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I am a teacher at a high school. A student who gave me nothing but problems last year walked up to me today and shook my hand. I was like what is that for??? He said I want to say that you have done a good job losing weight and that I was not even sure it was you this year. It felt good to even have the kids recognize my hard work! I teach freshmen, so they do not know what I looked like last year. They think I have always been this size. 24 more pounds to go and I will be to my goal.

do your homework before you tell anyone, then if they come at you with a negative comment or reason, you can CALMLY back up your reasons. i was gaing weight steadaly too, tried weight watchers, didnt wor etc..... yada yada.......so after 2 relatives had the band last june, i started researching it. once i had all the info, i attended the surgeons seminar and then the local support group. when i was approved sometime later, only then did i let my family and co workers know. i have had 100 % support and some normal healthy questions about why and how it works, but nothing really negative. and if they do say something negative usually its because they have no knowledge of what its like to be overweight etc. it ain't pretty, but thats life!im down 26 lbs in 3 months and just hit"onederland - 199 lbs !!!) this morning ! Go get banded already ! BEST DECISION EVER !! good luck !!

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.

wow! awesome for a kid to recognize and actually say something. i'm smiling for you!

Hell, all I was gonna add was that the best way for ME to stay motivated is to keep changing it up. Don't get burned out with the same 'ol workout. Change it up, challenge yourself. For me it's a little weights, a little Zumba, a little step, even a walk around the block. Whenever, however....JUST MOVE IT!

Congrats to you both! The NSV's are almost better than scale victories, too!

I haven't had the surgery yet, but since I am covered partially by insurance I have to do the 3 months of supervised dieting. I haven't told anyone but my husband and my other care providers (doctors), who I asked to write letters to the insurance for me to help me with approval. I have been struggling with what to say and who to tell, and then I came to an epiphany - for me at least. When I first started learning about the lapband and reading how it works I noticed the one word that everyone uses - TOOL. This will be a tool for us in the steps we are taking to make our lives healthier. This is not a magic fix-it band, not a you'll-never-crave-chocolate-doughnuts-again band, not a cure for the I-want-some-icecream-now band. It is merely to reduce the AMOUNT that we are allowed to eat at one time.. Everything else is up to us. It will be hard work, especially at first, and I will be consciously making healthier choices and chosing what I eat (already started in January to get ready). Now, if I tell anyone or everyone that I have this band, any steps I've done or long hard road I've gone down or sacrifices I have made will all be lumped into one phrase: "oh, she has the Lapband, no wonder she lost weight so easliy". It may be petty or feel like I need attention, but if anyone wants to pay attention to my weight and how much I've lost or how much better I look, then I want it to be about ME and about my choices and the hard work I've done to get there. Maybe if someone is curious about the band, or if I feel like they may understand how much work I still had/have to put in, then I may feel the connection and want to tell them about it. For now, I haven't even told my sister (who is one of my best friends) or my mother (who lives with me and my family) or any of my friends. I am a talker and constantly give TMI to my friends and family, and this has been hard for me not to say anything and gab on and on about it. But I know once I open that dialog up I can't take it back. So I found this website, and I found a place where I can talk about it and feel like everyone understands. This is a very personal decision and it's hard to decide what to do. Good luck with your decision. ~Kelly <3

I must have got the generic band cause mine was only 9600. If you are unfilled for whatever reason, you need to treat it as your bandster hell time and use as much will power as u can. Even if you can eat a whole hambuger and fries doesnt mean u should. I know with me, once I start down that road it would be hard to stop again. I have learned alot over the past year, but I trying that stuff would pull a trigger. good luck and try to get refilled soon if possible.

I will keep you posted on what happens on Monday, I see my doctor.

Yep, I started it about 2 weeks post op as well. It's an amazing program. I finished it, and am now training for a half marathon. Ran 4 miles last week and could have kept going. Love couch to 5 K!