Please do NOT take this wrong..

[tonya66 13]

I know I could lose weight without the band, I've done it over and over and over and over and over again.......The problem was, I never could keep it off.

I'm down 88 lbs and only 15 lbs from my goal, and I know I will NEVER be fat again with the band.

Pre-band, I was never able to lose more than 50 before I started to pack it back on, plus another 10 to 15....

Even when I eat bad with the band, I only gain a few pounds.

Before I got banded, I decided to try ONE LAST time to do it "on my own". Well, I lost around 50 lbs, went on vaction, gained 15 in 7 days....and kept on gaining, then I realized I needed serious help, so I turned to WLS.

So that is why I got the band, for PERMENANT weight loss.

Hats off to anyone that can lose and keep it off, for me, that wasn't possible and for me, the band was my solution.

[wynn 0]

I think you make a very good point. I am not a particularly fast loser, but I do know that without the band, I would not be able to sustain the behavior required to lose weight over the long term. I have lost before, many times in fact, but seldom without help (like phen/fen). So, I do know that this is not "in my head"; however, I think that at least a tiny part of my motivation is psychological. I mean, I went through this surgery, and expense, so it would be pretty terrible of me to waste this opportunity by not even trying.

With regard to the no fill, I have a very very sensitive pouch. With or without restriction I have to eat very slowly, and if I do not do that, up it comes. And, as we all know, when you eat slowly you eat less. I do lose better, and with more ease when i have good restriction, but I do not stop losing when the band is loose.

Also, I am a regular chatter on this site, and I have 'spoken' to many people that have fill left in after surgery. More than a few doctors leave saline in the band after the test fill, and I've heard anywhere from 2-5 cc. There are many people that log onto the chat room that have not have their first until months after surgery and they are losing very effectively.

In my opinion, bottom line, who cares why it works, as long as it does !

[lapbandtalker 0]

This is just for discussion people please do not take me worng it's just a question that has me confused.

I was reading a post and talking to a friend that will soon have her surgery and I was trying to find a positive post for her and I found myself reading a post that as I read it to her confused me!!!!

Anyway one of the members posted that they lost 100lbs in a few months and I was like damn that is great! But as I read on it stated they didn't even have a fill?!?!?!?!? Ok I thought if this person didn't need a fill but yet can lose over 100lbs what was the job describition of the band? I know I have been thinking alot and reading alot too and have come to conclusion that if one is able to diet and eat healthly what was the reason for the band? I know for me "bandy" she works hard becasue I do no have it in me to diet or eat healthly, nor have the will power. I know she works hard for me but when I read posts like today makes me start to think is it really in our minds?!?!?! Can one really do this without WLS?!?!?! I mean what makes one change their minds, have the will power to eat healthy, exercise, with just placement of the band?!?!?!?!? Do you all understand where and what I am trying to say?!

I think I read the same post. Let's assume her doctor did more than just implant the band. Let's assume he either left fill in it or put some in.

Other than that, I guess there would be a small percentage of the obese population that could be so psyched and motivated about 'surgery' that just cutting them open and stitching them back up could allow them to lose weight. Kinda like the placebo effect but with surgery rather than pills.

But if it works....great! I had to have 2 adjustments and recently had it all taken out because I was starving to death but then gained 10 pounds...going for a fill next week.

[LiseSeattle 0]

Took me a year and 3 months to lose 98 lbs...and I'm at 9.8cc's in a 10 cc band. I must have had at least 15 fills!!!