arahman

Fellow lappers and prospective one's- if you are thinking about it- it is the single best thing I have ever done in my life. I have lost about 53 pounds in a year! I haven't been this way since before I went to college! and love every minute of it. My success is not so much in the band but in my attitude. Even before the surgery I went in knowing that this was NO magic bullet and this weight didn't come on in 5 months and sure as heck wouldn't come down in that time either. Instead it will come down the same way it went up- but I will help my body a bit by giving it the tool (lap-band), the committment (5-6 days of one hour biking religiously) + 2-3 days of lifiting and the attitude (being little more selective about what I eat).I feel like a new man and this has changed the way I look at everything in life! To those who think I took the easy way out- I invite them to a work out session with me and live in my active lifestyle shoes for a week- so don't give me that crap that I took the easy way out! For those thinking about lap band-this is NO magic bullet. Don't expect that you will get this around your stomach and volla like magic you will wake up three days later and have a six pack! I know many of my fellow lappers had such expectations and relapsed into eating sweets and junk food (albeit in less quantity) and are wondering now- "damn this thing failed"- NO IT DID NOT!- YOU FAILED and not the band. You will need to look at the band as a TOOL (a boost of sorts to get you to your destination) and really change your relationship with yourself and with the foods you eat. That means make a commitment and NOT excuses to get off your butt and exercise most days of the week and be vary of what you eat. I still eat most of the things that I used to before- the key here is MOST (not all- I can't remember the last time I went to a drive thru!) and eating the things that I love sensibly (i.e. eating a scoop, may be a scoop AND half of ice cream instead of the half gallon!) So the secret to the band success is really inside YOU and what you make of the tool- GOOD LUCK!

Dear lovingit- please don't be dismayed! There are many (I mean MANY) factors in your 'numerical' weight loss. See if I had given up all the things I loved and didnot do weights at all I probably would have lost like a 100 lbs in the same period- and then would be sitting again under the knife to get the tummy tuck. Allow your body to adjust slowly to the new you and all the while continue to tone yourself so you don't end up looking like an unhealthy skinny person- but a firm, toned, no second operation needing yourself! Also note that some of those people you are talking about who lost 130 pounds- started at 300lbs too- so they will lose more much faster than you or I would. Because I started at 248 of mostly flab- and my goal was to get to a toned/ built 160-170lbs, I have started losing less and less- but that it is not necessarily bad- b/c I am replacing flab with muscle. Keep your chin up and stay the course. This is much like investing in your retirement plan. You cannot put in a million bucks one time and expect to have a nice nest egg (you may have bought at the wrong time!)- so you want to keep putting aside a few bucks but do it regularly-and in a while you will look back and say- "damn!"

Hello fellow banders. I had my lapband surgery 3 weeks ago and everything is going fantastic and I am following the routine- resulting in a 20lbs loss. My question is that before surgery my spouse never complained about me snoaring or stop breathing. As a pre-surgery test I took the sleep tests and my Pulmonologist said that I had a mild case of Apnea and I should get the C-PAP machine. She has aggressively pursued pusued me to get the C-PAP machine even after the surgery. I really don't feel I need it and see it as just another expense....and I sense that there is more here than a true medical need. Have any of you experienced problems if you didn't use the C-PAP but were told that you should? Thanks!!

Thanks Dave- sorry about your cousin-did your cousin have mild apnea? or was it more severe?