I joined a balloon FB group after hearing about this as it SOUNDS good...but to me it combines the worst of ANY bariatric for cost, pain, discomfort, problems, for LIMITED weight loss, no permanent change, and the only benefit is no surgery.

The worst it can offer is the ballon breaks and lodges in the intestines requiring immediate surgery, to me this method is as bad the the old 'wired shut jaw' of the 1980s.

People actually GAIN weight pigging out beforehand, so the $5-9K they spent is wasted losing the 15 they just gained for a total of only 20-30 lost.

Balloons come out after 4-6 months, cause MANY difficult daily/hourly issues with vomity, gastric distress, for very little reward ~ 20 loss lost.

What I saw on FB (which may reflect only the more uninformed posters) are people what int quick solution, do NOT even try to change nutrition habits, complain about not being able to eat favorite foods, etc.

NEW balloon ideas are coming- an air filled one, one that dissolves after 4 months.

There is competition from gastric MDs now to surgeons who no longer control the market.

NOT every weight can have this, I believe the BMI must be under 40...I could be wrong, the leader "Obera" is just one product in several other tools and equipment they make for bariatric.

"Data on the use of the system in 125 individuals with BMI 30 to 40 kg/m² were presented earlier this year at Digestive Disease Week 2015. The participants lost an average of 22 pounds (10%) of their body weight after the balloon had been in place for 6 months and maintained 19 pounds of that weight loss 3 months after it was removed."

I just canceled my appointment for the Dr. to start the proceedings for the bypass surgery. My son was very heavy, drank a lot and did a complete transformation...now a body builder....stopped drinking....and he begged me not to do the surgery that I could do it just like he did as he knew exactly how I feel. And I am trusting I have the good sense now to do what I know I need to do...put my money in my pocket and carry on as I have for the past month and losing a little slower but a better way. Your post is inspirational to me....if you've already had the surgery what else are you going to say but you wouldn't go back???? Thanks for your post.

As someone that when I was 20 yrs old, I was so small, I could read my label as being a single digit! Now that I am in my 40's....how is it that I am double digits? I ate the right food, drank the water, drank the water, to no avail..... and the struggle is "real". Diet after diet, pill after pill, but, I have been so discouraged, embarrassed with myself.

I am trying something totally different now, and I am finally seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel! It is non-surgical, I am not there,,,, I want to go this route. And its monitored by a doctor and I have a personal coach! I think my problem before was what do I eat? How do I eat...and when? How many days do I exercise to really make it work? This is helping with meals, counting calories, and having someone in my corner....don't we all need that! I had to shout this and pass it on.....

Hey everyone!

I had my surgery date of May 17th for the VSG. It was a SUPER hard six months with tons of work to get approved (I have other health issues as well) and I was in the pre-op diet phase.

It all of a sudden hit me that this was real and it was so close. I had been super excited. I told my wife I was starting to have doubts and we had a really long talk about all of the reasons why I was doing the surgery.

In the end, we decided that it wasnt the right time. My reasons for doing the surgery right now arent good enough to go through such a drastic body/life change.

My wife's sister has been doing WW for 6 months and lost 50 pounds. She got my wife on board who also started losing weight and now that I have started, I am losing weight as well. Also having two other people you can do the program with makes it more fun for us.

I hope this works and I will still be working toward my goal diet - mostly plant based, NO processed food, and only local meat and dairy. And my goal weight - 175.

Does anyone else eat this way? I could use some tips and tricks to do the fruits and veggies on the cheaper side.

My wife and I use the names - macphersonj and macphersonl if anyone wants to become friends on WW connect!

out of curiosity I googled it and it looks like it works if you follow it and dont cheat but it also looks very expensive. nutrisystem works too, is the same concept but probably cheaper