10.5 months out - at goal and loving it - long description of life at this point

This is a great post-- I'm so happy to read your inspirational story!! You've done GREAT!!

Jason, this is by far one of the best "status" posts I've ever read. 

Your line about trading an unhealthy not-normal life for a healthy not-normal life is perfectly expressed.  People come on here all the time asking about what their life will be like after surgery, and essentially what they're wondering is, will they be able to eat and do stuff like they did before.  And the answer is no, if they want to achieve and maintain weight loss.  We have to simply recognize that the life we had before was killing us, at least the eating part, and let it go.

With the tools and techniques you have learned, and your self-knowledge, I have no doubt that you will be a life long maintenance success.

Thanks.  That was a question that was big in my mind as well as my wife and family.  I didn't want to have this drastically different life.  I was comfortable being able to eat and drink as I had.  But that comfort level, like you say, was killing me.  But what is important to express to those asking that question, is that this new lifestyle becomes so normal that you don't even know that you were once able to eat any and everything. 

Its actually funny because I was thinking about that today.  We went to this little burger joint for lunch, which of course there wasn't a thing there I could eat.  I ended up ordering a childs chicken fried steak dinner....which would give a child a coronary but thats another topic....2 decent sized strips of chicken fried steak and a basket full of fries with cream gravy(which I don't care what any of you say....cream gravy is God's gift to the south lol)....I would estimate it all at 1200 calories.  Used to, I would order the full plate which had five strips, even more fries, a roll, coleslaw(nasty so that always got trhown away) and gravy.  I could easily, without thought eat every bit of that and still could have gotten some desert.  

Today, out of my childs basket, I had 2 fries, soaked in gravy(yea yea....gravy is terrible....but sooooo good) and two small bites of chicken fried steak without the breading and squshed between some paper towels.  (I actually ended up taking the rest to go and giving it to a homeless man who lives near our house.  Just a thought for all of you, that is what we do with our left overs.  If you find someone homeless nearby, they generally will appreciate anything like that....you know, don't put half eaten stuff but presentable, clean food....just what we do)...but anyway, I was completely satisifed, didn't desire more....it was all I wanted.

And the 'weird' thing, that I never could have imagined, is how normal that feeling of being satsfied with so little has become.  It isn't like I get disappointed that I can only eat so little.  It feels normal now to me.  The fear I had that I would always be left wanting to eat more and unable to live a high quality of life where I could enjoy food, was completely unrealized.  So while they can't eat and do things like they, we, did, what they can do, will be worthwhile and not 'depressing', for lack of a better word.