Kevin-in-Sacramento

Classic case of a fat boy, and the fact that I'm a bus driver made me quite the stereo-type. My wife had the bypass about 3 years ago, she's had incredible success. She's in my "before" picture and she is half that size now, really took to it well. But I always said I would do it "God's way darn it!!"--with diet and exercise, because although I was a fat guy, I've never really been a fat slob....pardon the expession. So I reasoned that while my wife certainly needed her surgery, I wasn't going to need it. that was a shortcut for really desperate people that let themselves get way out of control. (this was my thinking at the time)
But then a year or two went by, and although I went to the gym, I still had my idiot eating habits!! So I never made any real progress with weight loss. Then, this last year I had to get medically certified to drive the bus, a state requirement every 2 years. I very very nearly failed my blood pressure test; I actually did at first but then he took it again later and I barely passed. This was suddenly a wake-up call for me. And then, and only then, did I actually consider looking into weight loss surgery. At first glance I did not quite qualify, I wasn't fat enough. (BMI was not quite at 35%) But the fact that I had begun taking blood pressure meds lowered my BMI requirement, and suddenly I qualified. After consulting with my doctor and others, I opted for the LapBand because I still did not see myself as really huge, and I could see that the Band was far less intrusive of a procedure. It seemed the approprate choice given my circumstances. So, on September 7th, 2010, I went in. As of this writing 10 months after the fact, I'm about 61 lbs lighter.
One thing my wife said to me once is that with her, 3 years plus after  her bypass, she said "the magic is gone." In other words, she had to be a changed person by now, because she could, in theory, go right back to her previous state if she allowed herself to. But with my LapBand, even if I tried to continue eating irresponsibly, the Band simply WILL NOT AL:LOW IT!! I can't, it becomes incredibly uncomfortable and I would become "stuck," therefore i cannot. And, from what I understand, this Band can be with me for life, and as I lose weight I am able to go in for my "tune up" as it were, a tightening. So, in retrospect, it seems to me that I just so happened to make the better choice in weight loss procedures, the LapBand, because 3,4,5 years from now the magic will not be gone, but still present as I continue to use the Band as a tool in the management of maintaining a proper healthy diet, and glorious restriction of over-indulgence. It's a double edged sword, sometimes I get real annoyed, and I miss the joy of eating I have always had. But now I have been "strong-armed" into healthier eating, slowly respecting the food now, and savoring the true joy of eating now, healthy and in proportion. People have said to me, "don't you miss it?"---to which I honestly say, "Yeah I do sometimes, but what has that prior way of eating got my my whole life?"