I've researched the band for three years now and now that I'm getting banded in July '09, I'm getting colder feet.

I've been overweight all my life and lost and regained a significant amount of weight throughout the years.

I easily loose but just can't seem to keep it off.

Right now I need to loose 150 lbs and just lost 55 on the WW program & with tons of walking.

I know this is personal decision but if anyone has been in a similar situation, I would greatly appreciate all the advice I can get. ( good or bad ). You guys are all terrific and full of intuitive information that no one else can give. Thanks a bunch. Much appreciated !!!!!!

I've researched the band for three years now and now that I'm getting banded in July '09, I'm getting colder feet.

I've been overweight all my life and lost and regained a significant amount of weight throughout the years.

I easily loose but just can't seem to keep it off.

Right now I need to loose 150 lbs and just lost 55 on the WW program & with tons of walking.

I know this is personal decision but if anyone has been in a similar situation, I would greatly appreciate all the advice I can get. ( good or bad ). You guys are all terrific and full of intuitive information that no one else can give. Thanks a bunch. Much appreciated !!!!!!

I'd been sucessful on dieting in the past. In fact, my most recent diet, I lost 65# and leveled off at about 60-50# for seven years. I thought I'd finally overcome my overeating. I was wrong. It took about two years to gain it all back and I knew the scale was headed even higher. For me the band is not about losing, its about keeping it off forever and not gaining it back. I'm tired of the yo-yo and decided to put the final breaks on it.

Best of luck with your decision!

No regrets. I was a yo-yo dieter for years. Each time it came back with more weight than I started with. The last time the cholesterol shot through the roof and BP was barely controlled with meds and then the sleep apnea had gotten so bad I was only sleeping about 3 hours a night. My daughter was banded last year and lost 95 lbs and just seeing her journey made me convinced that this is what I needed to do. Now I was only banded June 1 and had one fleeting moment after surgery of "what have I done, surely I could have just kept my fat mouth shut and lost weight." But it was a fleeting moment. Almost two weeks out and still no appetite or hunger. I eat because I know I need to eat. I have no doubt this may change, but again, like the other poster said, I don't have a problem dieting. This is just giving me a tool to help it all come together. I've lost 15 lbs since weigh-in two days before surgery but the big plus is no pain in my knee that's been bothering me ever since this most recent weight gain.

The band is not the end-all be-all. You still have to live with your band and still have to do portion control and watch the foods you eat but when you get full fast or you're forced to eat slow it helps tremendously.

Good luck on your decision. I have absolutely no regrets at all so far. I didn't have to do so much research because my daughter had done it all. The big difference between us is we have two different types of band, so we'll be able to compare if there are any differences.

Trisha

I hope you don't mind if I post here because I have the lap band, not the realize band....

with that caveat, may I say that the statistics are really against you losing/keeping weight off on your own? I think around 5% are successful with diet and exercise alone. Especially those of us who have to lose more than 20 pounds or so. I personally gave WW a true hard try and lost only to gain it back in a year.

Like the other posters who think of the band as a tool more for maintenance than just weight loss, I agree.

Now if I am frustrated and WANT to overeat, I can't. If I get bored "making healthy choices" well, so what?

I do agree that I could make a concerted effort to gain, by drinking milkshakes and eating candy bars and chips, but I've never been THAT self-destructive as to intentionally TRY to gain! And with the band, it is SO darned easy to, once you have restriction, just eat something filling and then forget about food for the next 5 hours. I will NEVER be as fat as I was as long as I have the band. I can say that with 100% truth and conviction. This thing is a miracle, to me. It took a LONG time for me to get to "the sweet spot" but now that I am there...hallelujah! :wink2: If it works as well for you, you will never spend an instant looking back in regret.