Hi everyone,

I had the lap band surgery 5 years ago, and I consider myself a lap band failure. I lost 25kg at the start, but then my own emotional issues came into play and I started eating lots of ice cream and chocolate. Those high fat things that slide straight through the band.

I am currently 5kg lower than my starting weight. This is 5 years on.
My surgeon and dietician knew I was going to be a tough case, because there are a lot of foods I can't eat, so my choices are really limited.

The way that the lap band has been successful for me, is that it has stopped me from putting on MORE weight. It just hasn't helped me lose it, because I eat really badly, and am resorting to diets again etc.

How about you? Has anyone else NOT found success with the lap band?

Hi Sairz and

I can surely say that the band is doing its job for me.... its my brain that is out of control. I think when people first get the band they don't think they have to actually watch what they eat. They think they can eat what ever, just smaller amounts well you and I know that only works for a little while. IMHO folks think the band is going to be the magic cure but in truth, and I've said this a 1,000 times, its just a tool to help you with your WL.

I wouldn't say you were not successful with the band, quite the opposite, I think you were/are very successful with the band, I just think like anything else you have to get back on track. Hit the reset button if you will The band is keeping you from gaining more... yeah... to me, thats success.

I am not at goal, and I have gained some weight back but I do look at it as success because if I didn't have the surgery I would be well over 350 lbs by now. I'd call that success

What are your plans now?

with the site's database down, i can't post this response to your 'failure' post in WLS. I didn't want you to think you were being ignored - the issues you raised are serious and i wanted to give you a thoughtful two cents.

so, here goes. Failure seems like way too strong a word. things happen in life, and for that reason, we can ALWAYS hit the 'reset' button and try again. any form of surgery offers us a good chance of losing the weight, but the challenge - no matter whether through surgery or the old-fashioned way - is MAINTAINING the loss.

so take a deep breath, and start over. and start small. control ONE meal, ONE exercise session. then repeat. i have to do the same thing - i'm regaining, and am NOT happy about it, as my health problems are starting to come back. if i don't take hold of this, the consequences are very serious. so i'm working on it. day by day. meal by meal. step by step. and NOT perfectly.

case in point: i made lasagna last night. and i live alone. there's NO WAY i can eat it all, even with freezing it. So, before i started it, i called a friend and asked if she wanted some - she'll be here soon. and there are a couple of other people i can share with. 3/4 of it will be gone before the end of the day, and we'll all be happy. and i'll have about 8 meals in the freezer!

but do i need lasagna??? NO!!!!! i had 1/2 lb of ground beef that needed to be cooked, and i already had mini-meatloaves in the freezer.

sorry to be rambling, but my main point is that in order to make this work, we have to live differently, and that takes time - time to figure out our triggers and a BETTER response to them than chocolate.

keep on going, darlin. it's a process, not a journey. and when the database comes back up, i'll re-post this.