I'm not very good at posting much, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't read and read on here. This site, and all of you, have been invaluable to me.

I'm not one of those who were excited and anxious to start this journey. It was a whole year from my first visit with the surgeon to the date of surgery and that was fine with me, the longer the wait, the better. I always questioned if I was doing the right thing.

Today, 9 months later, I've lost 80 lbs. ,met my goal, and wearing a size 10, a size I haven't been since before my pregnancies, more than 30 years ago. So do I have regrets? Absolutely not! There is no way I could have done this on my own. And I certainly had tried so many times.

Some of what I've learned and would like to share: For those of you starting out, things absolutely do get better. I was miserable for a good two weeks and probably didn't feel like myself for 6 months. It takes time. And the learning process is something that continues to this day and I think always will. I've certainly made mistakes along the way - eating too much, not eating enough, eating too fast, not drinking enough, etc. but I've learned from every mistake, and I'm still learning.

I don't count calories, I don't measure my food, I don't track what I eat. I do weigh myself every single day - I know most of that is contrary to what works for many of you, but it's what works for me. Although the scale doesn't move every day, I've never experienced a significant stall. Weight loss did slow down after 6 months, but still losing. I do drink all my water, I take my vitamins, I do get hungry often and I still eat every 3 hours, 5 times a day, and I always focus on protein first. I don't eat and drink at the same time but I find about 10 minutes is all I need to wait between eating and drinking. I eat very little bread. I can't eat a sandwich, but have found that in restaurants it's perfectly acceptable to order a sandwich with no bread and that works very well. I eat a lot of chicken, fish, eggs, chili, cottage cheese, peanut butter, and yogurt. It's taken me a long time to understand something that I've seen Tinman post often - this is not a diet. Well... this is not a diet! I eat what I want, even if it's a cookie or a muffin or a donut or a jelly bean - sugar has always been my weakness. But the thing is, my body no longer craves these things, they don't give me the same pleasure or satisfaction they did in the past. But I can have them when I want them.

I want to wish every one well and say thanks to all those who've posted. There's a quote I heard years ago on one of my many diets - nothing tastes as good as thin feels - and its so true.

Linda