What Kind of Results Does Lap Band Deliver?

What can you expect in the way of lap band results?  If you are one of the many each year that become banded you'll be happy to know that most people lose an average of 20 percent of their excess fat over the course of a year. That may seem like a lot, or too some of you that may seem like a little.

Not overnight

That's right, you didn't get here overnight. You overate for a long period of time, in most cases years. You can't expect to take the weight off instantly. I know you want to, but it isn't in the cards. In fact it's unhealthy to lose too quickly. All the recommendations say 1-2 lbs per week is a safe amount to lose.

So if you weigh 300 lbs you could expect to lose around 60 lbs that first year.  The rate at which the results come, depend on many things.

• Your adherence to a proper diet
• Proper fill level of your band
• Not having complications
• Getting some form of regular exercise

Typically in your first year you will see your doctor every four to six week and get an average of five to eight fills.  Some people though get terrible results, it really just depends on your own individual case.  If you have complication or problems from lap band such as slippage or erosion, your band may need to be re-placed or removed for a period of time.  Likely such a move would cut into the success you could hope to achieve with lap band.

Failure of the band could mean that you won't get the success you had hoped for.  All is not lost though, just like there's always a bright side to things, you may find a superior method of weight loss through another form of gastric surgery. 

Typically though, you can expect satisfactory results in the first year and continuing years.  You really learn to live with lap band and that is what makes it so successful.  This gets to the importance of asking your doctor the proper questions up front and telling the doctor of your habits and weight loss history so they can help determine what is right for you. This is one of the most important things, gettign all the info ahead of time and making the proper decision. It's tempting to thing of lap band as just another surgery, but there is so much more that happens to you after the surgery that it isn't fair to think of it as only surgery.

Think about it, even if the weight loss isn't as much as you hoped isn't it a lot better than doing nothing and probably gaining weight? The results even if small will be an improvement over doing nothing and ending up unhappy.

The important thing is to stay with it and not get discouraged. You will get results and the outcome you are looking for with patience and perseverance. With proper selection of the right weight loss method, be it lap band or something else, you will get the lap band surgery results you are hoping for.