How easy or difficult has it been to lose weight with Lap Band?

[TulipStar 2]

I voted somewhat easy. The main reason is that it has been difficult for me and I have to exercise an 1-2 hours everyday. The main benefit for me is that the lap-band doesn't allow me to "fall off the wagon" for long, bc I am restricted.

[cookielover 1]

I voted "some what easy", because the band is what you make of it. The band has made my body a superstar, but I have had to work hard to do it. I don't always do it well or the right way, but I do get up and get on the horse everyday. Sometimes I get depressed when I don't loss as much as I think I should be, but I have to remember that I take a lot of anti-depressants, and mood stablizers for my bi-polar which put on a ton of weight in it self. I am fighting an uphill battle. That being said; that still doesn't keep me from feeling bad about my progress. I think that is because I am working so hard for sparse results. (Ok the cookie thing I admit to, but I did cut them out.) I just have to keep looking ahead to my future and stop looking down at my scale. (Damn scale!) Now I am thinking about it...without the band I gain approx. 20 pounds per year with my meds. This year I have lost over 60 and counting. I LOVE YOU LAP BAND!

[CirrusPilot 0]

Somewhat easy. Before I reached a sweetspot of restriction, I had begun to think that this was going to be really difficult. Sure I lost weight quickly on the preop and post op Liquid Protein diet. 24 pounds came off almost immediately. But after that it was steady state for several weeks. Until the fills started. The first and the second each seemed to give me a little restriction. After the third fill, however, I knew that I was in the much discussed band heaven. My band was working with me, teaching me that the wrong foods (breads, rice, Pasta, etc) resulted in pain and too much of anything did the same. I hope this lasts, although I understand from many posts that we end up chasing the sweetspot as we lose weight. I am now down 35 and feeling great. Those of you who have made exercise so much a part of your routine are an inspiration to me. That is the next difficult thing for me.

[wanda-sc 0]

Hi:

I had my surgery June 5. On June 23 I had a blood clot in my leg, from the IV's in the hospital and the appetite the coumadin has given me, I have gained 11 pounds. I go tomorrow for my first fill, I have no idea what the doctor is going to say. Right now I can eat as much of anything that I could before surgery. I may have really messed things up. I don't know if I have already stretched out the pouch of my stomach since I eat so much. Just wondering if anyone else experienced anything like this. I am so depressed right now. I can't even exercise because I am on blood thinners. Is this a lost cause?

Please write back.

Wanda:confused:

[Carrie_C 9]

No, it is not a lost cause. You haven't had any fills yet, so it is normal to be able to eat as much as you want. Plus with the problems you have had, I'd be surprised if you hadn't gained. The doctor probably sees people who have gained much more than you have. I wouldn't worry about it. Just get your fill and get better and the weight will start to come off.

[Liftingchic 0]

I said the same as other weight lost programs.. It takes work, its not a cake walk, you still need to measure your food, track your food and workout..

[isaviolinist 11]

I picked easiest attempt I've ever made, but its a little of both. In some ways its the easiest and fastest weight loss I've ever had. Never before in my life have I been able to eat 800-900 calories a day and be satisfied. And I've never lost between 3-4 pounds a week (regardless of what I was doing). Its funny because sometimes I get frustrated with a 2 pound loss in a week, since I'm so used to losing 3 or more a week.

However, in some ways, its really really hard (maybe not as hard as other weightloss attempts but hard). I have to carefully count calories and exercise and make good food choices. For a food addict, thats pretty hard (which was evidenced by the fact that I gained a lot of weight back when I stopped paying attention/caring about my choices).

But when Im on track, its easy and I love it.

[IndioGirl55 32]

I said the same as other weight lost programs.. It takes work, its not a cake walk, you still need to measure your food, track your food and workout..

I agree somewhat - it does help if you try to eat 16 oz steak - but doesn't do a darn thing when you want to eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

IMHO I think that pple think it's a cake walk and then when the lbs don't come flying off they blame the band.. It's all about food choices - knowing the calories in the foods you eat and getting off your butt and exercising...

