For those bandsters who have had success...what have been the keys to your success? I've seen this thread, but am interested in more details.

Was it the support groups, using this site, exercising 7 days a week, eating more strict?

I'm preparing to be banded and really want to make this work for me. I love to hear your knowledge. Thank you!

hi cc

i was banded april 22nd and have lost 80 pounds. my diabetes disappeared, my anemia, my high cholesterol and my high blood pressure. what really helped me was more of a mental thing i did before my surgery. i held a funeral for fat me. i forgave myself for 42 years of bad eating habits, i released myself from the behaviors of using food to comfort myself, then i wrote myself a letter from little me to big me. i also made myself a promise that me or my car would never grace a mcdonald's or a burger king again and i never have. i had a serious spinal injury a year ago where i was in a wheelchair most of the year so exercising for me has been limited to only Water aerobics which is great. i also allow myself one cheat a month and that is a small slushie from sonic. i don't always take that cheat but i allow it if i am desperate. i started growing organic veggies in the backyard and started reading up and getting educated on what were good carbs vs bad, what was the story on fats - things i didn't know before. my dr told me that Protein was the key. i unfortunately made the mistake growing up of thinking that starvation was the key to weight loss and it's not. it's like my surgeon told me, the band is only a tool to control the amount you eat, what you put in your stomach is still your decision. i have zero regrets. i also blog on wordpress which helps. i was such a dr pepper addict and a food junkie - i had my moments in the beginning where i would just cry but it passed in time. the liquid stage was the worst for me. i only had to be on it for a week but it was a miserable experience. thankfully, the absence of sugar going in and the amount of sugar going out put me in a sugar coma almost and i just slept the first week away. you will do great! if i can answer any questions for you, feel free to ask! my email is southernbella67@yahoo.com take care!

katie

I'm not sure if I yet fit into the successful bandster category but I'll share my strategy anyway.

1. I focus on eating my Protein first then veggies (I don't eat fruit because I just don't have room for it.

2. I exercise daily for at least 45 minutes Monday-Friday and ride my bicycle for about 2 hours on the weekends.

3. I keep up with my fills when I get hungry between meals. I like my band tight.

I get great support from my husband and kids as well as friends I have made at the gym. I try to avoid negative people whom I seem to allow to drag me down to the depths of depression (this is a biggie for me). These people do not contribute anything positive to my well being so I avoid them like the plague.

This is what seems to work for me.

My biggest mistake was not figuring out why I overate before I got banded. It is much easier to work on the outside with the help of the band, but there is nothing they can put in you to work on the inside. I thought I had it all figured out. All my problems had to do with weight. Once the weight was off, everything would be perfect. Well, I was wrong! I substituted my overeating with excessive exercising. Then when I had to have knee surgery and couldn't exercise I substituted that for shopping. So my biggest bit of advise(now 20lbs heavier), is figure yourself out. Be brutally honest with yourself. I am thinner than my 260+lb starting point, but I am still a work in progress over 3 years later. Good Luck with your journey!

Hi CC,

Like the other poster, I stay away from negative people. I feel that a negative self image is what really got me stuck in this terrible self hating cycle. Not that I hated myself it was other peoples lop-sided views I let infect my mind and my heart. And the resulting confusing cause comfort eating.

Now that I have shown those poople the door, its all about ME baby!

I lost about 105% of my excess weight in less than a year so I consider myself to be pretty successful. For me, the biggest thing has been sticking to the portion rules. I was always a volume eater. I didn’t really have a problem with snacks or sweets. But when I sat down for a meal, it was a freaking lot of food. I have had good restriction since day one and have only needed tiny fills (currently 4cc in a 10cc band). With good restriction, my portions are a fraction of what they were pre-band and I still stay clear of snacks and sweets. I think of food as fuel now, I try not to go for things I like as much as going for things that will fill me up with relatively low calories. I estimate that pre-band I was consuming 3000-5000 calories a day and now I am at 1200-1800 per day.

Exercise has been the key for me, without a doubt.

I got banded with the intention of NEVER dieting again, and I've not cut carbs or any foods in particular, just portion size. I do think its calories in v calories out. Perhaps if I now wanted to enter a body building competition and get to 12% body fat or something, I'd need to low carb it. But for the purposes of general weight loss, I never found it necessary.

But this week for example, I've been to two bootcamp 90 minute sessions, one circuit training class at the gym, an eight km run and a 10km run, and I've let my daughter ride her bike to school twice (I run with her, its 4kms there) and I walked home both times.

I've also done a fair bit of digging in the garden and cleaned our windows (not working right now, till next year)

that's an average week for me. Its being this active that keeps the weight off!

Exercise was huge for me too, but not necessarily to lose weight. I lost 80% of my excess weight before I even started exercising. The problem is, that a big chunk of that loss turned out to be muscle rather than fat which is not good at all. Now that I am at goal, I do only minor cardio and a fair amount of resistance training. I am not necessarily trying to get buffed out, but I do want an appropriate amount of muscle mass for my frame. My body fat tests show that I am now taking off what little fat I have left and am slowly gaining muscle.

