Any Regrets?

No regrets for me!  I'm very happy with how my band helps me.  It's a lot of work, but getting healthier and in better physical shape is worth the effort.

 No regreats for me, except I really wish I had done it sooner also!  Ninety five pounds lost, size 22 to size 10, camping and hiking without aches and pains, bike riding miles and miles!  I can go on and on!  I eat everything I want, just much smaller amounts.  I actually eat better quality food now than ever because I don't have to buy as much!  Fresh tuna, ribeye steak, chicken, all the rest!  I have also saved lots by not buying fast food and when I do eat out, I have two more meals with the leftovers!!
As long as you follow the plan (not the rules - it sounds like punishment!) and reward yourself with small quality meals and no junk - it's a breeze!
This is the best decision I have ever made - FOR ME!!
Best of luck with whatever you decide!!

 I love my band - except for tonight - its not behaving - I am but its not.

I lost 100% of my excess weight in under a year and have maintained for a year so far.  Size 18 to a size 4.  

The band is only 1 Tool.  If you rely on that Band only to lose weight YOU WILL NOT BE SUCCESSFUL.  The band is around your STOMACH not your HEAD.  You need to address why you are a food addict.  You need to address your emotional eating triggers.  These discoveries can be tedious and painful.  You need to be mentally and emotionally ready to deal with them.

The Band will not grocery shop for you, it will not cook for you and it will not drive you to the gym.  YOU need to be 100% committed.

Regarding the sweet spot - I didn't get to my sweet spot until after i was at goal!  Soooo "just because you can, doesn't mean you should".  YOU should eat immediately as if you were at your sweet spot.  Meaning - eliminate drinking calories, eliminate refined sugar, eliminate white flour, eating 60-100 gr protein per day and with every meal; eating 1 cup of food.  

That is the Bandster diet.  So if you can do the lifestyle before your at your sweetspot - when you get there, it will be there to help you maintain - thats why so many other diets fail.  After you get to your goal, you start going back to bigger portions etc.  With the band, you can't!  Thats the best part about it!

So get your head on and get ready for the journey!

No regrets for me either!  I learned from the start not to go chasing after some mythical sweet spot...instead I am in the "green zone" where one cup of food satisfies me for 3-4 hours. I can eat almost anything I want as long as its moist enough...I just eat lots less of it.  I started out in a tight 22 and I'm wearing size 16's now, with a size 14 in the closet waiting.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I've had over 20 surgeries on my legs due to a car accident 9 years ago, whi*****luded  a horrible staph infection that nearly killed me so I didn't want any surgeries that re-routed anything..just in and out thankyouverymuch.  The risks of the other surgeries were too great for me and my husbands comfort level, after everything we've been through. (He faced off throat cancer last year).

Nope...no regrets!

No regrets other than I wish I would have had the courage to do it sooner!

No regrets, if I don't loose another pound I'm happy. I did not do this to be a supermodel, I did it to be healthier. No more BP meds, cholesterol is good..I'm not sitting around so much I move more and better. I'm still basically lazy as all get out, and I would loose faster if I'd tried harder...I cannot blame WLS for that, only myself.
If I had willpower surgery I would say It had failed....but I didn't.....

The band doesn't make you move....that's your head and legs..NO OP for that (Yet)
And without exercise weight loss will be slow  no matter what the "plan"

But then again...what do I know
Petra

Ill tell you my perspective from the point of view of someone who LOVES her band but recognizes the potential for problems.

Non Regrets:

I don't regret getting WLS and so far lapband has been a perfect fit for what I needed
I don't regret Lapband because the time, work, energy put forth has all been worth it.
I don't regret that I have been able to lose weight, and make such an enormous change that I couldn't do without my band.

Possible Regrets:
Maybe one of the other procedures would have gotten me to goal faster with less work (but I have no idea what the down side is with those procedures so maybe I wouldn't have been happen with the sacrifice they came with)
The fear of potential lapband problems that can lead to a possibility of losing my band is kinda scary. I dont want to lose my band I love it too much.

