Lapbanders are not taking the easy way out...

congrats on the weight loss.

people are going to have different opinions.
running a marathon, and riding a bike 26.2 miles are two different things.
both are an accomplishment, both take dedication, but one was easier.

Easy way out my @ss! It's been a month since mine had been filled appropriately. The 2 years prior were hellish. Got food stuck, hellish. Hours of vomiting slime... hellish! It's a lot of work to feel full sooner than normal. The band is a tool and it's up to the user to make it work. Anyone who feefeels the band is the easy way out must be uneducated as to what the band is all about or dare I say jealous. Everyone knows gastric bypass is the easy way out, not lap band. Kidding.

Easy way out my @ss! It's been a month since mine had been filled appropriately. The 2 years prior were hellish. Got food stuck, hellish. Hours of vomiting slime... hellish! It's a lot of work to feel full sooner than normal. The band is a tool and it's up to the user to make it work. Anyone who feefeels the band is the easy way out must be uneducated as to what the band is all about or dare I say jealous. Everyone knows gastric bypass is the easy way out, not lap band. Kidding.

So true!!

Thank you for speaking your mind!

I feel less worthy about my NSV's and weight loss because I chose to have gastric by-pass. People are so judgemental it doesn't matter how or what got you on the right path of a healthier life style, the point is people are making changes in thier life.

Bariatirc procedures are not a quick fix, or a solution. Only a tool to help aid you in your journey. You have to go through a lot to even be approved for these procedures.

I work very hard exercising every day. I watch what I eat. I even measure out my peanut butter in grams on a scale while I am at work. I take this very seriously. Maybe a little too much at times.

There is NO EASY WAY OUT when it comes to weight loss!!!!! It all boils down to portion control, healthy food choices, and exercise!!!!

gay chula, my former post to a poster who said it was a " cop out" and taking " the easy way out" I replied to it as a life saving decision

I have nothing but sincere respect to anyone who does what it takes to save their life........whether its getting a membeship to a gym, using a nicotine patch to stop smoking, going to a rehab clinic to get off of drugs or alcohol.......what ever it takes to save teir lives.........

I read that nasty comment and and then I replied that she was being callous....

Good for you and the rest of the group for saving your life..................My hats off to you..............Lloyd

I think feeling sick or feeling full after eating one oz of food is easier then us that just have to say no to chocolat or step away from the table. That being said, if you feel like you made the right decision for yourself, why do you care what everyone else think? Me for exemple. I have been a surrogate mother 4 times!!!! For some, I am an uterine wh0re, for others, an angel. While those who think that I did something great is really nice., those who say that I am going to hell have no impact on my life and how I feel about what I did.

Are you happy with your decision? Then held your head high, sadely not everyone is going to agree but don't let them have an impact on how you feel.

P.S. Great job on the weight lost

Anyone who thinks it's the easy way out is completely wrong. Many people including myself that are obese and have been since childhood have inherited the gene. No one that is obese chose to be and for the most part it's a life of depression, being bullied, teased and losing out on life. I was sick of going up and down, missing out on my daughter’s life and decided to live!! I was banded Oct 12th 2011
Just my .02

I agree totally! I am having the lap band done three weeks from today and know firsthand how hard the work is to prepare for the surgery, as well as for life after the band. As the leader of our support group says, weight loss surgery is not brain surgery! We still have to face the "food demons" and the emotional challenges that we so many times turned to food to deal with before.

The band is a tool, as many have already stated. It will help us to know when we are full - (I don't honestly know if I can say I ever have been truly hungry. All too often I've kept eating until I was stuffed and so uncomfortable.) Now I will feel full sooner and if I don't listen to my body and my band, I will probably throw up! That isn't an easy way out by any means!

Take joy in every accomplishment, whether a scale victory or a non-scale victory. Be proud that you are doing something to improve your health and don't let the naysayers get to you. YOU are the one doing the hard work necessary!!!

Troll, this is why I went with the Lapband. You do not have the nutrition issues and as much access skin as you lose slower and more healthy. Yea anyone who get WLS and still chooses to east crap is just plain crazy! To go thru any WLS and do that to yourself is beyond me.. Anyway, my lapband is a miracle for me and I can't wait for a year from now ! Thanks for sharing

If any of you reading this have not had the lap band surgery, I would encourage you avoid it if at all possible.

