I am fairly new to the board, but I want to first thank everyone for how welcome I have felt since joining. I was thinking today of my Ah-ha moment. The - this is the final straw...event that made the light bulb go off and you say "Enough is Enough! and I am no longer going to live this way"...Mine was two weeks ago (although a liftime of struggles and dissapointments living heavy)

I have struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. I've dealt with the looks, the "you have a pretty face" comments, the seat-belt extender..etc. for years, but none of that moved me enough to change my ways and put my foot down. My Ah-ha moment was simple. My five year old daughter told me that she loved mommy's bed (she likes to sleep in mine and DH's bed), "because it is so warm and soft because that is were I can always find mommy." I didn't realise how something so simple coming from a five year old could affect me so deeply. It was at that moment that I see how she viewed me - tired and depressed. She needs memories of me playing with her and being fun (not laying around too tired do do anything). I broked down in tears. I think DH though I'd lost my mind. He came home the next day and told me about someone he had worked with having the LB done and how successful they were. His comment was off hand, but I felt like God was giving me a path. I've tried all the diets, exercise programs - I loose, but am not able to maintain. This thread ended up longer than I thought...Did anyone else have a defining "Ah-Ha Moment"?

Peek

Your story is amazing, it made me so happy to see that this place could have such great people here. I only joined tonight and im glad i did, i know you will be flaunting your gorgeous bod here soon!

Bel

I told them I just had twins. LOL. I said it with a smile on my face, and who knows if they believed me, as I've never had kids, but the fact that they called me by my name and gave me that "look" was so awful. I hope the next time I bump into anybody from my past I will be under 200 pounds at least.

Better download some pictures of some cute twins and start carrying them around!

LQTM

I had many ah-ha moments. From having to lift my fat belly to wash around my 'mid-section', to hearing my flab slap together when imitating the MC Hammer dance for my kids. My main ah-ha moment, however, is realizing that I needed to be a better example for my daughters. Oldest is married with a baby (she put on some weight that she hasn't been able to lose) and the other is 14 and getting obsessed with the fear of getting fat. My whole family tells me I'm beautiful, etc. but I know that underneath their facades, they don't want to be like me. I don't want my beautiful daughters to go through what I've been through.

After years of mini-moments, my big Aha! came last year. I had made a success of my life after a lousy marriage, battled and won against major depression and found myself in a fabulous new job on the mines about 2 years ago. Faced with the huge piles of heavy food at every meal, my self-control went out the window and in spite of promising myself on every shift away that this time it would be different, in 18 months, I managed to gain 18kg (40lb).

I was sitting down working out a financial investment plan for what I wanted to do with all this new money (the job pays very well). I got to the point when I had calculated a 5 Year Plan of investments and then it hit me. A 5 Year Plan meant working on the mines for another 5 years - and gaining a kg a month, I wouldn't LIVE 5 years to see the fruits of my labour! I made the phone call to my GP that afternoon to set up the appointment for the referral to the surgeon, and was banded about 6 weeks later.

In the time between the Aha! and the surgery, every sign I saw told me I had made the right decision. That week, I had finally failed utterly in my struggle to do up the seat belt on the bus on the way to/from work. I went on a holiday (booked a year previously) and for the first time had to ask the flight attendant for an extender (humiliating). I spent half the holiday resting in my hotel room in the afternoons, because I couldn't keep up with the others. I went on an elephant ride and seriously worried about whether the elephant would have difficulties carrying my weight. I have refused to show people the photos of that because the similarities between rider and mount were too great.

I now have a good 8" play in the seat belt on the plane. I can walk from the bus to my room in camp carrying all my luggage and not be out of breath or have to stop for a rest. I went on an all-day birdwatching tour a few weekends ago and kept up all day, walking through the bush. I have no doubt that this operation has saved my life. On with the 5 Year Plan!!