Well today is my year 1 surgeversery. I will try to keep it short, but all I can say is I am so happy I did the surgery. I am so much healthier. I need to do the measurements. I am just 1 pound shy of my goal. I started at 240 and today I was 141. I am very happy with my progress. I just got home from Switzerland where my "good time" was doing a 6 mile run along the Rhine instead of eating my way through all of their foods. I had a decadent chocolate every day and that was ok. The old me would have bought boxes of chocolates as presents to bring home and would have eaten them all in the middle of the night.

I am thankful everyday for this. I am going to be brave and post pictures. My friend stored my before pictures which are actually about 3 weeks post surgery because I couldn't stand looking at them. She texted them to me today and told me not to be upset and think how far I came. I was more sad at the thought that I let myself go through life for years like that and missed out on all of the happiness I have been feeling since the weight loss. I am 3 weeks away from my 46th birthday and I feel younger now than in my 30's. The happiness I feel now comes from feeling so healthy and strong and sporty . So cheers to me And cheers to you! Without the support of you great people I couldn't have done it. And cheers to you newbies who are on this site researching wls. I won't tell you what to do as it is a personal choice, but I can say healthy is the new sexy. The after pics are 1: after my 3rd 5k and 2: my pilates studio Christmas party

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@Bluesky1 - I have been pretty adept now at eyeballing what the size/weight would be - but still weigh food when i am at home and it is a new recipe or food or when i feel i am getting off track a bit - I will make my chicken, for example, think what i think the weight is and then measure it - if i am more than .5 ounces off then i weigh everything for a week to re-adjust myself. I log everything in myfitnesspal (the good, the bad and the ugly) and mostly just pay attention to my protein/carb/fat ratio. I hate to say i have struggled a bit getting my calorie count back up so i can fluctuate between 800-1200 Calories a day. I can eat normal amounts for a vsg person I guess - Probably can get down between 4-6 ounces at a time depending on the bulk of it. Typically I will have as a meal:

pre-breakfast: coffee, splenda, fat free half and half (or regular half and half if I am out of my house)

Breakfast on days where I am hungry: 0% Fage greek plain yogurt with lemon juice, splenda, 1/4 banana and a handful of raisin bran for crunch

Mid morning: premier Protein chocolate drink

lunch: 2.5 oz tuna pack with light mayo and dill relish

Snacks if i snack: beef jerkey, a few Peanut Butter pretzels (which i am trying to cut out as they are wasted carbs and i wish they wouldnt have at the office). If i am hungry i will maybe have the yogurt or cottage cheese if the jerkey isnt in stock at the office

Dinner: I mixed it up between home cooked grilled fish or chicken (in a variety of preparations...could be with mexican seasoning or asian or gravy, etc.) with a squash or green vegetable, zoodles with turkey meat sauce, turkey or chicken "burger" with blue cheese crumbles in a low carb tortilla with avocado or just on a plate, turkey mexican salad, eggplant Parmesan with turkey and cottage cheese to up the protein. When i create meals, i will normally weigh them out and make recipes to store in myfitnesspal so i dont have to type it all in each time. I typically do sashimi 2x a week after my trainer or get beef carpaccio as a treat.

Other snacks: cheese stick, boars head turkey pepperoni, light babybel, cucumbers with bolthouse avocado greek salad dressing and lemon juice,

Sweet Craving satisfiers: grapes, dole dippers 60 calorie strawberry packs, a few tablespoons of halo top or similar ice cream, skinnygirl Milk Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt Toffee

Alcohol(Don't judge): 1.5 ounces of citrus vodka in a 44 ounce tumbler with Water, big ice cubes, a squirt powder packet (I love these) and ginger powder - I also mix msm powder for my joints into it.

I also cheat on my diet. I have a pizza slice at the office every once in a blue moon, each spinach dip or nachos when we are out, sour patch kids, etc. but I log it all and keep myself accountable and acknowledge when i put it in my mouth that I am consciously eating something that i gain no benefit from- and i am ok with that, I guess.

I decided awhile ago that I am not going to deprive myself of the joys of food - but i am NOT going to ever again 1) reward myself with food, 2) self medicate myself with food when i am feeling sad or down, 3) eat out of boredom. As long as what I am eating is not for one of these reasons, them I am ok with it in small amounts.

I have been fluctuating for many months and cannot get to below 140 - i go 140.2 - 145 - today i was 143.7 - go figure. Probably because i have been busy at work and haven't worked out since getting back from a trip on monday.

@Josie1958 - congrats on starting your journey - For exercise i would say i didnt start for a few months after surgery (3/1 surgery) -I was fairly tired and i felt more confortable when i got some weight off - I joined the gym and booked with a trainer starting around may 2016 - I see the trainer 2 times a week (at some point i will do on my own but i like that extra push). I then added some rowing in when my sister gave me her concept 2 rowing machine. Around July 2016, I started the couch to 5k program and did that 3 times a week. I did my first 5k in september 2016, another 5k in early nov, a 5 mile at thanksgiving (and I have another run next weekend). I started Pilates 3x a week around oct through now. i LOVE pilates - it helps shape the body in ways you can't imagine and makes you STRONG!

I got sick in january so i am off schedule a bit but am slowly getting back in the swing of things after surgery and a trip - I would say I feel my best when I do 5-6 days of some sort of exercise at about an hour a day. - such a vast difference from my old self that said i dont have time to exercise (and then spent 7 hours watching tv). The exercise is making the difference for me - because it is my outlet that i use now where i used to rely on food.