I've already posted a few times so this is a bit late. Sorry.

I'm a 50 year-old guy who's been through every diet there is. I grew up as a chubby kid but grew out of it by mid high school. At graduation I was probably 6'1" and 180.

College was, among other things, a beerfest. Graduation from there had me at 6'4" and 245 (a pretty soft 245). I look at pix from then and I remember thinking I was an Orca though the pix don't bear that out. Funny.

Throughout the years I've spent lots of time in the gym and the kitchen. The more I tried to get in shape the fatter I got because excess effort always seemed to cause disproportional excess hunger. The only time I didn't steadily gain weight is when I was inactive.

I'm one of those that most people can't guess my weight - the typical guess is 30 - 50 lbs less than I tip the scales. I don't, however, like the way I look, feel, and the way my clothes fit. I'm starting to have issues like creaky knees and high blood pressure. As bad as that all is my bigger concern is some friends and family who REALLY have issues. They haven't been willing to move on this so I'm hoping if I show success they'll reconsider.

My goal of 235 might be low since an evaluation I had done in 2010 suggested my perfect weight would be 256. I don't really believe the eval because I got to 269 last year and felt I had plenty left to lose though I'm sure I was down a fair amount of muscle mass at that time.

Whatever the case, I've always failed because hunger gets the best of me. It keeps me from concentrating, from sleeping, from anything good. I only went to see Dr. Montgomery because a buddy (and business partner) had a meeting with him (which I joined) and I wanted information. When he fully described lapband and that it would curb between-meal hunger I was hooked!

I fully expect to meet my goal by Summer. I also expect that my success will have convinced at least four others to follow this path and that, more than anything, will signify victory.

I wish you well on your journey, I also have had a concern with my weight my whole life ( I will be 65 tomorrow ) My knees were starting to bother me and a few other concerns that I contributed to my weight. I could always lose some of the weight but then gained it back. I had my band May 4^th and have only lost about 50 pounds but I think coming off slow is good for my old skin. I am so happy for you and hope you are doing this mainly for yourself, the band does make it easier but you still have to eat right and follow the doctor’s orders. I hope you post often and keep us up to date on your journey. Hugs

Good luck reaching your goal... It is important to be happy in your own skin,

Happy New Year!