Keeping it off is always the issue! All my life I have lost weight but been unable to keep it off because I LOVE food! Now I really love my band. My band helps control my intake, so occasionally I can it the B.A.D foods, but my band only lets me eat a small amount and not over eat like I always used too.

I was banded on March 31st and lost 60lbs so far, I can honestly say its one of the best things I have done in my life. As I get a little older the aches and pains were creeping in, but I can tell you I really feel my fitness levels and weight are shortly going to be the best they have ever been and the aches and pains are almost at zero.

My lapband is my tool to help me live a long and happy life. Only you know if you will be able to keep the weight off, I wish you lots of luck and happiness in whatever you choose:)

I agree. Doubt is normal. If you had been successful at keeping the weight off you wouldn't even be on this forum. Also, people make results look however they want them to look. You are responsible for your own well being.

You are doing a great job with the weight loss, but just remember that you have a closet full of different sizes, showing that there is a history with your body to lose and then regain. The band will be your tool to not only lose but keep it off! My own GP was against me having the band until he did research and saw how incredibly valuable it is as a tool for longterm success. Yes, living in the here and now is important, but look to your past and your future to get a full picture.

I didn't have to do the six month pre-op diet, but I did try losing the weight on my own after going to all the required meetings. I just had one last thought of "Do I really need to go this far?" I lost about 40 pounds as well, but then in a few months put it back on, and then some more.

With the band, I can still eat anything I want. I have to take bread and chicken slower, but I can have as much as I want. My main problem was fast food. I ate it everyday, sometimes twice a day. And it was definitely go big, or go home. I hated healthy foods, and when you're hungry, you want to eat something that you'll enjoy. And you want to eat plenty of it.

The band makes it so I can just a little healthy food, and then I'm full and it's on to whatever else I have to do. It is destroying the hold that food had over me. Eating isn't a big deal anymore.

Of course, I still spend 1.5 - 2 hours a day working out. So what I'm saying is, you can probably do it on your own, but the band helps a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

For what its worth - I would not recommend the surgery to you. Certainly its better that your insurance is paying for it. I paid 15K for this and its been almost a year. I have lost 45 lbs total. I work out like crazy and stay at about 1500 cals. Still the weight loss is incredibly slow.

You seem to be doing all of it on your own and thats wonderful. The band will not help you keep the weight off - not much anyway. All it does is not allow you to overeat in one setting. If you eat slowly or snack throughout the day the weight comes right back on.

The band is a tool that give you about 15% boost. Diet and exercise do the other 85%.

For you... I would say NOT to do it.

You have to be ready for a lapband! It doesn't do the work for you, but is a tool that helps you. If you follow the 6 meals a day, don't graze, and eat your protein 1st it will work. You just need to be ready for it! It doesn't make you lose weight, you have to do that, but it helps with that hunger. I know that I would lose about 20 or 30 pounds and then get frustrated and start eating again and would gain it back...I know that this is a forever deal and I have changed my lifestyle along with my diet...if you aren't ready, don't do it...it only works if you work with it! I have lost 63.5 pounds and 40 of those are post surgery...it can work!

Thank you everyone for your advice, it is something that continues to be on my mind. I am going to keep going on my pre-op journey and I am sure I will probalby change my mind a hundred more times back and forth.

Friends and family told me the same thing- You have lost weight a milliion times before so you really dont need this band do you. But that is precisely why I decided to get it. I can lose weight but I always go back to my old overeating habits and gain it back. that is why I decided I really need this tool to help me make it lifetime.