I am 164.4 lbs. this morning. I am nearly 70 lbs. lighter now than I was in the winter, and summer is much better without those extra pounds! I find I am far more active, and my energy level is far higher, than it was pre-surgery.

Yesterday morning was a perfect, sparkling summer morning. We have had a very cold year this year and most days this summer it has not gotten above the low 70's (and on many days temps didn't even get out of the 60's). But yesterday was the day everyone has been waiting for ... warmer, but not hot, and no hint of rain anywhere.

I am now in the habit of walking a 2.5 mile trail several times a week that has a big section of long, fairly steep hill. I did that walk yesterday, then went straight down to my community garden plot and did some weeding and garden chores for about 1.5 hours, then went home, changed, and went to the Puyallup farmer's market (it's fabulous!) with DH and had lunch (a few bites of kielbasa) and walked around to the vendors (bought lots of cherries, some garlic bulbs, and a pretty pink and white hydrangea). I would never have had the energy before surgery to do all those three things in one morning!

Other news ... I am in a class at work and one of the ladies in class with me who works in our office (though not directly with me) caught up with me during break and complimented me on how good I look. Then she asked me if I had had weight loss surgery, and I said I had (I decided long ago to be very upfront with everyone about my surgery, if anyone were to ask). She said that she had a gastric bypass back in 2004. I was surprised (she has worked in our office about 4 years, and the whole time she has been at a stable size/weight ... I am guessing she is about a size 10/12). We spent some time talking about WLS. She has done very well with managing her weight ... she lost about 80 lbs. with gastric bypass and has gained back about 10 lbs. in the past 7 years. She says she does still have to take the nutritional supplements regularly, and as a result of her surgery she is completely lactose intolerant and can't have any dairy or she has horrible side effects. She also has to really watch her sweets intake. She hadn't heard of the VSG procedure and once I described it to her she said she wished she could have gotten it ... but overall she looks great. I know I will need to be vigilant about not having weight re-gain once I hit my final stopping point, wherever that ends up being. I have 32 lbs. left to hit my goal ... hoping to get there by the end of the year. We'll see how I do!