band free, never felt better

VERY well said!!

I agree with you on this, Iam a one shot deal with weight loss surgery.  I plan to have the lap band surgery and thats it.  I have seen & read about the bad side of some of the other surgeries and it scares me too bad to make that leap.  Everyone says that the Lap Band is supposed to be a training tool to help us make the right decisions about how we eat and that we are supposed to learn the right foods to eat and the difference between head/real hunger.  If you have the lap band surgery done and you lose the weight and learn to eat right and it teaches us what we are supposed to know, then having it removed (if necessary) at some point should not mean the end of our success at weight loss.  We should be able to take what we have learned, apply it to the rest of our lives and stay successful, even after we have the band removed.  It is a much less permanent surgery, and I like that.    
I also know what I "should" be doing/eating, but I use every excuse not to do it.  I feel that when I have Lap Band surgery it will be the tool I need to help me get everything strait and apply everything I have learned to my life.  It will help me to see the difference between head/actual hunger.  It will teach me to take smaller bites, chew well, and eat slowly; because I have to to make the WLS successful, not because I "should".   I am one of those people who can save money when I have to, but not because I "should", and apparently that is the same way I have treated my eating.  Once I lose the weight I will know how it felt to be thin, and what it felt like to be overweight and I will never go back.

Confused oh my gosh Im the same way !! I know what I should be doing and I came up with every excuse in the book also not to do it .

The lapband has done exactly for me what you just said.  It's teaching me portion control, its teaching me to eat right , its teaching me to slow down to eat, and its making me get up to exercise , its teaching me the difference between head and physical hunger .

Im learning these steps every day and its amazing what you can do when you really put your mind to something.

I think that is a good part of the reason why I havent had a fill yet because I knew all long what I needed to do I just need a push or a constant reminder on what I need to do and the lapband in me is givng me that daily reminder what to do and what not to do .

 
I seriously hope you think this through much more before you have surgery.

~~Everyone says that the Lap Band is supposed to be a training tool to help us make the right decisions about how we eat and that we are supposed to learn the right foods to eat and the difference between head/real hunger.~~

No, not everyone says that.  No vet will tell you that.

We are a population that if we can eat, we do eat.  Obesity is not a matter of being stupid, it is a disease.  Talk to ANY vet.  If they can eat they do so a great deal.  You can take the most compliant vet and they lose restriction and what happens?  They regain.

Look at Kate.  And make NOOOOOO mistake, I am NOT downing her in any way, shape, or form. She's a compliant bandster, she does all the right things, she's at goal and maintains well. BUT... she had a leak and lost restriction.  What happened?  She could eat so she did eat.  Find me a more compliant bandsters, I double dawg dare you.

~~If you have the lap band surgery done and you lose the weight and learn to eat right and it teaches us what we are supposed to know, then having it removed (if necessary) at some point should not mean the end of our success at weight loss.~~

So what you are saying is that you don't know that a chocolate bar isn't better for you than a lean piece of protein?  Seriously?  I don't believe you.

Do you know the stats for regain after you lose your tool regardless of surgery type?  96% will regain ALL their weight.  That isn't a matter of education, that is a matter of DISEASE.

~~We should be able to take what we have learned, apply it to the rest of our lives and stay successful, even after we have the band removed.  It is a much less permanent surgery, and I like that.~~

Yeah, we should be as a fat population but we do not.  Oh sure, you can say you'll be the exception to the rule but do you really believe that?  Honestly and sincerely?

So you like temporary weight loss?  What diet have you EVER EVER EVER been on that you wanted to be sure you had the opportunity to regain?

We have a disease, not a character flaw.  We need a permanent solution to a permanent probem. We are not talking a hang nail here.  We are talking a disease where there is no cure. There are only treatments and the best available treatment today is surgery.  YOU are choosing a surgery based on temporary fixes because you are just sure this is all you need.  Think this through, that is all I am asking.

~~I also know what I "should" be doing/eating, but I use every excuse not to do it.  I feel that when I have Lap Band surgery it will be the tool I need to help me get everything strait and apply everything I have learned to my life.~~

Yeah, everyone else feels that way as well.  Stats don't change, 96% regain after they lose their tool.  Sure, maybe you'll be in the 4% that beat the stats.  Do you honestly believe that?  For real?

What makes you so special from the rest of us?

I swear, I'm not trying to be snarky here.  I am doing my very best to be 'real' with you.  I do not want you to walk in my footsteps and make no mistake, my footsteps are the norm, I am not unusual in the least.

With all my respect I will tell you that you have obesity all wrong.  You have so freak'en much reading you need to do and educating yourself you just have no idea.  You seriously have this all wrong. What you believe to be true is not based on facts or science.  I am sincerely not knocking you, I was walking in your shoes at one time as well.  I am telling you the truth, take it or leave it.

