I am not a therapy fan (personal choice) but blogging does seem to fill that sort of role for me. So as I sit here and ingest copious amounts of fluids after my walk, I thought I would toss out my current state, weird milestones and general thoughts at this point in my LAP-BAND® journey.

As of this morning's weigh in, I am 4 pounds away from my first 100 pounds of loss. I do not go back and try and figure out my highest weight this year, but rather use the weigh in amount one first consult. I am ecstatic about this as I am pretty sure that once I get to this weight, it will be the lowest weight I have reached in my adult (Post college) life. I had a soft goal of 100 pounds lost by my 20 year high school reunion (it was convenient) and it looks like I should cruise to that with 2 weeks left. I still hardly see the difference, but friends and family are very kind and give me tons of support and kind words. I know that the clothing cannot lie and some of my clothes from before are just ridiculous now. (I have since taken them all to Goodwill)

After this milestone (which will put me at 331 pounds...yes, I was a big cat), my next milestones are as follows:

• 330 - I can now use Wii Fit
  
• 300 - I have not been sub-300 since high school
  
• 286 - This is the next level of obesity (Severely). At least that one sounds logical.
  
• 250 - My old WW lifetime goal and really, as far as I can see ahead.
  

the band has been an amazing tool thus far. I am still learning how best to use it and trying to make sure that I am doing my part through exercise, but for the first time in my life I feel as though I am headed in the right direction and cannot see the event that will trigger my fall of the wagon.

Some things I have learned

These are my observations. YMMV.

• Fills rock. They suck at first, but each time I get one I get a good burst of weight loss and learn more about what restriction feels like.
  
• I don't really miss food. Sure, I wish I could have a all u can eat lobster-fest every once in a while, but normally, I can have a small portion of almost anything and be happy.
  
• The docs were right. 8/10 times when I feel hungry, a drink makes it better (no, not a vodka tonic)
  
• Exercise makes the difference. I walk and workout as often as I can and it seems to be making a huge difference.
  
• Premier Nutrition shakes from Costco are delicious and get 30g of protein out of the way FAST.
  
• Eating out, while possible, is a pain in the ass. Even when I do a good job, I seem to retain water.
  
• Sketchers Shape-Ups, while REALLY goofy looking, seem to give me a better workout when I walk.
  
• Buying new clothes can be an awesome experience. I look forward to having to donate this last batch to someone else.
  

I hope your journeys are proceeding on target. I am a little amped as I walk/jogged roughly a 5K tonight and plan to start psuedo training for a real 5K soon. Not that I like to run (unless chased of course) but thinking that I could actually run that far is exhilarating.