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I agree with everything you said, but especially this: "The band doesn't fail people; People fail the band." Unless you had an incompetent surgeon who placed the band incorrectly, or you're one of the extraordinarily rare people who had a mechanically defective band, the band works. Or maybe I should say the BAND PROGRAM works, because nothing is a magic cure for obesity, not even the band (or sleeve, or bypass, for that matter). The band is simply a key component in a system that involves eating less, eating more wisely, eating healthier, and moving your body more often. You can't just pick and choose which of those pieces of the system you're going to actually do. You have to do them all. If you don't, you won't lose weight. But the band didn't fail; the bandster did.

I'm not being critical but the deal with the band is that you HAVE to take small bites and chew well. You have to learn what foods will always get stuck. For me and a lot of others, anything stringy will get stuck, whether its meat or vegetables or cheese. Good luck with the sleeve tho.

Embrace the new you.... this is what you worked for.... Size 11 from a 20.... You are not alone.... most of us have body issues. I'm now down to a size 4-6ish and i still see that fat girl looking back at me sometime. Every once and a while i look and i like what i see. It's in pictures that see what i really look like. It's weird because i was not always fat.... i use to be very thin.... like 22" waist thin. And when i started gaining weight i knew that i was but when i looked in the mirror i still saw the thinner person.... Then my husband took up the hobby of photography and i was looking at pictures and didn't recognize myself in a photo and that was all it took. It's crazy how our brains work. i remember emailing my friends and saying..... MY FAT ASS FIT IN A SIZE 12 TODAY.... I was sooooo happy. Ok i know i'm rambling, but i have to tell you this story. My husband and i was trying to buy me a new shirt to go out in and i was in the dressing room. I was not looking for jeans. i had shorts on... picked out a shirt and he said you need to put on jeans so i can see how it looks. So i sent him to get me a size 12 jeans... he handed me the jeans i put them on and we decided that the jeans looked good too... they were buy one get one at new york and co. so he said, look for another pair... i said ok, but i want a size smaller as a goal pair... so i told him to look for a size 10....he like why do you want a size 10...i thought you wanted a size smaller... i said i know, you gave me a 12..... he looked at the paints in his hand that i had had on and said, but these are a size 10.... in the middle of the store... i said..."shut the fu#k up", "you are fu#king kidding me"... i had put on a size 10 and didn't even know it... so i got them and a size 8. In the middle of New York and co... i did the happy dance....... happy happy joy joy.

You look great! You are two inches shorter than me and I started at 220. Thanks for the inspiration.

hi Shadow well I have been banded since July of 09 and haven't lost much weight at all. I have never felt restriction and have recently hit rock bottom. So there I was looking up at my horse So me and Bandie decided to get back on track I began to exercise like crazy, drink plenty of water and make careful desicions. And then it happened my kids were driving me nuts and I woke up the next morning with my stomach in knots. Was this restriction I thought. I couldn't eat a thing and when I drank I felt nauseous. I called my doc who told me to come in for an unfill. It was a week to the day that I had my 5th fill. And sudennly after my unfill things began to kinda feel right I started to feel something and get an overall attitude that wasn't there before. Was this what I needed maybe an unfill can solve my weight gain maybe staying connected to my bandsters thru fb is a very important part of my journey. I wont be the same girl I was last yr. because somehow this unfill has given me a different feeling and a whole new attitude!

My doc put 4cc in my band during surgery! Congrats girlfriend; you are doing good. I am two years post opt and I still want to lose 30 more. I am also a southern girl in Birmingham, Alabama. I wish you much success!

Hi Angie! Hey, aren't we human? I'm *still* working on perfecting me, but guess what - that's never going to happen. All I can do is keep chipping away, and getting the VSG is only the first step. And, you are still early out so yes, the weight loss is going to happen no matter what or how much you eat. Just know that it does get harder the longer you're out. I speak from experience, and though I'm not trying to lose weight per-se, keeping it off is not all that easy. It IS easier than before my sleeve, but again it does take a lot of diligence on my part. I can see that if I didn't watch myself I really could gain my weight back. Like you, THANK GOODNESS for workouts!!!