I just remembered that today is my 2-year surgiversary! Happy surgiversary to me! Funny that it really didn't occur to me until now (5PM). I guess that's a good thing given my surgery cir****tances. I remember for a long time wondering if I'd EVER wake up in the morning and NOT have my first thought be that, oh yah... I had surgery... what an idiot! I don't think that anymore, thank God. In fact, I no longer have at least one daily thought of it. I've become a normal thin person, I think, just like everybody else. Happy surgiversary to all my fellow June 2007 pals! Traci

2 years. Wow time flew! Would I do it again? in a nano second On these milestone days you always want to share something that has helped you. So here's mine (take it or leave it) Be afraid be very afraid. I personally think a healthy fear of failure is a good thing. It keeps my head in the game. I'll never say -149 pounds gone forever. I know those little fat cells (well not those I got whacked off with plastics) but those remaining are just hanging around waiting in the wings for me to screw up, get lazy, lose focus, reach for the bread basket, take a second helping. RNY was my last chance. There is something desperate and life changing about having your stomach severed and your intestines re-routed. Add to my story that I did it in a foreign country, alone and am still paying $ monthly for it. Failure is not an option. I'm sure other post-ops reading this feel the same way. As you begin to feel and see the dramatic changes you never want to go back. That encourages me each day. On days it doesn't I look at a list I made of the worst things about being fat, my before pic (I put a Before & After pic on my fridge), a pair of my fat pants (a tight 26/28), come to OH and find strength in others or I blog about it. For those in the beginning stages of this incredible journey I remember those stalls when the scale wouldn't move and I would freak out. We have all been on so many "diets" in the past and failed we can't imagine when something will finally work for us and when the scale slows those old fears creep in... am I going to fail? The answer is: maybe. This will work for you... for a time. The question really should be will you work for it? Change your mind. Remember they operated on our guts not our head. The head thing... our responsibility. Don't think of this as something you have to get through till you reach goal. Hell I know I can suffer through something for a period of time I shot orange grease out of my a$$ for weeks on Xenical, ate pounds of grapefruits and gallons cabbage soup, stopped eating all together, took countless other diet pills. I can get through anything. Change that thinking because this isn't a diet. This is your life. Change your life. Make changes that you can live with not just get through. Find protein rich healthy foods that you truly enjoy, incorporate exercise/activity that's fun and something you look forward to doing, find stress reducers that don't involve a bag of Pepperidge Farm Salsalito cookies and... keep a healthy fear. I posted a little summary in my blog www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and a new Before and After pic. Thanks to my OH pals for being a part of my journey and Congrats to my fellow June 2006ers!!! ~Michelle

I thought it might be fun to list some of the things we no longer do (i.e. bad habits) because of WLS. Here's my list: I no longer . . . Lick my plate clean Finish my meal (I always leave something on my plate) Have a hard time fitting in movie seats, stadium seats (I jus****ched my last of four kids graduate and actually had room on both sides of the seat!) Sit and watch TV (I actually get out and enjoy friends, family, and being active) Make excuses for going back for seconds or thirds (for example, "I didn't have time for breakfast or lunch, so it won't hurt if I have seconds). Stop at the DQ for a quick Dip Cone. Wear my tops long enough to cover my arse (who was I kidding?). Let's hear some of yours!

I'm envious of your PS. I am down about 160 pounds, depending on which starting weight I use, from a size 28-30 to a 8-10. I am so happy with were I'm at, but would love a tummy tuck, arm and leg PS as those are the areas most affected. I still have to wear swimming suits with a skirt to hide the pouch that slips out from the bottom of a regular swimsuit, and my legs and arms have sags...but I will not complain. I am having some issues with pain in my upper abdomen and have reverted back to some old habits that I'm really working on. These are all of the things we all have to address, wls or not. CONGRATULATIONS!

I've lost half of myself! I'm loving every minute of it! Becky 334/168