Jack

adding another direct observation, it DOES take time to grow use to NOT being the biggest person in every room. There IS a different dynamic of how the public treats us when Morbidly Obese vs as we near our goal. And we treat ourselves differently too.

Things I've learned: 1) One of the most astounding things I learned, was that 'being full' is not the same as being 'not hungry'. Being 'not full' is not the same as 'hungry'. I've posted about this a lot. 2) My first fill was SIX months postOp. I didn't need a fill. Approaching the 1.5/4cc band level, I developed lots of symptoms we now all recognize as 'overly tight'. Being stubborn, I endured months of daily PB as gagging based on an erroneous premise. 3) We got through phases in learning how to be 'not Morbidly Obese'. It takes practice to learn how to be more Normo size clothing and Normo reasons for eating.

great discovery!!!! as time moves on you will find other NSVs to help mark your progress. Cheers on your journey

there has always been a bias of non-Bandsters to promulgate their own favorite WLS. The issue to solve, is for you and your physician to decide which is best for you. I'm in my 6th year postBand and would do it again in a heartbeat. The sleeve might be a good choice for me also, but was not available when I was researching my options. Whatever your choice, there will be those who seek to impose their own opinions on your circumstance. Cheers on your journey whatever option you pursue.

cheers on your new commitment to personal health that 'pressure' is the weight of the dragons of old habits trying to continue imposing their desire on your "won't power"..... as in...."I WON'T yield to the habit of gobbling my food" and "I WON'T continue stuffing myself with my eating shovel when I'm not actually hungry" etc. From what I've read, port replacement is not such a big deal. What we do with our 'eating hats' is a bigger deal. You can do whatever you choose. I found when I choose smaller nibbles and better chewing, I get far fewer incidents of PBs and various swallowing pain. I consider them errors of eating and errors that I can control by observing what caused the symptom. Invariably my own similar complaints have been revealed to be my own old eating habits slipping back into temporary dominance. We have to keep 'in training' for far longer to change those basic habits over the decades that produced our Morbid Obesity in the first place. It does become easier as time goes on. Whether being 'looser' or a 'loser' regarding unwanted fat, we have to find ways to modify our own behavior. That is the biggest challenge for me. keep us posted on your progress

added note: In retrospect, my own preOp eating behavior was more related to 'the ANXIETY of becoming hungry' rather than actually eating because I WAS hungry. The fear and anticipation of becoming hungry resulted in a non-physiological eating behavior that amplified my own loss of the relationship between the Normo complex of : hunger-eat-satiety-STOP eating. The problem postOp is not to satisfy hunger. IMHO the problem is to learn to stop eating when NOT hungry. We *MofTotMOs* must learn new rational eating behavior based on physiological hunger rather than our old habits.

Most of we members of the *Tribe of the Morbidly Obese* spent much of our lives 'consumed with consuming' while 'hunger' had little to do with our eatEatEAT habits. I experienced 'hunger' in a far different sense than preOp, and have learned to actually enjoy aspects of it, rather like an approaching storm front in spring. Now often only a bite or two is plenty to banish 'hunger' for considerable time. Most of our time we have all responded to 'hunger' with EATEATEAT. Normos have a different approach to hunger. They get hungry. They eat. They stop. They recognize 'hunger', 'satiety' and 'full' as being very different. As a *MofTotMO*(see above) my response to food for far too long, was to equate 'full' with 'not hungry' and 'not full' with eatEatEATEATEAT until I was 'full'. That of course doesn't work very well. Success for shrinking my BMI from 47.5 to 34 was coming to recognize the important difference in 'hunger' vs 'sport eating'. Food satisfies physiological hunger. When I recognized the difference it became far easier to enjoy 'being hungry' as I could enjoy 'eating' rather than 'eatEatEATing'. cheers to all of us this year on our journeys

usually a school track is available for casual walkers. I did that for a while. It's amazing how rapidly our bodies will adapt and want us to give it more laps/longer time on the track. And finding walking routes in local parks is also free. Some areas have hiking trails available. Kids all seem to like little outings. cheers on your journey

I failed to attain 'muscle car freak' status long ago....although there was a particular Boss something-or-other Mustang from the early 70s that was tempting. Street rods, classic heavy metal and farm trucks have occupied way too much of my attention. Of late, motorcycles-sports cars-blonds have been replaced with lawn tractors-rototillers-4x4s. Such is life.

My palette changed on a whole raft of formerly favorite foods postOp. I can't report on alcohol tastes as I had to jettison that decades ago due to diabetes. Many articles of what I've read supports the occasional drink, and it seems some successful Bandsters have included such in their life styles. Learning how to treat our own community members as we learn how to function in our New Lives is an added benefit LBT encourages. It is a world full of differing opinions and standards of behavior. Learning how to disagree without being disagreeable is a beneficial goal for all of us.

this is a strange story http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3334976/Fattest-man-Paul-Mason-sues-the-NHS-for-allegedly-letting-him-grow.html

I told some folks and not others.....it really IS an individual decision. People in general are supportive but some just can't help themselves dredging up horrid examples of surgery gone awry and examples of why YOU should do what THEY think you should. When my fat remediation process become rather obvious to all, some continued to plague me wanting to know how I was shrinking. One of my better lines was "I'm losing weight due to clean living and righteous thoughts". Whatever level of invasive or downright rude inquiry into our own notion of private information is a good area in which to learn further self reliance and ability to control our own behavior along with eating and over eating. For sure, I do NOT have any 'guilt' about telling or not telling anyone anything. cheers on your journey

boy I just haven't had a bagel for years now. I probably could carefully eat part of a toasted bagel....but just don't care for them lately.

Now 6+ years postOp I can tell you Bandster life is no longer "a battle".....it does require paying attention and staying with your eating plan. And it DOES pay off very well in results. Cheers on your journey.