Here is my two cents--I have had great success (61 lbs since 9/3/09) and credit this to primarily one thing--I track EVERYTHING I eat into a software program. (I have a Realize Band and as part of their services, you can use their web site to track food and fitness and more)

Writing down all food is the key--one never knows how many fat, calories, and protein a food has until you have to enter it into a software program. Also, you need to really harp on your surgeon and nutritionist to tell you exactly what type of "diet" they want you on after you are on "regular" food. For example, too many carbs are a no-no but how many carbs are good? I had to ask my nutritionist at least twice as to what her recommendation was--it is 136-150 grams per day. Well, if you figure a banana has 27 grams of carbs, you are almost utilizing a quarter of your carbs on one piece of fruit. So, bottom line of what I am saying is that success is more than just excersize (although that is also crucial in my success), it is knowing what nutrition is going into your body.

I'm banded 5 months, and find I am most successful when I track my food & calories.

What a great post!

I've had pretty good luck with the band. I've lost over 80 lbs since I was banded 2 years ago. I recently was rebanded because of a complication. I'm hoping starting from scratch will give me a jumpstart so I can loose another 40 lbs.

Exercise has definitely been key for me. I have recently gone back to work, and find it hard to fit the gym in now. Once my doc gives the ok, I'm going to try and do my daughter's Wiifit @ night.

The band is a "tool"... I do know a lot of people who have not lost a lot of weight after being banded. You have to be in the mindset to eat right and exercise. It only limits the amount you eat, not what you eat. It's very easy to cheat around it. Knowing your triggers, and staying away from them are key too.

good luck!

I believe you are right with all those categories. For me the key was a healthy balance of all those things. I exercise now where I didn't before, I sought counseling for my overeating which I didn't before, I pay attention to what I eat now and weigh my food which I never ever did before, I really keep up with my medical conditions and see my bariatric surgeon, my cardiologist and my general physician regularly which I never did before either. I have really changed my habits and by negative ways. I made up my mind that I wasn't going to let my band life be wasted by negativity and laziness. It has changed my life. I have gone from a size 24 to now a size 12. It has been a difficult ride but one I wouldn't change for anything.

I'm only 9 months out but I've lost 83 pounds. Still have a ways to go though. I do think i've been fairly successful though. I do visit this site periodically but mainly to offer others encouragement. I know how much I needed it. I haven't attended a single support group since surgery. I only did the ones required of me. I have been meaning to go, but I just haven't. I only drink water. I eat very, very small meals. I do have carbs but a very limited amount. Early on, I counted calories. Since i've got good restriction now, I don't really find that I have to. I also find that a lot fo the things that they make a big deal about early on, like drinking with meals and drinking through a straw, carbonated beverages, etc are not a big deal at all in the end. After you get good restriction, it is difficult to do those things anyway. I can't do any of those things. I really can't eat bread, so that is not a big deal either. I'm learning more and more to overcome hunger. I find that if I can get past the intial pangs then it goes away. I lose the best when I try to go as far as I can past the hunger. Something I wish I knew before surgery is that you do still get hungry. I have a difficult time even feeling full, it is more of a pressure than a fullness that you are used to before surgery. I do exercise about 4-5 days a week, 45 mins or so. I started out walking. Now I'm running about 2 miles a day. I feel like a different person...so good. I wish you the best of luck. It really is just a tool and you must still do the work to get to where you want to get.

I just want to say that the band is not a magic cure. You really have to work at it but it is wonderful. I think my success has been by eating right. I always eat what I should, I don't allow myself any sweets (except for strawberry quik powdered milk to take my Miralax with daily). Everything is sugar free. Also, I do limit my carbs, I do eat Pasta (whole wheat) and light wheat bread occassionally. Instead of the bread I have substituted the low carb tortilla shells. I love those things! I do exercise, walking 1 mile a day 5 days a week. I actually look forward to the walking because it's my special time to think and enjoy the solitude. I eat my Protein and get my Water amounts in daily.

I do have a friend who had the band and she has only lost 6 pounds (had surgery 5 months ago)--BUT she eats anything and everything just like she did before surgery and then complains because she can't lose weight. I don't understand it.

I love how I feel now and wouldn't change having the band for anything.

Hey.. well im down 100 pounds in 6 months.. had surgery may 21st of this year and i guess the only trick would be follow the rules. im follow them strictly. all i eat is protien fruit and veggies. i dont cheat i eat the food in order and i dont drink with meals. i eat 3 tims a day and i eat a good amount. prolly like 6 oz of protien for lunch and dinner. and veggies or fruit with it. breakfast usually just a yogurt with a lil granola. i have only cheated 2 times in 6 months.. once when i got to my first goal of 220.. and the second was my bday. and i have some cake. but besides food excersize is important.. i do like 4 times a week for like 45 to an hour. i hope this helps good luck!

It will be four months post for me on 11/29 and I have lost 52 pounds. I know that I need to exercise more than I'm doing right now. I try to get in at least 80oz of protein a day and I drink around 64oz of water, which I need to drink more. I would love to lose 100 lbs by my bandiversary July 29,2010.