Ragtopman

Just a thought or two from an old guy: In my humble opinion the real process is getting your mind right. As has been stated earlier the band is a tool, not a miracle. It's a pretty darn good tool and is close to a miracle. After I got banded I didn't have a good fill for quite a long time; almost a year. The weight came off slowly but still came off. When I finally decided that I was ready I got a fill and then weight came off much faster. The point is that even though I had done the first step, getting the band, I wasn't ready to change my habits. When I was ready, got my mind right so to speak, getting a fill was all it took. I've lost 135 pounds and feel great. If I lose another 15 or so it will be fine but at 197 lbs I'm satisfied with where I am. My hobby is restoring and working on old cars. I turned 61 today and spent part of the morning on my back under my truck. I can't imagine that I'd have been able to get up and down as easily as I did 135 lbs heavier than I am today. I spent a lot of last summer installing a dashboard in my '66 Thunderbird convertible. That entailed lots of laying on my back, squatting, twisting and turning. It is so much easier to do now than when I was younger but weighed so much more. There are lots of options and it can be scary. I'll finish by saying that I used to eat all the time; and when I wasn't eating I was thinking about eating. I really don't think about eating these days. In fact my wife sometimes has to remind me to eat something because I forget. That being said I'll add that I love to cook and spend time in the kitchen experimenting. I didn't give that up but have learned to cook much smaller portions. With my wife and I both having the band we find that it's like cooking for 1 now. If I cook a pot roast or slow cooker full of Soup we share it with the neighbors. I still eat things I like but really am satisfied with smaller portions. 2 Oreos will do me instead of 6. I don't feel deprived and feel like I'm in control.