Why This Book?

If you have picked up this book, undoubtedly we have three things in common:

1.       You have a serious weight issue.

2.       Your way of trying to lose weight hasn't worked.

3.       You want to learn more about lap band surgery.

When we, the authors of this book, first started exploring lap band surgery, it was very difficult to find honest, unbiased information.  Patients with long-term success were hard to come by.  Figuring out whether or not to have weight loss surgery and deciding which surgery to have were very confusing and highly intimidating.

Today, that process is still very confusing.  This book fills that gap.  There is a lot of conflicting information on the Internet from many well-intentioned (and sometimes not so well-intentioned) sources, as well as from advertising by the weight loss industry.  Friends and family may also have opinions based on old information, which can further add to your confusion.  This is why we wrote this book.

We are very disheartened when we hear about people who have ""failed"" with lap band surgery.  Failure can mean many things:  not achieving the average weight loss, not achieving your goals, not achieving someone else's goals for you.  In our experience, the most successful patients are those who go in to surgery with their eyes wide open,  with realistic expectations and a plan.  All too often we hear, ""I had a surgery; it was supposed to work.  But I didn't know I would have to ...""

This book is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide that will help you answer the question:  ""Is lap band surgery for me?"" We will take you through a journey of self-discovery so that you can answer that question for yourself.  If you choose to proceed, you will know how the lap band works and what it takes to achieve success with lap band surgery; you will know what to expect and what you need to do.  And if you choose not to have lap band surgery,  you will know why.

This book is not designed to sell you on lap band surgery.  It is designed to help you understand what you need to know to be a successful lap band patient.

For those who decide to move forward with surgery, you will be going in with your eyes wide open.  Your completed book will be a useful tool that you can refer to again and again throughout your journey.