5 year surgiversary - life is better, but food is still a struggle...

Congrats on your VET STATUS!! You have been an amazing inspiration to me. I remember the first post of yours I saw - your 2 years after PS and it gave me hope. I was amazed at how honest and open you were. Your willingness to share everything about your journey has helped me more than you'll ever know. Thank you, Emily - you are awesome!!

Awww thanks Amy - that made me blush! You're so sweet. We have very similar starting and ending stats - and you are doing AMAZING. You are literally half the person you once were!

What's funny is how open I am here, I am the opposite in real life. I have never told a single soul how much weight I have lost, because it's so embarrassing to admit out loud that I was once 350 lbs...it's almost like the shame of having let myself get there! But for some reason on here I just lay it all out there, including plastic surgery pics lol! Funny, right? Or crazy!

Thank you so much for sharing your journey! I am about 4 months behind you and have followed you every step of the way. You have been such an inspiration for me not only in weight loss but I traveled a bit because of your awesome posts! This post serves as a stark reminder of how easy it is too let old habits creep back in and that for most of us, food will ALWAYS be a struggle.

OMG that's awesome! About the travel :) Where did you go??? I love to travel and even live vicariously through other people's travels.

And amen to that...food is an addiction for many of us, I'm afraid.

Congrats on five years!!! Thanks for the reminder that we can't eat like normal people. I have regained from my lowest and trying to get it off. Good luck on losing it.

Thanks, Yvonne! We can both get our regain off - with effort! At least that's what I tell myself every single day. While I wish I could eat like a "normal" person, history tells me I simply cannot!

Emily - Congrats on earning your vet status, I always read what you have to say and I value what you say as well as your opinions. Thank you for sharing your regain story and I have no doubt in my mind that you will reach your goal. I applaud you, you look great and are a great person!!!

Thanks, Mike, that is so sweet of you to say! I have to say, I applaud you for continuing to be here and providing support to people. It wouldn't be such a helpful resource if it were only people 0-6 months post-op! And you continue to do so awesome - it's amazing. Don't you sometimes just look at your life and think how damn difficult things were (whether or not you knew at the time)? Like, going shopping for an entire day in Vermont - remember how much harder it was just to WALK for extended amounts of time? Or sit on a plane to Asia - I bet that, to you, is such an awesome experience now!

Thank You Emily - I will continue to try to give back as I am able too, you set a good example for us to follow and Thank you for being honest and transparent. I was very angry about regain was I was not being honest with myself and now I just realize I need to fight instead of feel sorry for myself and get down. We both know we will have good and bad days, it is how we handle the bad days that will dictate our success.

Look at your amazing self! Way to go Thank you for sharing and great words of wisdom