I answered this! At length. But my post isn't here!!!!  I'll try again. If you suddenly have two answers - I'll come back and remove one.

You say you don't want a surgery to remove bits of your stomach,  but it rather sounds as if, partly due to the band and partly due to your surgeon making a hole in your stomach, you already have been "altered".  

I also have a basic reluctance to have bits of me removed and if I ever lost my band I honestly don't know what I would do.  I am almost sure I would not have another surgery.  Having said that most band to sleeve revisions and band to bypass revisions seem to work well.  Not all! I have good online friends for whom the revisions were definitely not good moves - but from reading on here, they seem to be in the minority. 

I have been fortunate - at 9 years post-op my band is still working well for me. I hope I may never have to make these decisions!

So, sorry, not being much help! But I do understand! 

I had to change my idea about 'being full'.

First -- I don't eat to be full anymore --- I eat to be 'not hungry' or 'satisfied' -- which is much different from the old days when I always ate until I was so full that I could not eat any more.

If I ate cereal, I would never feel 'full, or satisfied or not hungry' --- that food goes straight through me -- and because it is sweet and crunchy, my body just wants more and more of it.

I had to buckle down and eat

1.  protein first --- every meal and snack had to have protein. If I was really craving something salty/crunchy like chips, I would have a few low-fat wheat thins, broken into 1/4's with a piece of low-fat cheese --- and for about 100 calories, I was satisfied for a few hours

2.  no liquid calories -- except for low-fat milk.  I don't do protein shakes as they go straight through me, don't satisfy me and taste yucky to me

3.  eat every few hours -- breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack ---- I eat a small amount every few hours, so I am never more than about 2 hours away from my next 'meal' --- and I distract myself with work, activities or hobbies -- as well as drinking lots of water between

When I was losing weight, I kept my meals to under 300 calories and my snacks to about 100 calories each -- for not more than 1,200 calories a day -- -along with about an hour of aerobic exercise of some type (elliptical, treadmill or an exercise class).

I also fixed my portion in the kitchen (weighed and measured usually) and then sat down to eat --- I ate my portion and waited at least 20 minutes -- even if I thought I was still not satisfied --- and waited for satiety to 'kick in' ---- I never had to go back for more ---

The band is not for everyone ---- and honestly, removing fluid 'for a break' is something that I would NEVER consider --- too many people have trouble getting back to a good level once they start removing fluid.

But, as others have said --- every weight loss surgery is going to fail if you don't change the way you approach food and your choices about what, when and how to eat.

Hi Jackie thank you so much for the support where can I buy quest bars? I am trying to do better and it's because of people like u I want to love myself inside and out! I feel like I need to just talk to people who understand that this band is still hard work. I defiantly will keep n touch with u thank u

Hi,

I know that everyone's experience and story is different, but I just want to say that I do not think you have failed.  Please realize that the band is just a tool but that you are the one who took the steps to get approved for it, go through the surgery and the after care, and after all that, you certainly are deserving of all that the band has to offer, but it is simply a tool.  I remember in my early days, I wished that I could have had my brain banded instead, because emotional eating is literally something I have struggled with my whole life.  But after finally reaching a point where the stars have aligned for me, I want to just share with you that you are worth it for yourself and for your kids.  

Once you can get on track with a healthy eating plan, and really listen to yourself when you are hungry, I believe you will see success.  Try picking up some Quest bars....they are super good and you can eat them as they are, or you can bake them into cookies and fool yourself ;)  They are loaded with protein.  I also think that fitting in the exercise has really kept me personally on track and one thing I have noticed lately is that if you Google at home workouts, there are a million short workouts that you can do right at home.  Some days, it is a minute by minute process for me to make it through the day and have a good day, but once I have succeeded, it sure does feel good.

If you need a buddy, please feel free to message me.  I just really felt the need to respond and tell you to hang in there :)

We are excited to announce the panelists that will be on the Grad Panel at the 2015 ObesityHelp National Conference.  

Check out their bios.  We have DS, RNY, VSG, Lap-Band and Revision post-ops that will be joining us.