my fitness pal vs lap band

I'm 36 have know about mfp for awhile but never really got into it much, I'm scheduled to have lap band soon but my sister
has started using this app and really loves it, now I'm second guessing is this going to be like all other diet/ phases
or should I procede with the surgery

the people here are so friendly, makes you want to jump right in, doesn't it?

I had lap band two years ago this month. And I have used MFP even before I had the surgery and continue to do so consistently today. I don't have any complaints about the lap band. I went into the surgery knowing the risks and the challenges. I personally was not comfortable with the idea of cutting out a large portion of my stomach and I liked that the band is reversible. My ultimate goal is to get to a place where I feel I don't need it anymore and have it removed. I use my band as a tool but I don't rely solely on the band. Honestly, I purposely keep it looser so that I force myself to develop sustainable healthy habits. Small steps that I can stick with that eventually become a lifestyle. I'm not where I want to be as far as reaching my goal, but I don't blame that on anyone but myself. I'm still learning and tweaking things along the way. But the band has definitely helped me to stay motivated. I didn't go through surgery only to end up right back where I started. That's a constant reminder to me that failure and relapse is not an option. I might be standing still, but I'm never going back.

You have to decide what is right for you. Evaluate your options and figure out what you're comfortable with. But more importantly be honest with yourself and realize that no surgery is a magic pill and your long term success is entirely dependent on how much work you're willing to put into this.

I really hate that phrase "If I can do it you can." I AM NOT YOU! You don't know my story, my struggles, none of that...I just wish people would quit using themselves as the barometer for weight loss. You did it-great. You did it your way...let me do it my way. /end rant

so why are you on here then? alot of people are doing it "this way"

What I gathered from this is that a lot of people on MFP tend to think that their diet and nutrition plan is the only one that works. In this case, someone told OP not to go through with her surgery because they were able to lose weight without it. That's great and I'm happy for them, but I'm pretty sure a medical doctor with specific knowledge of OP's conditions and medical history is better qualified to offer advice than someone on a dieting website offering purely anecdotal evidence. But, that's just me.

edit: Also, I know that everyone is just excited and passionate about finding a diet that really works for them. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I just like to appreciate that everyone has a different method that may or may not be for me, which is an attitude that is not commonly found on MFP from what I have seen. To each his own though.

Thank you, Hayley.

I probably should loose around 90lbs , I'm tall and carry my weight really well but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still in need of some intervention.. After reading all the success stories I cant help but to think maybe I can do this .. really has me thinking

Why not try it for 6 months and see how it goes without the surgery? You're going to have to change your eating and exercise habits anyway, so see how you do on your own with MFP. Focus on your weekly nutrition and fitness goals, be consistent, be patient, and I bet you'll find that you're capable of a lot more than you thought!

BONUS: MFP is 100% free and if you do it right, a lot less risky.

You will find plenty of opinions here. Some more valid than others. Of course, mine are the correct ones. I have a friend and co-author who, when I try to tell him that he is wrong and I am right says of me, "Often wrong but never in doubt." That could describe a lot of us.


I'm doing TDEE-20%, weighing daily, weighing and logging food, eating very little processed food with my macros set to a zone-ish distribution, avoiding artificial sweeteners and sweet foods for appetite control, only consuming fructose in 1 to 2 servings of whole fruits per day, doing mostly cardio exercise in the form of walking or circuit training with cycling and light weights, and too scared and cheap to consider surgery.

Each of those things I do has supporters and detractors among MFP members. Each of them may or may not be good for you. You are the one who gets to decide because beyond eating less and exercising more, the rest is detail with more or less science behind it.

Its most likely beneficial to do both. As both MFP and the lapband are TOOLS to get towards your end goal. Neither one is going to be the "be all and end all" to your weight loss ... they are simply stepping stones to help you put the work in for your ultimate goal. In my opinion, a persons mind and perseverance will bring them to their weight loss goals ... everything else are tools to help get you there! Goodluck with the surgery and I hope it helps bring you to your ultimate goal!

You need to make your own decision, but let me tell you a story.

My sister had Lap-Band six years ago. She had good insurance, so the procedure cost her very little out-of-pocket. She lived near NYC and had a great surgeon. She never lost any weight. She had it emptied for her first pregnancy and didn't refill until after her second baby was born (still no real weight loss). Within three months of her refill after baby #2 (5 years after surgery), she was having issues and had it emptied temporarily until she could have a little more put in later. She ended up never having it refilled and used MFP to log her food and exercise. (Note that she had to jump through a million hoops just to find a doctor to help her, since she doesn't live near NYC anymore, and most doctors won't take on bariatric patients who had surgery with another doctor.)

She realized that she used the band as a crutch and not a tool, and when she did the latter, she didn't even need the band.

A year and 90ish lbs (lost) later, she decided she wanted the band removed because it was visible and palpable on her smaller belly. Surgery where we live would have been about $20K (NYC was more), and insurance didn't cover it. Thus she decided to just live with it. A few months later she started having issues where she couldn't even keep down small amounts of water, so she went to the doctor. It turns out her band had slipped, and she had to have emergency surgery to move it (she just had it removed instead). Her surgeon told her he had another patient have this happen but refuse surgery, and that patient died. So this could have been deadly had she not gotten medical attention. Thankfully insurance covered it because it was necessary to save her life. It was good because she got it removed and paid for by insurance, but it was no fun because it was not on her terms. It was the middle of the week, she missed work, I had to go retrieve her car at the hospital, and her husband and I had to pick up the slack to care for their young kids.

