My top weight was 319 lbs. I weighed 292 lbs when I had my lap-band surgery on 5/19/09. This morning I weighed 166 lbs and I continue to lose...as long as I follow the rules. I don't always follow the rules, I have bad days and bad weeks. I believe that lap-band will work if YOU WORK IT. I eat right, move more, stay motivated. My goals is 150 lbs. I never thought I would be 16 lbs from goal. I wear a size 12 in some things...a 14 in others. I go roller skating with my daughter. I can eat all of the Doritios and ice-cream I want...but I CHOOSE not to. If I chose to eat the crap, I would not lose weight. Would that be the fault of the band? I don't think so. I wish there was some sort of brain surgery that would make me have a healthy relationship with food, but there isn't, so I suppose I must continue to fight the battle. I am determined to win the war. I feel better now than I have in YEARS...I wish everyone luck in their journey. I am so glad that I didn't listen to the people that were negative about lap-band before I had my surgery. If my surgery was a failure, it would have been my failure, not the bands.