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Today I start my new life as smaller person. I have roller coasted my entire adult life. Today at 3 pm I have my lap band surgery. I very nervous for several reasons. The unknown after surgery problems. My ability to deal with not being able to eat some of my favorite foods. Etc Etc. The list goes on. I'm doing this for my family. I want to see my kids grow up. I want my wife to see me in a different light. I want to see myself different on the outside. The inside is fine. I would never dream of having a picture of me taken with my shirt off, but I'm doing it on here as a reminder of where I am and where I'm going. Out with the old and in with the new. Here we go. Highest weight 298. 1 week preop 294. Not sure this morning.

I never had any problem losing weight. Heck, that's the easy part! Keeping it off was the problem. Without the lap band I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be where I am today. I would have gone back to eating junk, not exercising, and being miserable. The lap band is the key to my success, period. My one year anniversary is tomorrow and I've lost 79 pounds in that time. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I'm only 7 wks post-op but I did this too. However, I really took a long hard look at myself and said "Can you really stay on this without the band?" I realized for myself, that I was only good for about 2 or 3 weeks because I knew it was leading up to the band. So, I went forward with the surgery. But the thing to take from this is that you HAVE to know yourself and whether or not you can keep it up. God bless you on this journey!

Congrats to you Jason. Happy Birthday. That's awesome for a birthday present. I got my 1st fill on my birthday last week and that was a great gift.

"Im starting to make bad choices. Ive been eating things that i know that i shouldnt." I have found that if I do not BUY it I can not EAT it. I only buy what I know I should be eating. I just love snack size baggies. I put just enough in them and know that is all I am to have. If I get sidetracked with a food idea I drink warm Water. Seems to cut the hungry. I am only 1-30 to Present into this and food is not my issue getting up and moving is. So joining a gym closer to home.

A fellow lapband friend advised me to put the fork down after every bite, chew, chew, chew and then decide if you need the next bite...

I know, it's frustrating to have the surgery and then have to wait so long for your band to really start doing its job. Sometimes the careful, incremental fill process seems endless, but it's safer to do it that way because overly aggressive fills can cause very unpleasant complications. I started feeling a little bit of restriction after my 1st fill, a little more after the 2nd, and the 3rd fill really did the trick. Looking back, I'm glad it was gradual because if they gave me that much fill (2.5 cc in a 4 cc band) all in the 1st visit, my eating problems would have been unmanageable. The way it worked out made it possible for me to practice good band eating skills and slowly adjust to the fills. Hang in there! Edited to Add: don't assume your surgeon gives fills only once a month just because they automatically schedule appointments for you once a month. My surgeon will do fills at 2-week intervals if you ask.

You;ll have to get a handle on this or there won't be much point in getting the band. After being banded you;ll have to excercize a lot of self restraint in your eating habits. The band helps, but most of it will be up to you. You;ll probably experience some "what have I done?" and a week or two of depression that you;ll have to get through, all the while trying to loose weight. I could tell you not to worry and it;ll be all roses and bubble gum, but the reality of it is that this will be hard work and your weight loss will be up to you. 1000 calories isn't very much, but in the right frame of mind, many, many people get by on it. Right now, put down those potato chips and Coke and make up your mind that you;re going to lose weight beginning today, and do it. Grit your teeth and best of luck.

I had my surgery 2 weeks ago with Dr. Woo in Vancouver. All my experiences have been great with SWLC. They are always attentive and very quick to respond to any questions or concerns.

I was also feeling really gross about my appearance. I was tired of hearing "you have such a pretty face". In my head, I was hearing "you have such a fat ugly body". Its only been about 5 weeks since my surgery and since then I've lost a few lbs, hired a personal trainer and work out 3 x per week. Even though its clear that I have an incredibly long journey ahead of me, I'm feeling so psyched that I've finally started the journey. It feels so good to be doing something about my fitness and my health instead of just feeling horrible about myself. I was not expecting to feel better about my appearance before losing a significant amount of weight but here I am feeling great just because I'm taking action and doing something about it. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel after the first "dreaded fill" but I'm up for the challenge. I already feel more confident and attractive and wore 2 dresses to work this week that I have not been able to fit for OVER 2 YEARS!!