:) Cross post from over 50 BMI forum

Yes! I just wanna play with my kids! But not being lazy anymore will be a huge plus!

It's making me a little teary too . You guys are awesome inspiration 

I'm almost 8 years out. My highest BMI was 53 and now I maintain pretty easily at 22.

You can do it!!

And you look uhmayzing.  

Dunno what happened to the rest of my message but it said I hope I am as successful as you are!

My highest recorded BMI was 51.5. I'm 5'3" and 291lbs. That was almostt debilitating. 

I used to joke with my hubby that I wanted to use the motorized carts at the grocery store.  He always told me that if I used them I'd be just giving up.  I never told him that I wasn't really joking about the motorized carts.  

Having this surgery had changed my life.  My BMI is still in the overweight range at 29.2, but my quality of life is so drastically improved that it may aseem well be a 22 bmi.  

I have looked longingly at those carts myself lol. Thank you!

I just followed the directions from my surgeon - until I got to goal weight.  I took a class, twice, to deal with the emotional side of eating.  My high was 286 (I am 5'3", so my BMI was just under 50), but we could probably have passed for body-doubles.

I was a diet failure (lose only to gain it all back), to the extent that I wasn't really sure that WLS would work for me.  When I got under 250, I thought that I had a chance.

I lift weights, so 145 was my revised goal wt (9% body fat), I'm now at 133.8. Size 6 pants are now a bit baggy. Your body will tell you when you are at the right goal weight.  It is hard, but focus on being compliant with the surgeon's instructions, that is all you can do and the weight will take care of itself.

So, my friend, if someone like me can, then you can achieve your goals.

Hang in there, work through the challenges that arise.

Best of everything.

Oh thank you so much! These replies mean so much to me, they give me hope. I AM scared that it may not work for me. I would lose 40 and gain 50 in my earlier years!

Follow your drs instructions.  Focus on 100% compliance with them. 

Here are my tips - use any that might work for you. Forget the rest.

Do not weigh more than 1/wee****il you are close to goal wt. Your life is now about more than food and weight. 

If you are enchanted with food (ie certain foods have magical properties to make all your problems disappear - even if only temporarily) then the best time to break that enchantment and put food in its appropriate place is the first months after surgery.  Keep with simple foods (I worry about people who are so excited about new recipes and are already devoting alot of time to food and they are only 1-2 weeks after surgery) and rather invest that time in becoming healthier - exercising appropriately, finding non-food activities that you enjoy (modern art, Habitat for Humanity)  and exploring new ways to exercise that you will think are more fun than work (join a trail club and hike the App Trail or JMT on the West coast, team Ice Skating, etc.

At about 6 months out, when I knew how things were going, what things worked for me, and what things still were challenging, I wrote a list of committments that I made to myself to stay on track.  That was a helpful exercise, but for me was best to wait until 3-6 months out, before that I was adjusting to the new lifestyle and could not yet imagine what longterm post-WLS life would be like.  

Good Luck