On April 24th I turned 42 ... My husband's birthday is the 22nd and I made a big deal out of it because he turned 40 ... I made his favorite foods for dinner and even made him a homemade pineapple upside down cake (his fav), we stayed busy all day and played with the kids ... We have 3 young children; 10, 8 and 4. They had a very hard time understanding why on my birthday there would be no cake and no special meal. I was very good on my hubby's birthday and was not going to blow it on my birthday !!! It was still a very special day and for the 1st time in my life I was able to celebrate something without making it about the food !!! I know that doesn't seem like a very big deal to some people, but those of us that have struggled with our weight, know how difficult that can be. Even with all of my hard work I did not reach my goal of losing 10lbs this month but I came very close, losing 8lbs. I have started shaking things up a little in my work outs in hope that it will help me reach my 10lb goal for May and maybe even give my that extra 2lbs I didn't get in April ... My husband told me a few weeks ago that he didn't realize that losing weight would be this much work for me after having wls ... I must admit I didn't really know what I was getting myself into either, but I refuse to have gone through all of this and not lose the weight !!! Getting banded was the best thing I ever did for myself and my family. My husband even bought me a pink and white beach cruiser for my birthday so we can start riding along the beach with the kids this summer !!! Before I was banded I would have returned the bike and spent the money on bills or even going out for a nice dinner but now I can't wait for the kids to be out on summer break so we can start riding !!! I am very blessed to live at the beach in SoCal where the wether is usually beautiful but I never took advantage of it until now and it feels great =0)