The Band- Everyone stumbles, right????

We have heard it said over and over.. the lap band is not magic. rather, it's a tool and YOU have to work that tool. I have heard it over and over.....
Pre-op, it never made sense how people would get wls and then try to find ways around it to sabatoge themselves. It seemed like a no-brainer... sick of being fat+WLS=weight falling off of my body.
Even with the seminars. Even with the posts and blogs that I read. Even with ALL of the research I have done, I was convinced that as long as you want it badly enough and get the surgery, I would be at goal, easily, in less than a year............
OK, so, here's the reality of it all..... I did not do the pre-op liquid diet to a T. I figured, if I screw up here and there, at least I am doing a lot better than I normally do. The post of liquids I made it through, but it was hard. The mushy phase I ended early (but I did consult with my surgeon's office first). So, could it be that I was just not ready for the surgery in the firsy place... even though I wanted sooooooo badly to get the weight off? Hmmm.
The Lap-Band is HARD! I would say we get a few 'bonus' pounds here and there thrown at us that the average dieter does not get... but it stops there. It takes a while to acheive restriction (I am not there, but I want to keep mine as loose as possible and somehow get more restriction on MY BRAIN). We are in charge of every pound. We are held accountable. If you do not diet and exercise, you will not succeed. I am not entirely sure that I actually believed that when I got the surgery. I thought it would come of slower than a more invasive surgery, but I thought it would, in fact, fall off!!!!
I did very well in the beginning. I logged everything I ate and all activity. I did not test the waters to see what bad choices I could get away with. I posted on this board daily (a huge key to my early success) and leaned on other posters for support. If I could have done it all by myself, I suppose  I would have..... But we all need support!!!! I moved my body, counted carbs fat grams. I cooked every meal and prepared for emergencies by having healthy meal choices in my car, just in case I got hungry and needed to battle the urges to return to the dreaded 'golden arches' of destruction for a poor meal choice of fast food crap............... I don't know what happened. Somewhere along my journey, I stumbled. Time got away from me. Days passed by and I took a long canoe trip down The deNial River. I seemed to have misplaced my scale ever so conveniently and looked the other way when I passed my gym. I made excuses for poor food choices saying "I am eating less of it so I am really just eating like a normal person and that should be considered a victory." Blah, blah, blah..... cop-outs and excuses.
I am not totally beating myself up.... I am 10 months out next week and I have lost a little over 50 pounds (I have to update my ticker and goal info... have not been on here in so long, I have forgotten how). I can buy clothes in regular sized stores (albeit I have been in 14s for waaaaay tooo long now). I have not had a single sip of soda or anything carbonated. I quit smoking. I do not drink with my meals. So ALL hope is not lost. I have recommitted myself to work my band instead of expecting IT to do the work for me. That is not the purpose of the band, despite what I really thought.
So, the point of writing this is tri-fold..... 1) If I say it out loud, then it becomes true and something I need to become accountable for.   2) To hopefully help someone else who stumbled to get back on the horse and press on towards their goals.  and 3) To shed some light (and maybe, sorry, bust a few bubbles for pre-ops who are thinking the way I did). If you are going into this with the realization that you really and truly have to bust your butt every day and fight the demons that want you to skip the gym, or eat bad food choices, or not follow your wls rules, then you are more likely than I to be successful. I started out with some preconceived notions, in spite of all that I read and heard.
My recommendations to the newbies? Come to this or another supportive place as often as you can!!! As soon as you stop- the support from people on the same journey is gone and you are the only one in control of that. There are some wonderful people here. There are also some band bashers- and that is another reason why I disappeared from here... the negativity was becoming a bit more frequent. Well, there's negativity everywhere and we have to learn to ignore it or deal with it. There are going to be negative people everywhere you go, no message board will be different.... just find the people you draw strength from and by all means, USE IT!!!! So many people on here have been AMAZING to me!!!!  Also, know the truth... if you do not eat right and exercise and follow your band rules, do not turn around and blame the band for failing you! It works, if you work it. If you ignore it, it becomes spiteful and eveil, lol!!!! Exercise is key, as well. No secrets, it's the same hard work that you always knew you had to do BUT YOU CAN DO IT!!!
I am back!!!!! I am vowing to be down 30 pounds more by my surgiversary in 2 months.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant... hope I helped someone and did not put you all to sleep 

Congrats on your commitment to get back on track...with the band you can ALWAYS jump start your band with a needed fill if necessary!! It's sad that people don't fully realize what they are getting into with wls...it's not a majic wand, IT IS A TOOL, if you don't work it...it will not work

It's funny I have people ask me about Lapband .. and I tell them really really take a hard look at yourself because Lapband is HARD period. dot. end. you have to put forward all the effort.. you can still eat chips, cookies, etc.... not to discourage you but it's not the easy way out. I get so sick of hearing that.. .. I can only speak on my surgery so I don't recommend or sway anyone to anything else... I love my band but I'm more proud of ME for losing this weight with the HELP of my band.. but I don't praise my band for the losing all the weight.

Good Luck!! I too am battling a small holiday blimp! lol

 Welcome back! I was worried about you. I know what you mean about the scale, I have been avoiding it since the holidays, this morning I vowed to get back on the scale and to my horror (but not surprise) I have gained 5 lbs.  I am back on the wagon with you, I passed 10 months yesterday. No sweets is my goal for today  and forward. I have not even sipped carbonation but I have learned to eat around the band (my fault for being to tight for 3 months) now I have to break all those bad habits.

Good Luck to you and I am glad to see you back!

HI!!!!! how are you??? so happy all my good ol' peeps are still here. ok, so what are we going to do???? lets work out a plan to finish this year big and do a 1 year surgiversary dance!!!!!!

Good to see you back!

I think anyone who has been banded for any length of time will know how you feel! We work hard with our tool! And if we ignore the more aggressive bashers, the message from the calmer critics is right - it is very, very easy not to lose weight with the band. That's why the loss stats are lower than for other wls.

But if we have done all the research and our docs have prepared us for the difficutlies, if we accept this, then this band can make all the difference. I have done the work! Not my band!  But without it I could never have done it.

Keep posting!

Kate