I think what it comes down to is knowing long term how each procedure works. Yes lapband works for most in the beginning and can work long term too if it doesnt have to come out, but somedays I worry that removal may be inevitable. However I knew with RNY the fear of my stoma stretching out a few years later and having no kind of restricted diet would be a problem. Good Luck but please research very well your options :)

No regrets here.  I am thrilled with the results.  Like others - I'm not at my ultimate goal, but if I stay here, I'm ok.  I am off all meds except for one and no longer sleep with a CPAP machine.  I feel great and am more active than I've been for a very long time.  My recommendation for you, like others *****sponded, is to do your research and find the best option that's right for you.  there is no perfect WLS and there is no easy route to any of this.  It's a lot of work, but worth it all in the end!

Hi, I've had my band for over two years.  I've lost about 80 lbs., so for me the losses have been very slow.  I do not regret getting my band at all, my only regret is that I do not work it the way I should all the time. 

There is a saying around here that the band is around your stomach, not your head.  That's something you really need to think about before getting a band.  The band works - for most people - but you really have to work it.  I have not always been willing to do that, but in spite of that, I've still lost 80 lbs.  So I'm very happy.  I realize to lose the rest of my weight, I will really have to diet and exercise.  You have to be willing to make that commitment if you're going to succeed with the band.  The band seems to be the hardest WLS for losing weight, but some people lose over 100 lbs their first year. 

You will read posts from people for whom the band simply didn't work through no fault of their own.  That happens, unfortunately.  Maria has already responded that after 16 fills she has still not found the "sweet spot" and she's very unhappy about that.  That happens, too.  There are no guarantees with the band.  For me, the sweet spot is a mental thing.  I don't think I've ever reached it myself after probably 20+ fills, but I am fine with that.  I saw my surgeon this week and even though I'm not at the sweet spot, I chose again not to have a fill. (I had lost 10 lbs since seeing him 2 months ago)  I don't think I've had a fill for about 6 months.  My band is tight enough that I have enough restriction to limit me to about a cup of food, sometimes more depending on what I'm eating, per meal and I don't want to be any tighter.  My reg. dietician for the program tells me I should be tight enough that I can only eat half a cup of food.  I don't want to be that tight.  I can lose weight at where I am with the band, even though I'm stomach growling hungry within 3 hours of eating.  I'm okay with that and so is my surgeon as long as I'm eating healthy snacks.  which I admit I don't always do - bad choices equal slow weightloss for me.

The band works differently for everyone and it seems like everyone gets different directions from their doctors, so it's impossible to compare band journies.  The best advice anyone can give you is research, research, research ALL WLS and find the one the will best work for you and the kind of eater you are.  I probably should have chose a different WLS because I'm a sweets eater, but I am still happy with my choice and if at some point I lose my band, I will not pursue any other type of surgery.  This is it for me.  I often tell people I don't "love" my band, but I am "in like" with it.  That's because bands are tempermental, finicky pieces of plastic, and there have been times I absolutely hated my band (when I've been stuck and sliming in public places), but when I finish my zumba class and realize I couldn't have survived an hour of that if I was still at 300 lbs, I love my band.  So it all averages to "in like", lol.

Good luck with whatever you do.  Just know that you will have to live with whatever choice you make so be careful and cautious.  All WLS is simply a tool and each has its own success and failures.  It is scary, but it can be the best decision you'll ever make for yourself.  Take care.

cat

I regret the band and I'm having a revision on 4-4-11 to RNY.I never had restriction after several fills.Lost 65 lbs and gained it all back plus some,cant eat rice,bread,chicken,steak and a anything dry.I feel its a big waste of money and just another low carb diet.If you have alot of weight to lose I would definetly not consider this option.It works for some but not for most.Good luck to you either way