lauren you look just wonderful ! I have a few question for you , as I',m faceing  wieght loss surgry myself very soon along with a kneee replacement. 

How long did the actual surgry take and did you have any side effects ? 

This  whole thing is a bit scary for a person my age,Im older that your MOM . Who I just adore by the way.

Lauren, you look beautiful, and I would have done the same thing.  You are young but life goes fast.  Now you can compete with the best of them and come out in 1st place

Congratulations Lauren!! You look GREAT!! Don't listen to the 'haters'.You did what was best for you,& if that makes you happy,then that's all that matters!! You & Vito make the perfect couple! Have a Happy Summer.....skinny girl(:

Doesn't matter how you did it, you lost the weight & you are healthy & happy! Good for you! You are truly glowing!

Lauren you were always pretty to me...stay that way inside and out.

what will happen when you want to have children,and you do get sick pregnant,and i feel from watching the show you had a esteem problem, the way the would talk to you like your brothers did about what you and vitos children would look like.and your mom telling you ,you look like a stuffed sausage.and she would hammer at you about your waight.what a support system you have,your dad did understand.I lost weight the right way portion control and exercise,and you are doing portion control know with just a few bites.My Dr was going to do the lap band i turned him down after all i read and talking to people who had it done. what are you going to do the next time you feel like you dont have what it takes.Happiness comes from the inside so dose beauty. Beauty is skin deep.and vito saw that..and money dont buy you love.you said on the show that people compared you to your mom thats why you gave up that grat job you built for your self.well i think ashley had the right idea to move away. i admire her wanting to be her and not a robot mom wanted you to be..she is always bragging about your brothers.and if she brags about you know..pack your stuff and move out..and be you. not her puppet and i bet you wont even marry vito..you felt like he was all you can get. and what a great guy you will be giving your face now looks like mallissas..i would think you were her daughter

Kudos to you Lauren.  I am a mom of 1 in my 40's and I so now what it's like to battle weight.   I just had my vertical sleeve gastronomy last week.    I've been on my liquid only diet for 10 days and have 6 days left before I can transition to soft foods.   I know that there are people that simply do not understand why people turn to weight reduction surgery; however, I always tell people, "Well if dieting were easy then no one would be overweight."   I think sometimes people don't realize that a weight reduction surgery isn't a cure all, it's a tool that helps those of us change our portion sizes and helps limit what we can intake in a day.   We still have to watch our caloric intake and have to be accountable for wrong choices.   We have to embrace excercise and work at, we just have a tool now that helps move the progress along.   Congratulations to you again.  

First of all I'm not a dieter and won't pretend to understand what you've gone through. That said, congratulations. It's important to feel good about yourself. And you have a great support group around you.I have a few friends that have had Gastro surgery. The one thing I've seen. The one's that stick to the rules are still "thin". The one's that continue to eat large portions and do it "their" stretch their stomach out and put weight right back on.

Enjoy yourself.

Lauren, you did fabulous!  Anyone that puts you down for doing what was best for you is not worth the time to say F**k off to.  You should be very proud of your accomplishment.

Good for you,Lauren!!! You look fantastic!!

Lauren, I think you're great.  And when you started talking about it on the show, my first reaction was that you're not fat enough to qualify for it.  You're not even close.  You were only what, 30-40 pounds overweight?  That does not make you morbidly obese, no matter what your doctor told you.  I was 170 pounds overweight and I didn't qualify!  So I lost 150lbs by dieting and exercising.  Whoever qualified you for the lap-band is a quack and should have his license taken away.  And now look at you, everytime you have a stomach ache you start worrying that you are going to die?  Yeah, that's the way to live your life.  You also said that if your family and your BF were happy, then you were happy.  Wait. What? So, you didn't do it for yourself, you did it for your family and your BF.  Wow, that's the way to live your life.  YOur priorities are screwed up and think you need to seek some help.  Because, since you didn't do this for yourself, you are going to fail.  Guess what, you can get fat with the lap-band.