We all go into this with a beginners mind.  We all learn from our mistakes.  My hope for you is that you take the opportunity to learn with time, learn from my mistakes, learn from thousands of peoples mistakes and don't repeat them.

My sincere best wishes for you and your decision.  You have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others or your own.  It is clearly your decision.  But make no mistake, you will indeed... learn.

I do understand what you are saying Bubbles the odds are of a regain but there is people out there that has done it and is doing it .   there is one person just one in our support that lost her band I dont know all the details of what happened but she had hers taken out 2 yrs ago and has maintained her goal at 135 pounds .

She makes herself accountable , she goes to support group meetings, she eats like a bandster still and she does her exercise and she is doing it.

My one doc well she isn't a doc she fills in for my doc when he cant do fills thinks I have no restriction and maybe she is right .  She keeps telling me I'm doing this all on my own and maybe she is right .

I have it so set in my mind that a cup of food is all I need and I will be just fine .   I had that in my head the day of surgery and its been like that since then.  I came out of this surgery a much stronger person mentally. My parents and especially my husband has noticed that .  I have confidence in myself that I can do it this time around , and I say no to foods I know that I shouldn't be eating and so forth.  I never could do that before this surgery .

Do I have restriction who the hell knows I dont dwell on it . I eat my food , I stay full till my next meal about 5 hrs later. I eat my snack at night, and I do my Zumba four times a week and I lose around 8.5 pounds every four weeks.

I know alot of people personally from Richard Simmons group meetings and the Cruise to Lose that I have been on with him that have lost weight without surgery so it can be done . This one guy has lost 275 pounds it took him yrs to do it but he did it all on his own . Richard has sooo many success stories its unbelieveable and I have personally met alot of them .  So just because we are over weight dont mean everybody has to have WLS to make it to their goal weight .

If had the mental thing going on like I do right now I would have never gotten this surgery done in a million yrs.  It took me to get this surgery to finally get it .

I dont feel like I have a band at all.  I dont get stuck, I dont slime, I dont have trouble eating foods like alot of people on here,  I dont get no signs that I have had to much.  All I'm doing is what I knew all along what I was suppose to be doing and doing it.  

Maybe I will be like the guy in my support group he has went over 2.5 yrs without a single fill. Got his first fill last Monday due to gaining five pounds.  He lost over 200 pounds and like he told us last Monday, the band was just a reminder on what he should be doing and he done it .

The band is far from perfect we all know that , but there isn't a WLS out there that is perfect they all have their good points and bad points each and every one of them.

Will I regain if I had the band out of me who knows what can happen. I cant predict and say no I wont but then again nobody can say oh yes I will regain weight because they just dont know I could be that person that beats them odds of a regain .

 
I stand behind the above post.  If you honestly and sincerely believe you are the exception to the norm, good for you.

No arguments here.

If you believe your disease is not a disease at all but a character flaw, go on your merrily way.

I do know that a chocolate bar is not good for me and that lean protein is, I do not eat regular sized candy bars.  I buy the bags of mini candy bars and one bag usually lasts me for atleast 2 months. I do not feel the intense need to chow down on candy, chips and sodas.  I eat mostly lean meat, I would say 5-6 days a week I eat lean meat.  I have already replaced most of my beef with turkey, turkey burgers, turkey tacos, turkey sausage etc.  The only fast food I eat is maybe once a month I will go to subway, my kids dont even eat fast food anymore.  That originally started as a way to save money, but when I decided to splurge and have a grease burger and fries I ended up splurging it all back up within 30 mins of eating it.  I do not drink sodas, I can't handle the sugar and the diet ones give me migraines.  I do however drink sweet tea that I make at home.  Everytime I make it I use less sugar, Im hoping to get to the point where I use none.
My eating problem is major portion control issues, both sides of my family believe in the fill your plate clean your plate mindset, and I fight that even though I know how much I should be eating I dont do it.  I do have days where I will crave sweets, but I allow myself to give in....2-3 cookies is much better than a whole bag and allowing myself to have that keeps me from going crazy on it.  I have witnessed first hand the effects of RNY and stomach stapling (seems similar to sleeve) on my mother and I would rather live the rest of my life overweight than to die the way she did.  Im not saying that it will happen to everyone, but it happened in my family and it wont happen to me.  Her hormones were a mess, she was severly malnourished, her bones were brittle from osteoporosis and she was miserable for the last few years of her life. 
I have researched the other types of WLS, and I would rather spend the rest of my life fat than to have the my innerds rerouted or to have them removed.  I was born with these parts and I plan to die with as many of them as possible.   
All weight loss surgeries have a certain amount of risk and they can all have their rewards and complications.  I am fine with the slower weight loss from LapBand, it is healthier that way.  I will be vigilant to watch out for sign of problems, and plan to go to my doc at the first sign of any problem.   Do I believe that I will be in the 4% of people who dont regain after losing the tool, yes...from the depths of my soul I believe I will be apart of the 4%.  If you go into it saying my tool is gone Im doomed, then you will be.  My mother died when I was 27, I plan to spend alot more than 27 years with my kids.  She missed seeing 1 of my kids and 3 of my brothers kids being born and growing up, that wont happen to me.  I believe that LapBand is what I need to help me lose the weight, and I plan, no I will it with every fiber of my being to keep it off no matter what it takes.  I let myself go for way too long and I plan to make myself healthy with the help of LapBand.  I have not taken care of myself, I have allowed my poor diet to control me and I have spent years on my couch letting myself get fat, planning to lose it but never applying what I know will help.  I think it will take going to the extent of having surgery to get me to start taking care of myself and applying everything I know will get me there.  When I lose the weight it will never come back, I know how miserable I feel now and I will never be like this again.  If we wanted to we could work around any of the different WLS to eat all of the things we want and not work out and gain the weight back, but if thats the plan why would we have surgery in the first place.  I know that it is alot of work, there isn't much in life that isn't alot of work.  But it is worth the reward in the end, I will succeed with the help of LapBand    Your surgery was the right one for you, and this one is right for me. 

