Congrats, Jim. That is awesome!!! I remember going from Morbidly Obese to Obese. I'm almost to Overweight, such an amazing feeling over stupid labels!!!! Happy Monday, Amber

I never did alot of dieting until I tried the somersize program. It did help and I learned alot of good healthy eating habits which are helping me now. I was smart enough to know then, that I could never stick to a strick diet. I however did try other unconstructive ways to lose wt. I would try to control my portions and when that didnt work and I would binge...I would abuse laxatives. I never could do the throwing up thing...never figured out how to do that. So glad I didnt. Thats one addiction I didnt need. I havent done the lax. thing since I was in college so it wasnt something I stuck with. I never over-exercised but I would often try to hard on a first day of planning an exercise program and be so out of shape that I would be sore for a week and couldnt exercise. Then that would be the end of that program....I never stuck with anything. All of this reinforced my poor self-esteem and my feelings of being a failure becouse I couldnt do any of it. Then the self loathing would increase and it would be a cycle of more and more self distruction and self hate. I noticed the neg self talk increasing as my wt increased. Now I try to be more positive in my thinking and in my talk. I can see this helping me. My triggers: comfort foods/junk food/sugar/wheat/flour Things Ive learned: Avoid emotional eating/eat 3 meals/one day at a time/ if I fail I dont give up I just start again at that moment. Ive learned to read lables and look for ingredients that trigger my cravings and over eating.

Congrats. Im so jealous. I still have 55 lbs to go to be there....I started out at 394 and Im down 140 lbs so far...still have 100 lbs to go....sucks to still have so much to lose. However Im so grateful for the loss I have had. I would have probably been dead by now if it wasnt for this surgery.

Aloha Chrissy....Wow, your situations sounds VERY suspicous! I can't believe that your surgeon did NOT follow up with you every few weeks. That sounds so different from most of us who had checkups every couple of weeks at first, then at 3 months, six months, etc. And...on top of that....required meetings with nutritionist, behaviorist, etc. And.....several blood workups done to make sure we are getting correct nutrition. You have done great on your weight loss, but I worry about your health. Please get on the phone immediately and see a bariatric doc and tell him/her exactly what you have told us. Good luck! Aloha nui loa, KarenS

Any drink with calories, really... except hard liquor, but that should be avoided for a year after surgery. Non-diet pop / soda, gatorade, wine, chapaign, protien drinks (especially if you put fruit in them)... That's all that is coming to mind right now. A general rule of thumb: if it has sugar, it has carbs.