I am new to the group. I am 56 years old and love travel and any type of outdoor activities. I am the mother of a great daughter and son-law. I work as a nurse and have spent a lifetime taking better care of others than I have of myself. I have been overweight off and on my whole life. In my early forties I seemed to lose the battle and was about 10 lbs up each year. By the time I reached 50 yrs old, the extra weight had started causing health problems so a year ago my physician told me to lose it or else! I worked with someone who had a gastric sleeve and she was very positive about her experience so I attended a seminar , signed up and started the 6 month process of preparing for my surgery. I went through a very difficult emotional time coming to grips with my perceived "failure" to gain control of my weight and health without the help of something as drastic as this surgery. I am not overly emotional but cried a lot over this. I wasn't even totally committed until the week before surgery. After all the struggles I am 5 months out and can say with no doubt this is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. My health has drastically improved and I now realize that my emotional struggle before surgery was mourning the loss of my health and active lifestyle. When asked how much I want to lose or what my weight loss goal is, I answer that my goal isn't a number but my goal is is regain my health and my active lifestyle.