Hi all, haven't been on in a few months, it's been a roller coaster ride since mid April. My family and I went on vacation first week of April, the week after we get home my lower back went on me then that progressed to mid back pain then my neck, guess I overdid the walking that week we were away. I was walking no less than 8 hours a day because we all walked everywhere and I was so proud I could keep up. Then in the middle of it ally mum had heart failure which resulted in her having a pacemaker put in, she's fine now and I'm back to normal thank goodness.

Anyways 2nd July was my band anniversary and my goal was to melt away 100 pounds of fat, I somehow managed to achieve that without being able to exercise the last few months. It's been harder to shift the pounds without my daily walks but I stayed strong and determined to reach my personal goal. I would have lost much more had I been able to keep exercising but I'm still happy where I am today compared to a year ago.

Some days were tough being on meds that made me want to graze all day and believe me some days I did and my weight would be up and down a few pounds but without my band I probably would have stacked on more weight.

I've had some amazing reactions from people I haven't seen in a year, in a way I was proud and in another way also disgusted that I had let myself get to where I was when I started my new lifestyle with this band. I started at 366 pounds and today I'm at 260 pounds. I still ha e a way to go to get to goal and now that I can exercise again I'm going to melt the rest of my fat away.

This last year has been a journey filled with fear, confusion, frustration and a huge learning experience living with my band. It's now a part of me every day and so much easier a year down the track.

To those of you starting out you will go through so many emotions and roller coaster rides but know that if you work your tool you will be rewarded. You will have days or weeks of frustrating plateaus and that's also normal but if you persist those scales will move, for some slower than others but we are all different.

As soon as I get a current picture I will post my before and now pic so hopefully it will encourage those that are starting out or at a frustrating stage.

I know a lot of the before and after pics have been a huge encouragement to me this past year.

I wish everyone the best in their journey and those that I have come to know on this forum this past year continued success.

Congrats on your 1 year anniversary and amazing loss!

Wonderful advice and beautiful post

Awesome job!

I love your positive attitude! Congratulations on your weight loss!

Aug 6 will be my 1 year anniversary. I'm trying to lose 100 pounds prior to my 1 year mark. It will be close as the weight has come off slower lately. The docotr is allowing me to eat more variety of foods.