i cant believe it's been 3 years for me. life is good and i am maintainting my 140lb loss. i still dump when i try and sneak surgar. i guess i'll never learn. i can eat an entire turkey sandwich now. and meat is always rough on me. been back on the protein shakes and had to go on a prescription iron, other than that, i stay as much away from the carbs because they are so easy to get down and i can eat alot of them. peace and love to all who have made this journey margaret

I hope everything works out well. My prayers are with you and your family. Happy anniversary also.

I think I'll just post my updates on this thread, that way I don't keep having a million posts all in my name. Besides, I don't think a whole lot of people really visit here any more, so it's more for myself anyway. I could keep all this in my blog, but I like thinking that MAYBE somewhere out there someone reads these and can either relate or get a good laugh. At any rate, it's good writing practice. I'm still doing WW, but the scale hasn't moved in 3 weeks AFTER a nearly 3 lb gain. So in 3 months, I'm down just 5.6 lbs. Better than not being down, I suppose. I THOUGHT that I would have such an easy time during the summer months, but it's actually a lot harder. When I'm working during the school year, my downfalls are foods that are brought into the lounge and being too tired to cook dinner and going out to eat instead. Still, I have a routine because I can't really snack and I eat at the same time each day. Now that it's summer, I have absolutely NO ROUTINE because I come and go constantly. In the last month, I've been out of town 3 times! I know that I'm a compulsive eater...a binge eater. Surgery didn't fix that. Surgery has helped limit my binges and the types of food that I eat, but I still don't have control of my addiciton. I'll keep working on it, though. I'm still looking for that ever-elusive 199. I won't see it by the time school starts, but maybe by October. I'm still wanting to have that baby, but it's on the back burner because I think being healthier will make it easier to get pregnant if we must return to fertility treatments. know, I've said that a bazillion times since taking a break. I think we're trading in our pop-up camper for a small travel-trailer. Every time we go camping, we moan and groan about how much an incovenience it is to pop the thing up, pop it down, and then pop it up at home to clean the canvas and then pop it down again. Then, on rainy days, it's kind of cramped because it has a lousy floor-plan despite being quite large for a pop-up. ANYWAY...this trailer we're looking at has a double bed with a single bunk above it, a sofa, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, a table, and plenty of storage. We won't need to have tubs for clothing and food because there's places for all of it. It even has cable-TV hook up. Speaking of campers...we just got back into town yesterday from an extended weekend. We took my niece along, which wasn't a very good idea. She and Caitlin fought off and on the whole time. Taylor is turning 13 this summer, and she's bored with kids' games and toys, so she spent a lot of her time waiting for Alan or me to entertain her. We did have a good time in the river, though. We took our "River Rat" tube and swam down the river. It's about a 1/2 mile from the beach where we started to the campground "cliff" where you can climb out. Most of it, you could touch the bottom of the river, although it was deeper in a couple of places. It was a free float trip! I suppose that's all of my life for now. It's actually a lot of rambling, but it's better to write than it is to eat. Cheers! Pamela

Three years....so many things that I've done these past three years that I would have struggled with had I not had WLS. It still floors me that my sides don't tou*****hairs when I sit down, and that I'm not afraid of breaking lawn furniture any more. I looked at an old picture of me from 2001....and I look like my own older fatter sister...even though I'm 6 years younger in the picture. I'm so happy that I have the energy to play with my son, and that I won't be "the fat mom" when he starts school (in four years *wink*), and I have a good shot at being the "kinda hot mom". I have more confidence, and I think more people take me seriously when I need them to, too. I also don't care what I put in my grocery cart now (of course, mostly healthy stuff). When I was obese I was sure everyone watched what I put in my cart. Now, I don't give a poop what everyone thinks about what's in my grocery cart. Silly, isn't it? I'm hovering at 209 right now, and would like to see a weigh in that doesn't begin with a "2" before summer is over. From there, who knows. I think at 185-190 I'll easily fit into a size 14 (my ultimate goal from day one, and still on my mind). What a wild ride.... Deeno

Beth, I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to respond. Shame on me! You can do it. I think quitting smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done. I've quit drinking and drugs and yeah, that was hard, but smoking was the worst. The good news is, if I can do it ANYONE can do it!! I still think about it today (after 7.5 years), but it's fleeting. I keep some cigarette length straws here and there and when I have a tough time, I pretend to smoke them. It really helps - guess the deep breathing, etc. Give it a try. I also found a support group online that was very helpful. Hang in there - you're a NON-smoker!! If you need support, feel free to email me! Hugs, Nancy