 6 days a week (combination weight training and cardio). I had a personal trainer. I watched what I eat. I counted calories, carbs, fat, Protein, etc, like a maniac (kept everything written down in my food journal). I saw, oh, six doctors to try to find someone that would help me, to no avail. I tried everything I could to lose weight the "normal" way, the healthy way. No matter what, the weight just piled up.

Finally, I asked my regular doc if she would recommend Lap-Band surgery, and she said yes since I have tried everything else to try to lose weight. I just barely scraped by on the minimum BMI requirement (40) so the bariatric center accepted me, and my insurance agreed to pay for it too!

Like I said, so far I'm 24 pounds down, and I'm feeling VERY HOPEFUL that this will help me finally lose weight and embrace a life and lifestyle that I desperately miss. I am extremely active and love all kinds of sporty things like volleyball, rollerblading, mountain climbing, hiking, canoeing, etc....my weight gain has kept me from enjoying some of these things that I want to do. Hopefully this will be a year of change for me!

I look forward to getting to know everyone here!!

Here's a pic of me just for general reference:

Edited March 9, 200917 yr by dert

Hi my name is Shell and I was banded on 02/19/09. My story is similar to yours I've tried everything in the world to lose weight and nothing worked. I'm hoping this will be my year to finally lose the weight. I wish you all the luck in the world!!!