and I figured it was time to check out Bariatric Pal and see if it is a good fit for me..being as I have tried lots of diets and lost lots of weight and gained it back every time plus..well, to put it mildly I go into this very cynically. It's a drastic move for me and I feel as if it is a last ditch effort. Its' exciting to look at before and after pictures and read the stories behind them but I don't want to get my hopes up. This will probably be more of an emotional situation for me then just a dieting thing- I can do diet with the best of them but hate limiting myself forever. I don't sit around eating bags of chips or quarts of ice cream or pkgs of oreos but I could eat healthier and exercise more except I have gotten into a rut as I've gotten older-eat out too much and I have so many aches and pains that I shy away from serious exercise. So..what's the success rate with this attitude? I have 6 weeks before the big day,I've read a BUNCH of books on the sleeve-recipe books,spiritual readiness,and a couple of funny ones about personal experiences and how they dealt with the ups and downs of this life-changing step (no pun intended) Look forward to learning how to navigate around this site and meeting some kindred spirits, gmalinda