Xpost: December 2: My TEN YEAR Anniversary!

Well, time flies whether you're having fun or not, and here it is already my TENTH anniversary.

I will never say that my road with my band has been easy or without its ups and downs, but it's the best thing I've done for myself and for my family. 3650+ days later I'm still maintaining a 170-pound loss, although it may be more since I have put on a bit of muscle thanks to my 5x a week trips to the gym with my husband. And speaking of him, HE has lost 25+ pounds in the past six months from eating much better and exercising more.

While I sometimes feel like Bigfoot in that there seem to be very few remaining band successes, I don't regret ever having it done. Will it last forever? Who knows. NO surgery is comes with a money back guarantee. But for right now, I will "keep on keepin' on" and worry about that when I need to.

Thank you to all my OH friends who have been here over the years supporting me, encouraging me and giving me a cyber kick in the ass when I needed it!

Wow, i just posted above about being stuck and needing help.. may i ask what your daily eating ritual is like and approx how many calories you average now?  I am so proud of your progress..  awesome :)  thank you for any help you can give me

I'm "only" 7 1/2 years out so not as long time as Bette. But like her I have more or less kept all my excess weight off - since mid 2007 for me. Again like Bette. I am banded not sleeved but bands and sleeves both basically rely on the same thing, reduced intake as opposed to malabsorption. So I will stick my bit in!

i don't and never have really counted calories. But roughiy speaking, if I am trying to lose weight, I eat between 1100 and 1300 a day. If I am content with my weight, I eat  more or less what I want, just not much of it. So I guess my intake will range from around 1400 on a " healthy" day to easily more than twice that on an indulgent day! I just did a quick count and yesterday I had a day when I was fairly healthy and I had around 1700. On Saturday, we had a day out followed by a special meal, with alcohol. I started to count but gave up at 3000. 

By "stuck", do you mean that you've reached a plateau? If so, they happen and they SUCK! I hit my first one two months out from surgery and lost ONE freaking pound in a month. But when the plateau ended I lost, if I remember right, something like 7 pounds overnight. They do eventually end. In the meantime, just keep doing what you've been doing and try to be patient. If it seems unusually lengthy, you can always call your surgeon to make sure that everything is fine internally.

My day-to-day eating varies depending on my mood, my schedule, and just what I generally feel like eating. But overall, I think I eat like a "normal" person: protein (extra protein from shakes and bars as well), veggies, lots of dairy for calcium. As for portions and calories, I can't even guess because I have never had the patience (except once) to track calories. Some days it's more, some less, but it all seems to balance out.