i can honstly tell you that it is worth it. it is hard but it is defenitly worth it. i had the banding done on thursday and already i have lost 3 pounds i know it doesnt sound like much but to me it is. i have been struggling my whole life with my weight. in weighing 238 pounds i am now down to 235 and i hope to loose more. my goal is to get down to a size 12 or 10 so i can finally be wearing the stuff a teenager should be wearing. i start kaplan instatute in july and i hope to loose at least 50 pounds before then so i can fit into all the scrubs i want to and still look cute and not be made fun of for wearing clothes that are out of style or even just made fun of. so i am telling you it is really hard but it is really worth it and you have to follow the diet event the stuff is really nasty suck it up and just eat or drink whtatever it is.