It turns out that her specific band had been recalled and is no longer used in surgeries. Like lots of medical devices, they improve over time, and sometimes the ones used in you break down over time.

Point being, for her it was very problematic. She told me she wished she'd never gotten it.

For some people, it's great if used as a tool and not a crutch, but for others it can be done using MFP without surgery. I'd give MFP a fair shot before doing something (almost) irreversible - but that's just my opinion.

I probably should loose around 90lbs , I'm tall and carry my weight really well but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still in need of some intervention.. After reading all the success stories I cant help but to think maybe I can do this .. really has me thinking

I whole heartedly agree that any surgery isn't something to jump into. If you are having hesitations, why not just start really putting effort into changing your lifestyle (since with surgery you're going to have to anyway). Then if you find you are successful with that alone, no surgery needed. If you give it enough time and still feel like you need the procedure then go for it.

Lap band surgery has a much lower success rate than gastric by-pass. You are wrong, the numbers for both are going through the roof, bypass is still a very common weight loss surgery. I have had both and I'm a RN. I really regret not having the bypass first but that is me and I would never presume to tell someone else what is the right choice for them. She needs to talk to her doctor and if she is really having second thoughts delay the surgery until she is sure.

You can totally do it [without the band], it may take more time but its totally worth it!

I had the lap band in Sept 2010. I have lost 119 lbs and continue to lose weight. I know I may not be typical but it is still happening for me. I am losing weight extremely slowly, 1 pound or so a month (but it's loss not gain).

I wouldn't consider reversing the procedure, and I would have it again in a heartbeat. Here's why.

It's a tool. It does not fix the problem. You still have to work and make the good choices. I could eat ice cream all day and I wouldn't have lost a pound. The benefit for me is that it is a physical stop to my inability to change my mental outlook. I had lost lots of weight a few times only to gain it and often more back. This is the first time I have managed to maintain weight loss for more than a year (or even continue to lose for more than 1 year). Even 3 years out I still have the desire for large portions and when I eat I take more than I can manage. I rarely finish a plate anymore because the band stops me. If I didn't have the physical restriction my mental need for satisfaction would get the better of my sense.

As for complications, looking through the meta analysis, and other medical research significant complications requiring removal of the band are very small. I know people who have consulted with doctors who discourage the band who say about 75% of them need to be removed. The surgeon who did mine has been doing this surgery for over 5 years, and has only had to remove 1 band in that time. He places about 3-5 a week. There were some technical things in terms of where the band was placed and how it was secured and etc that have reduced the incidence of needing removal which has improved the surgery. Of the bariatric surgeries it is still the one with the least severe complications. The fill/unfill is to me a blessing because it is adjustable. With the others you get what you get, and if you mess up and stretch it you have no place to go. I have been very stable with my band and haven't needed an adjustment in over a year.

I have seen people who have had the band, sleeve, and bypass. Some lost their weight, a few didn't. Some stalled after a year or so and stabilized there (not necessarily at goal). Some have lost tons, and regained it. My biggest reasoning for not considering the bypass (but I did consider the sleeve) is the malnutrition component that you end up with. People complain of hair falling out, they have a greyish look to them, and other external physical signs that you don't get with the restriction only surgeries. If you look at bariatric surgery as a tool and use the support, and community it can be a good thing.

Statistics on maintaining weight loss through non-surgical means shows less than 5% maintain that weight loss for multiple years. Statistics on bariatric surgery are higher, but I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head.

Those are my thoughts and experiences. Hopefully you can use that information to make the best decision for you. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Vicki

I, too, have had both lapband and gastric bypass. Wish I had by pass first. There are so many people having problems with the lapband and in some countries they are no longer doing it. I had lots of complications with my lapband and never did lose the weight with it. Gastric by-pass surgery just about killed me but once I got over the initial eleven days, I have had no more problems. I am 58 years old and my metabolism is shot. I wish I could say I lost all my weight with surgery but I didn't, haven't and won't. I also got sick, not related to surgery when I was 1.5 years out and gained all but 50 lbs of my weight back, due to medication. I am working on getting it back off now. Do I regret the surgery, not at all, do I regret lapband, very much so. I am currently reading a book by Dr. Travis Stork from the TV show The Doctors. I think the name of it is the flat belly something. Would look it up but don't have it with me at this time. This book has made more sense to me than anything I have ever read.

You may contact me with any questions you have about either surgery, but please go to obesityhelp.com and read all the lapband failures in the revision forum. If you just go to the lapband forum you will think it is the best thing since a pocket on a shirt, but it isn't.

if you decide to continue w/ the surgery you will need to continue to eat right and exercise..you cant have one and not the other...if you get the surgery and eat bad or not work out then you wont have much progress...they say the band isnt good for anyone who needs to lose more than 100 lbs...i went in for my consultation and the patient liason told me that more people were having them taken our vs putting them in...whatever your decision remeber that surgery wont work without you being mentally ready as well as continuing to eat better and work out more...here if you need me

I only know one person who had the band, but her experience was a worst-case nightmare. It was enough to scare me away from it permanently. You could always postpone your appointment and give MFP a shot. You're going to have to learn to control your eating one way or another if you want long-term success.

Bump:flowerforyou: