Great questions. I will not be out 11 months until the 29th of this month. However, I thought I would respond anyway. 1. Have had a lot of problems with food getting stuck. Last month had to have a EGD and balloon treatment to widen my esphagus where it had closed down to just a slit. Has been better since that and still trying to learn how to eat slower! Hard to do with my travelling job but I am doing somewhat better. At least I can eat most days. 2. 182 lbs as of yesterday. 3. Well I have two percentages for this. I am not trying to get to my ideal weight for my height, but if I were I would be sitting at 69% of weight lost. However, since I am only looking at going down to 180lbs, 47lbs to goal, I calculated the percentage based on that goal as well. So for that goal, I at 79% of weight lost. 4. Biggest loss - my favorite velvet dress I bought at Bloomingdales in NY in 2001. It is a size 28W and I am now in size 16 (no W) and the tailor said there is no way to cut it down without ruining it. So it will have to go to another deserving person. HMMMM, maybe I will have to buy a new velvet dress this year; maybe not, I plan on getting down to a size 12 before this is all over and I wont make that by Christmas. 5. A new job! One I would not have tried for if not for the weight loss. 6. Plan a wedding! Yep got engaged on September 8th and the wedding is planned for Nov 2006. My man has stood by me since before surgery and has watched me struggle, jump for joy and cry my eyes out over this weight loss. I am soooooooooooooooo happy ! I wasnt sure the day we would decide to get married would ever come. His decision all the way as I knew what I wanted and just waited for him to catch up! LOL Lise 409/227/180 11/29/04 Tulsa

I totally agree!!! I have become a picture-aholic, as that is when I can see that YES I have lost tons of weight!!! I do NOT see it in the mirror, although, when I look in the mirror, I think "who is that woman looking back at me" I still have "fat" days and "fat" moments...hope that gets better!!! at almost 10 months out, I am findnig that I'm hungry more, and it has become more of a struggle for me. I hate to say it, but it was so easy at first, I was just never hungry!! And I have been craving chocolate, and it hurts my tummy. Congratulations on such a successful journey!! Take Care, Debi

Helloooooooo November babies... boy that time is getting closer!!!! Almost at that year mark.... have some of you stopped losing weight??? My doc says the variation can be from 9 monts to about 2 yrs... We lost a poet and a wonderful man on the California Board recently and it has made me so aware of the gift of life that I have. So ..... here are your questions: 1. What complications have you experienced as a result of surgery? 2. How much weight have you lost total (from your highest weight)? 3. What percentage of your total weight to lose have you lost - (total weight loss/ total weight to lose x 100).... You can check the weight loss planner if you are unsure of how much you should weigh for your height. 4. What has been your biggest loss (other than lbs) since surgery? 5. What has been your proudest achievement (other than lbs lost) since surgery? 6. What is next goal (other than lbs)??? Looking forward to hearing from you.... Boy, time does fly when you are having fun!!! B

WOW Vickie I havn't lost 11 pounds in a month for some time now. I think you will reach your goal, especially if you keep numbers like that going. You will be on here wondering how to get it stopped soon too lol. Take care and Congrats. KatherineL

Well we just moved in Jan from San Diego to CT. We had movers pack us up and move us (thanks to the military). I really didn't have to do anything. They just throw it in a box and make an inventory of what's in the box and give the box a #. I would just organize stuff by room. They have wardrobe boxes so if you have stuff on hangers it can go in those as is. HTH