I had been thinking about weight loss surgery for about the last 10 years. It wasn't until recently that I had the funds to even consider the surgery. I've been overweight all of my life, starting at about age 6. Through the years I have gained and lost many, many pounds. I would lose the weight, often by cutting calories a lot and pushing myself to exercise an hour each day. I would lose the weight, but couldn't maintain the calories and exercise it took to keep it off, and then, I'd gain it back; often with an additional 10 or 15 pounds. I guess I've probably done that about 6 times over the years, never really getting down to a "normal" weight. The last time I started losing weight I did manage to do pretty well. I lost 50 pounds from January to June this year. Not bad, but I started at my highest weight ever; 326 pounds. I went to a seminar in January about gastric bypass surgery and decided this was it; it was my last option to try and get to a healthy weight and keep it off.