POST #500----No, not the Gap Band and NOT a Lap Dance.....

First of all, Merry Christmas!

Secondly, I want to thank everyone who's been bored enough to check out this blog over its two plus years of existence. