It's been a little while since I've visited the forums, but I wanted to check back and share some success! My surgery was July 31, at 350 lb, and as of today I'm at 292, which puts me at a BMI of 39.6, under the 40 cutoff for morbid obesity! I'm so excited! The last week I've bought some new clothes and it feels good to throw the old ones away, although I'm keeping a few for some before/after stuff. I'm right on the border of being able to shop at more "normal" clothing stores, and I can't wait. I'm eating pretty much everything now, nothing hurts at all and I feel as normal as I can, but if I try to cheat or eat too much, my body punishes me, and I like that. My old habits can't come back. My wife loves that we can share meals now because it helps her to eat less too. My 4-year old even out-eats me! It's really great. I'm so glad I made this choice to get the surgery. Even self-paying it at just under $20,000, I feel like it was the best investment I've made in myself. My next goal is to get a total of 100 lb down by the end of the year. I'll be ramping up the activity to help with that, and my caloric intake has been fine I think. Anyways, I'm typing this right before bed, and shortly after the period of time where I take my nightly sleep meds, including Ambien, so how it feels like I;m kind of all over the place. So I guess I'll end it with that. Good to see you all again!

Wow, you are doing great! I am waiting on approval and am second guessing myself...reading you story makes me feel better. Do you get hungry and miss food?

Wow, you are doing great! I am waiting on approval and am second guessing myself...reading you story makes me feel better. Do you get hungry and miss food?

I do get hungry, and I do miss being able to eat like I used to sometimes, but it's not been a significant problem at all. I do eat my favorite foods still sometimes, just drastically smaller portions. I get full so quickly and sometimes I wish I could keep eating because of how good something tastes, but I can't and I'm glad I can't! It's helped me to develop good habits. And as far as hunger goes, I never feel like I'm not getting enough food, and the cravings are much less than what they used to be.

Edited October 13, 201411 yr by John.L

Congratulations. ..keep up the great work