I did 75% of the work by making good food choices & exercising and 25% was the band ...

[L12 13]

I answered extremely easy, and except for that little matter of surgery, it really has been the easiest weight loss attempt. I've never hit a plateau since getting to my sweet spot, and I lost the majority of my weight without exercising (not that I recommend that, and I work out a lot NOW). Compared to the constant hunger, lack of results, and sense of failure my other weight loss attempts produced, this has been a breeze!

[gnortenjones 0]

I put "Somewhat Easy", though I'm somewhere between that and "as hard as other attempts".

I've been banded for a little over a year. The weight flew off at first, and within 6 months of being banded, I had lost about 70lbs since the beginning of my pre-op diet.

Like many people, I then hit the wall, began dealing with tons of stress, and depression, which caused me to fall back into bad habits such as emotional eating, which of course, caused the weight to start coming back. I ended up putting around 30lbs back on.

Luckily I appear to have gotten back on track, and have lost 8lbs in the last week, and hope to be back to my post-band lowest before christmas.

So I'd say it's easy in the beginning, when your still psyched about your new toy, but then it gets hard if you haven't dealt with the issues that made you fat in the first place.

[BarbBee 1]

I agree somewhat - it does help if you try to eat 16 oz steak - but doesn't do a darn thing when you want to eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

IMHO I think that pple think it's a cake walk and then when the lbs don't come flying off they blame the band.. It's all about food choices - knowing the calories in the foods you eat and getting off your butt and exercising...

I did 75% of the work by making good food choices & exercising and 25% was the band ...

I totally agree! The band helps with Portion Control but you decide what goes in your mouth, whether or not you exercise and keep up with fills as needed.. I believe it is a combination of all three that makes you successful at losing weight and keeping it off. If I ignore any of the three the pounds start creeping back on. When I am mindful of all three things the pounds came off and I found it somewhat easy.

[IndioGirl55 32]

I put "Somewhat Easy", though I'm somewhere between that and "as hard as other attempts".

I've been banded for a little over a year. The weight flew off at first, and within 6 months of being banded, I had lost about 70lbs since the beginning of my pre-op diet.

Like many people, I then hit the wall, began dealing with tons of stress, and depression, which caused me to fall back into bad habits such as emotional eating, which of course, caused the weight to start coming back. I ended up putting around 30lbs back on.

Luckily I appear to have gotten back on track, and have lost 8lbs in the last week, and hope to be back to my post-band lowest before christmas.

So I'd say it's easy in the beginning, when your still psyched about your new toy, but then it gets hard if you haven't dealt with the issues that made you fat in the first place.

Glad to hear you are back on the Band Wagon :0)

I totally agree! The band helps with Portion Control but you decide what goes in your mouth, whether or not you exercise and keep up with fills as needed.. I believe it is a combination of all three that makes you successful at losing weight and keeping it off. If I ignore any of the three the pounds start creeping back on. When I am mindful of all three things the pounds came off and I found it somewhat easy.

WTG Barb - you have done fantastic !!! You got it - Eat healthy - exercise - band - it's all 3 ;0)

[beernut 0]

It's easy in that I've been successful w/ the lap band but it's more difficult in that I've had to really dedicate myself to this way of life. Making permanent changes are harder than short-term ones, like past fad diets have been.

[kll724 3,055]

It's easy in that I've been successful w/ the LAP-BAND® but it's more difficult in that I've had to really dedicate myself to this way of life. Making permanent changes are harder than short-term ones, like past fad diets have been.

I agree, I put somewhat easy. I lost 100 lbs in my 1st year. But, maintenance to me is the hardest part. Remembering what got you to your weight loss and where you came from, helps an awful lot to maintain your won't power. As in, I won't go back to the way I was, I won't eat all the junk that I know I shouldn't have. I won't get discouraged. Karen(kll724)