Hello - My name is Steve and I am being banded on April 20th at Henrico Doctors Hospital in Richmond, VA. I weigh 356 and am really looking forward to the banding. I think my weight really hit home two summers ago when I could not get on the roller coasters with my 9 year old son and 6 year old daughter! Anyway, I have realized while looking through this (and other) forums that one can really just focus on all the negatives or all the positives you read.... There was some forum "lapbandforum.com" that most everything was negative and "why am I not losing" weight? - Also I noticed that a lot of those folks went to Mexico to have the surgery done...... This one seems much more down to Earth and I look forward to sharing my journey.

A couple questions:

1. How do you determine what your "ideal weight is"? I see a bunch of websites, but I wasn't sure if anyone could point me to one.

2. I have heard the more you have to lose, the quicker you should lose it. How true is this? Of course, I realize that I have to follow the plan!!

Thanks and I look forward to this forum!

"Ideal weight" is derived from height, age, bone structure and where you are healthy (Healty BMI). There's some range to that and it's really for you to discuss with your doctor. My doctor never mentioned pounds. He said "I don't look at pounds. I look at BMI. We will get you to the healthy range BMI." You may or may not lose faster than someone with less weight to lose. Men usually lose faster than women (hormones play a big part in that). And that's about all I can tell you.

Welcome!!

A normal BMI is under 29%( I think the range is 20-29, but I am not sure). I wouldn't really worry about a ideal weight number if I were you. It will change constantly anyway. I've reconsidered mine about 20 times since my surgery in Jan.