I too used to be addicted to this board.  Pre and post surgery I'd be disappointed if I returned to the site in 5 minutes and there were no new posts or threads... and like other vets I got away from regular posting...  I guess I can call myself a vet.. My RNY surgery was almost 17 months ago and I've reached goal and maintained this weight for several months.

It's not like I avoid posting.. it's just that you Karen and the handful of other regular vets are just so damn good at it.. and so prompt.. I usually don't have anything new to add..

I've traded my addiction to this OH board for an addiction to weighing myself.   I guess that's because I live in fear of gaining back the weight.. but I seem to have become one of those sickeningly lucky people, who used to make my lip curl in disgust and envy.  I can now eat pretty much anything I want and I never gain a pound.

I do follow most of the rules .. no drinking with meals, protein first, I'm dilegent with my vitamins etc. but if I want some chips, or a butter tart.. I can eat it..  Mostly I listen to my pouch.. I still can't eat very much..(still surprises me that the quantity varies from one day to the next)  BUT as soon as I'm full I stop.  The old "clean your plate" mentality is long gone.. (took awhile).. I've also learned to take less food to begin with.. (usually I use a salad plate)  Sometimes if there are many choices I end up with a full plate just by taking a sampling of each food.. and I look at it and think.. "come on  .. I'll never eat all that".. Slider foods sure do go down easier.. but even then.. I can stop at a handful of chips (instead of eating the whole bag)

I almost feel guilty that this new found control is so effortless. I can eat one cookie and think.. mmm that was good, and stop.. and feel satisfied..  I used to buy individually wrapped cookies or those mini Halloween sized chocolate bars.. The idea was that I could just eat one and not be tempted.. but who was I kidding.. I never stopped at one.. I'd be left with a mound of wrappers and feel so disappointed with myself.   or.. I'd spend hours thinking about food.. Especially if I was dieting.. it became all consuming.. calculating how many weigh****cher points I had left.. etc. 

I hesitate to post this for fear I'll be ridiculed for bragging or for making others who haven't had the same success and are working just as hard (or harder) feel bad.. I once attended a medically supervised weight loss clinic and the doctor claimed that we will never be free from weight gain until we've reached the ideal goal weight for our bodies.. I had lost 100 pounds but was still 40 pounds overweight.. He claimed that even being 20 pounds overweight pre-disposed us to weight regain.. 

Perhaps there was some truth in his theory.  My body seems to have stopped loosing now (although I did drop another pound this morning) or perhaps it's because I now get a ton more exercise. Not the treadmill pounding gym type stuff, but just the daily activity.. It's just soooo much easier to move with almost 160 lbs less on my back.  I bound up the stairs now, slide in and out of any car with ease, bend and squat and crouch effortlessly.  I no longer pile things at the bottom of the stairs.. planning the next climb that will maximize the job and the exersion it required.  I no longer "wait" until someone else is up and headed to the kitchen before asking them to please fetch me a drink or a snack!.  

I still get a real thrill when someone see's me and is shocked by my weight change.. It's still a thrill to buy a medium shirt.. and just know it will fit perfectly.  I never feel sad that I can no longer eat pizza, or that a Chinese buffet would just be a ridiculous waste of money, or that I've got gobs of extra skin.   Mostly I'm just loving life.. and thrilled to be healthy and "dare I say it"... finally thin!!

That's my update.. and I promise to post more frequently.. especially since there aren't a lot of men on this board!
John

Great post John and congratulations!! You've done amazing and give me hope that this will work for me too.
Thanks! Sandy

 Wow, your post really resonated with me, and I'm only 5 weeks post-op. karen does do such a great job with her posts I'm surprised she isn't a professional writer. I could really identify with your post about the mini chocolate bars, my problem was I couldn't get them open fast enough and then this mound of wrappers made me crazy.
I wouldn't feel bad that you are a "model" wls patient, that is what I really hope to get to. 
Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed reading it.
Take care,
jackie

Nice to see you posting John, even if it took some bullying by Karen, hehe!

Don't ever feel guilty for doing well, be proud and enjoy it!  It took a lot of effort to get where you are and you deserve success!

Yes, please post more frequently, it may bring more of our men back and give us a forum with a more varied opinion, knowledge, perspective etc.!

Yes John I concur Thankyou. It is so great to hear about success down the road and more important maintenance of weight loss. So many of us on here have lost tons of weight in the past from various methods but of course the problem is we haved gained it back. I am very successful dieter...that is not the problem. Its keeping it off thats the problem. So to hear that you basicly eat like a thin eater now is very encouraging. I am now 2 weeks postop and doing very well but I can't wait to be at goal and maintaining and living a normal life. Please keep posting. It is so great to get as many prospectives as possible.

As always, nice to hear from you John.

Love your post!

Holy Crow John, are you reading my mind.
I feel the same way.
Am eating far too easily and having the odd snacks but stopping at a taste. Where did that come from.

i'm loving life. And yes, I was addicted to the board, but like alot of folks we tend to drift away at times. i've  just had a lot of time off in the summer and not been home to post. and Karen yes, she's the pro and helps with all the questions. but i don't want to be one that disappears, we need to pay it forward as they say.

I'm loving how I can keep up with the pack and not have to worry about being left behind. Love that i can walk away from the table with food still on my sandwich sized plate. And go out to dinner and just order an appetizer.

love this new life.

J

Oh sure, blame me! 

Great post, John - I'm thrilled to hear how well you're doing!  You must feel fantastic :)

What a wonderful journey you are having.

I'm glad you have posted this....I was actually glad to hear that you can have what you are having without any problems because it gives me a sense, even though it may not be the same for me, that there is still hope for "normalcy". 

I am so grateful/thankful that Ontario is "giving" us this tool...but I always wondered if I would be able to be like a "normal" person.  Not talking about the mental, emotional, etc part of being normal, but about consuming food.  I know it might sound silly but just exactly like you said, taking 5 or 6 chips and being content with that.  Like a "normal" person would. 

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't care if I couldn't, I am not doing this for that but there is still 10% of my brain thinking if there was a possibility.

This is why I love reading what the vets have to say, you guys gives us hope.  Something to go "hmm, would love it if that would work out this way for me too, but if not, its all  good".

Have a great week!
Nathalie

 Wow, thanks for that post.  As I go through my assessment appointments, I still have moments when I struggle with the decision to have wls.  Occassionally I think I'm just weak willed and almost talk myself into joining Jenny Craig or WW again to give dieting yet another try...or I figure that I will be a wls failure and never get my **** together with food...and then I read a post like yours and I remember why I am going through this process and taking these risks...to have the kind of better future and quality of life that I deserve.  

p.s. Loved your mention of stacking items at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the energy to bring them up.  My clean laundry stays downstairs all the time and my dresser drawers remain empty since I'm too tired and short of breath to bring my clean laundry back up the stairs!