While lap band surgery is not quite as invasive as some weight loss surgeries, it has it's share of complications:

http://bmi.ucsd.edu/weight-loss-surgery/lap-band/Pages/risks.aspx

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/forum/70-lap-band-complications

All surgeries have complications. I almost died due to a hernia surgery. Spent 3 days in ICU and a total of 7 days in the hospital. Even was put on Dialysis.

When I had my lap band surgery I was up and moving the same day. I have never looked back and never regretted my decision to have the surgery and change my life.

The complications of diabetes (which I no longer have) far outweighed the complications of the surgery!

I don't think it is easy with a lap band at all!

I do think a lot of people that decide to get one think it will be easier with one. I think they're wrong.

I have two friends that have them and they have issues with them.

I don't hold it against them at all. Their weight loss is as much of a triumph, if not more, than mine.

At the end of the day they took their weight seriously enough that they had surgery to fix it. That's a lot more than most of us and it should be commended.

But (you knew it was coming)

I think that lap bands should only be for the seriously overweight. The two friends of mine that did it were big but I don't think they were big enough to warrant it.

I think the procedure is making a bunch of surgeons rich so they push it more and market it (you've all seen ads for it).

It's not a quick fix and people need to realise that they still have to be diligent not only on what they eat but HOW they eat. I think it complicates your diet even more.

If someone is thinking about having one done I try to talk them out of it but I won't push it if they've decided. I won't hold it against them because it's their body and therefore their choice. You can l lose weight safely with a lap band and lots of people live healthy lives after one.

Just remember that it's not magic and if you have a serious eating problem then the lap band may introduce more problems than it solves.

Will I be proud of my accomplishments if I lose this weight without diet pills or surgery? Sure I will, but then again, it's not like I have a choice. Diet pills don't work on me anymore. I also have no health insurance and no money, so I couldn't get gastric bypass or a lapband if I tried.

Even if I could, so many of my calories came from liquid (and still do) that I doubt surgery would work. In the end, I'd be right back where I was before, only malnourished. Plus the thought of complications scares me pretty bad. I don't see it as an easy way out. I see it as a last ditch effort to help you make the changes that will save your life.

That said, when I see a success story with photos and find out the person had surgery, I have to remind myself that I'm less likely to lose the weight quite that fast. It's a different path that I'm on, but so what, we're all trying to get to basically the same place.

People really need to stfu. I've never had the lap band or gastic bypass and I've never been really overweight but I have known people that have had it.
I hate how people are so judgemental about everything.
I just want to say congrats to those of you that have lost weight with the lap band surgery or gastic bypass.

Anyone who says that there is even anything remotely easy about lapband has just proven themselves to be an utter fool.

There is absolutely nothing easy about having your body cut on for surgery. There is nothing easy about sticking to an all liquid protein diet 2 weeks pre-op. There is nothing easy about being so dehydrated the morning of your surgery that 2 nurses and 2 anesthesiologists can't find a single vein in either of your arms and have to run a central line through your neck. There is nothing easy about being in so much pain that you literally have to hold your stomach when you sit up or walk for a week. And there is nothing easy about having to completely change your eating habits and lifestyle so that all the hell you went through wasn't for nothing.

As other people have said, WLS is not a cure, it's a tool. If it was a cure, everyone who had WLS would lose all of their excess weight and keep it off forever. That does not happen. It is a tool that people have to utilize along with their own hard work, discipline, and dedication. And like with any other tool, there is a right way to use it and wrong way. Generally, the people who use it the right way see the best long term results. And like with any other type of surgery, there are risks. And everyone's reaction to the surgery and recovery is different. That is life.

It's hard enough being an obese person in this country, especially if it's something you've struggled with your whole life. Fat people are not stupid. We see the looks. We hear the comments under the breath. We read the comments on message boards. Then to take steps to make positive changes and address the issue, we get knocked down again and told that our hard work and success doesn't count or is diminished because we took advantage of available tools is the ultimate slap in the face. Losing weight and getting healthy is hard. Period. There is no easy way out.

I don't think this is the easy way out

I applaud you both for your weight loss success


I work with alot of these patients and the only thing that bothers me is the ones who think it IS an easy way out. They have the surgery ..... abide by the diet for a time...and then eventually go back to eating and living the way they were before surgery and it can reverse itself.

I know a few that this has happend to - they had the procedures but didn't take time to be conscious of the calorie / nutritional intake and ended up gaining everything back. Tools are tools and everyone uses different ones. If it works to obtain the results necessary to gain good health then it deserves a congrats but the individual deserves the bigger Congrats... So Congratulations to all of you that have utilized the tools with success!!