"Real Housewife" admits to Band Surgery

Lauren Manzo's struggle to lose weight has been a major plot point this season of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." Fans watched her try to diet and exercise — after her mother Caroline, who has struggled with her own weight, described her as "eight pounds of sausage in a five-pound bag" — but with little results, the 24-year-old opted to go under the knife. Manzo recently admitted that in September, she had lap band surgery, which has taken her weight from 185 pounds down to 155. "Something wasn't right with me," she tells Us Weekly as for why she decided to take such a drastic route. "I was depressed."

But now that she's down 30 pounds in nine months, she's much happier — and eagerly anticipating hitting her goal weight of 120. "Getting the lap band was the best thing I've ever done in my life," smiles Manzo, whose father Albert also had the weight loss surgery after the first season of "Real Housewives." "When I first got it, I didn't want to tell anybody. So many fans related to my struggle, I didn't want to feel like I was letting them down."