 
~~I have witnessed first hand the effects of RNY and stomach stapling (seems similar to sleeve) on my mother and I would rather live the rest of my life overweight than to die the way she did~~

See?  This is exactly what I am talking about.  You don't even know your surgery options.  You actually believe a sleeve is similar to stomach stapling.  It isn't even remotely close to that.

Honestly and sincerely, you don't have the slightest idea what you are getting yourself into.  You don't know your surgery options.  You don't understand obesity and our behaviors.  You honestly think a band is going to change your eating habits and suddenly train you to eat better.  You are basing major surgery on misinformation and a complete and total lack of knowledge on the topic. I am here to tell you, you are nowhere near ready for life changing surgery.

Look, I wouldn't dream of getting RNY or stomach stapling, I think they are both horrible procedures that fail more times than not.  But YOU are getting a surgery type that fails even more than those! And the spooky thing is, you don't even realize that.

~~she was severly malnourished~~

Hey, I was severely malnourished with a band, what is your point?  Least invasive does NOT mean safer long term.  The sleeve is a whole heck of a lot safer than banding long term.

I think this is my issue with your posts.  You are basing life changing surgery on a complete and total lack of information and knowledge on obesity.  You are assuming that bands are safest. They most certainly are not.  The risks, complications, mechanical failures, and re-operations make them more risky, not less.

~~ I was born with these parts and I plan to die with as many of them as possible~~

Sooo, you would rather your sick appendix burst than to have it removed?  You would rather die of a necrotic gallbladder than to have it removed?  Tell me something, what has the fundus of your stomach done for you?  Keep in mind, it has two jobs.  One is to (in our case) over produce Ghrelin, the chemical that tells your brain you are hungry and to stretch to accomodate 19 cups of food.  Where has the fundus of your stomach gotten you today?  Tell me.  I am very interested to hear.   What favors has it done for you?

~~All weight loss surgeries have a certain amount of risk and they can all have their rewards and complications.~~

Yeah, and the band has the most risk and it's the least likely to work long term and THAT is the one YOU are choosing based on a whole slew of misinformation.

~~Do I believe that I will be in the 4% of people who dont regain after losing the tool, yes...from the depths of my soul I believe I will be apart of the 4%.~~

Good for you, you continue living in that happy land you have created.  Keep in mind, you are one of the most uneducated people I have run across on these forums in regard to obesity and behaviors.  Top that off with ... I'd venture a guess that 100% of newbies believe they will be the exception to the rule.  But also keep in mind, if you can do as you say with the band, you can do it without any WLS.  So try it and see how far it gets you long term.

I have read alot of studies on the different types of WLS and many different webistes about them.  I did not say that sleeve surgery and stomach stapling were one and the same, from what I was told about my mothers first WLS they sound similar.  I am not going to sit here all day and argue with you about this, especially when you are going to try to twist what I say.  I am not going to keep an appendix that is ruptured or a bad gall bladder, I almost peed myself laughing at the stupidity of that comment.  Please dont try to convince about what WLS to choose, I have made up my mind.  Im not bashing on your decision, kindly leave me alone about mine.

 
I'm not bashing you about your surgery type, I'm flat out telling you that you don't know your options and you don't.

As I wrote earlier, go ahead and live in your dream world, nobody is stopping you.