I had my lap band surgery in Nov. 08 and am almost at goal. I have lost 75 lbs. and am worried about maintaining the weight. I was told the band is kept slightly restricted for about 2 years so we can adjust to our new eating habits. Is this correct? I really don't understand the maintenance part of this journey. Can someone explain how they are maintaining?

I've kept the same restriction I had, I havent altered my band. Well, I lie a bit actually, I've had a small fill, just to top off as restriction waned after about 18 months (you do lose some Fluid over time).

What happened was that I never had tight restriction to lose, didnt need it, didnt want it. I was happy to exercise lots and eat very normally, but with portion control. So moderate restriction suited me fine. Over time, the weight loss got slower and slower and eventually just petered out at around 10kgs past my original goal. My original goal was "generous", it was at the top of my healthy weight range and I knew I'd never stop there, I just set it to shut everyone up who kept saying "you must be realistic". Had I wanted to stop there, I wouldnt have continued to have one or two more small fills.

But I just kind of finished losing at around 69kgs (about 150lb give or take). I have not had to unfill, this restriction now serves me well for maintenance.

You simply cant go back to "normal". I know of people who have unfilled a bit to stop losing, that's fine, if you have tight restriction you'd probably need to do that. I know of one person who unfilled completely -she's unusual. Most of us still require restriction to maintain and most of us will even require a tiny top up fill every now and then.

So I eat pretty much what I ate to lose to maintain - again I did a normal diet WITH carbs such as bread and Pasta, so not too difficult. And I've continued with my running and these days probably MORE than I was running during the faster more steady part of my weight loss (as I got fitter, I did more and more). That's what it takes for me to maintain weight for life, moderate portions, not too many treats and a good 40 minutes to an hour of daily cardio.

I eat about 1800 calories a day so I certianly dont feel deprived or too hard done by. But if I had no restriction, my natural appetite drives me to eat more like 2,500 or so, which over time would make me fat again. Even though that's what all the charts say I *should* be able to eat given my height and activity levels.