dhoff

I apologize for "slamming" the board, the truth is that it (the Lap Band) probably IS helping me. I think where this comes from is that I have a bit of pent up resentment and hostility by the way the band was marketed to me. I truly thought my lifelong desire to be thin was going to be handed to me with a surgery, and it wasn't. I thought I was only going to be able to eat tiny amounts of food before feeling stuffed and this was partially true, but instead of eating the whole pizza at one sitting I just did it in two or three. Yes, I had all sorts of fills/adjustments, I had it so tight at one point I developed night cough. So, needless to say I was left incredibly depressed and disappointed over this for years. It was like thinking I had a winning lotto ticket only to realize I had read the numbers wrong. I have come to realize that weight loss is much more of an art than a science. You truly do have to find what works for you, and it might be entirely different than what works for somebody else. Frankly I had tried LCHF in the past and lost weight only to regain it, so I know it too is FAR from "failure" proof! Maybe LCHF could be combined with the Lapband (for some). All I want to suggest is this, look at ALL THE NEW research on the LCHF lifestyles. Yes I know there is a a study here or there that says bad things about it. What I am talking about are the meta-studies, where instead of looking at 50 people in one isolated test they instead combine ALL the tests with tens of thousands of people to draw meaningful results. In my opinion the jury is no longer out (like it was even 5 or 10 years ago), if you dig deep with an open mind you will see that we have gotten to the point there is a virtual avalanche of evidence that this is (one of) the most effective ways to gain control of your weight and health. If you want a shortcut you can start with the list of studies on this page: http://www.dietdoctor.com/science Again, I apologize for the initial negative tone. I understand this struggle and the fact that we all need encouragement and positive suggestions. I just happen to have become passionate about something that works for me (and may not work for others). So, if you are one of those Lap-Banders like me who was/is stuck and depressed about the lack of progress, this is simply my experience with what is working for me. (and I still have 30 more pounds to go)

Banded March of 2009 at 275lbs and over the next 3 years only managed a 20lb sustained weight loss! (pretty far from my 100lb goal)..............I consider the surgery to have been only slightly better than worthless. After 3 years of failure I regrouped and I am now down to 210 (or a 65lb loss)......How????? I went back to the tried and proven (for me anyway). I transformed into a HFLC lifestyle.....For those of you who do not know HFLC stands for "High Fat Low Carb"............Basically the old "Atkins" diet............I know many people here don't want to hear it. They want to think (as I did) that without any effort that a surgery would fix their problem..........I learned the hard way once again that "there are no shortcuts!"... What made the difference for me being able to follow this diet is that I educated myself endlessly for hundreds of hours about the research behind it. I now know that not only is this the best way to lose weight, it is also the healthiest way to live. Almost everything we have ever learned about eating a "low fat" diet is EXACTLY WHY WE ARE FAT AND SICK!! The truth is that some people can reduce calories down to near starvation levels and STILL not lose weight. The idea that its all about eating less is simply not true, as proven by countless recent credible research studies. Read everything you can by Gary Taubes if you want a resource for all the research. Read his book "Good Calories Bad Calories" and see how credible studies have proven that calories are nearly worthless in the weight loss battle. Here is a link to my Pinterest page with a lot of videos of Doctors and other researcher experts in the field explaining all of it......... http://pinterest.com...w-carb-experts/ I know we all have to find what "works for us".....I hope my experience helps someone else enjoy the happiness I finally am.........

I want to genuinely thank everybody who has responded............I am happy to report that the mere act of my taking the time to write my story and share it with all of you has begun sparking a bit of a change in me, I am feeling a little more hopeful again, feeling like maybe I can still make it work, I have even been eating better since my first post, it seems to have been a bit cathartic.....I also recently went to a 12 step AA meeting (although I am not an alcoholic) and found it very powerful too.......I simply substituted the word food everywhere they used the word alcohol...... In fairness to all here I think I owe it to admit that I just found out my un-supportive wife was doing things far worse than simply not caring about what foods I ate..............I don't care to go into details but any adult ought to understand what I am saying..... I must have been aware of this at some subconscious level and that caused my food addiction or compulsions to be extra hard to manage................... I plan to go ahead and get the study done to make sure the band has not slipped, and I am going to give it my all once again.... For those considering the band I just want to say that my experience shows that the lapband is not magic, it can and does fail if you are not ready for it.....Weight loss is an an all encompassing process of changing many things in your life...............The band will reduce your hunger and you will feel full quicker...............but if you are using food as a drug to make you feel better (as I was) you CAN and WILL find ways to defeat it........ The work is not over once the band is on, frankly it has only just begun...........all it does is gives you a little boost, head-start or helping hand in the process, but it does not run the race for you......... I think I will spend more time on this forum, I can see that the support, tips, tricks and experiences of others can be truly valuable in helping us succeed......... Thanks again, I'll keep you all posted, I need to go weigh in quick tonight before I start losing weight without knowing it!

I went the whole gamut with the fills......I was banded with the "Large" band (I guess there are two sizes) and had the band up near the maximum fill at one point, and yes I felt restriction. However, the problem is that I developed a terrible "night cough" when the band was that tight. It was so bad I almost could not sleep. (I have since read that I am not alone with this night cough issue). So, we had to reduce the fill back down enough to get rid of the night cough....... In fairness to my Dr. he did suggest a bariatric study awhile ago to make sure there had not been any slippage, and I have not done it yet........Part of the problem is that I initially paid for the band with cash, no insurance, so all these additional tests and procedures are out of pocket......My finances were significantly better 3 years ago than they are today... I have done significant self development work during my life and have visited with many therapists and psychiatrists over the years so I am pretty aware of the psychological issues and aspects that go with weight loss.... I think a big part of the problem is sweets, because even a small quantity of them packs a lot of calories. Despite knowing how bad they are for what I am trying to achieve I seem to have very little self control....... I wonder how much others feel that the support of others has mattered? Because in my case my wife would continue to load the house up with sweets despite my pleadings not to. She would say something to the effect of "why should everyone in the house have to suffer just because you cant control your addiction to sweets?" Is she right? Should I be fully expected to be able to control those desires? Or, have those of you who have been successful found that you too had no self control and the only solution was to make sure those foods were NOWHERE in your house!? I might add that at one point in my life I lost a lot of weight and kept it off for a few years with a low carb diet........I tried it again while banded and just got to the point I did not have the motivation to eat only Protein the rest of my life............ I have been in a "screw it" mode lately...............Basically feeling like nothing ever did or ever will work and I am just going to have to accept the fact that I will be a "fat person" until the day I die........ If someone knows a good way to break this mindset please share................ Thanks for listening.................

I have had the Lapband almost three years now and weigh the same now as I did before the surgery..................I temporarily lost about 50lbs but have put it all back on............I found it did help me to eat smaller portions at one sitting, but I could still eat the same amount over 2 or 3 sittings. So instead of eating the whole pizza at once I simply ate the whole thing over 4 or 5 hours etc....Plus it did nothing to reduce my craving for sweets, which I am seemingly addicted to.... I am at a loss about what to do. I realize that the Lapband was not meant to be a silver bullet, but rather a tool in the arsenal.........However, it does not change the fact that I am stuck and still have a great desire to lose weight and just don't seem to be able to do it.... What do I do? "Upgrade" to a gastric bypass? Get tests to see if the band slipped? Go to a shrink? Get hypnosis? Has anybody out there been in the position of complete failure like I am, and then managed to turn it around and lose the weight? If so, please tell me what you did.... Any and all suggestions and advice welcomed.... Thank you....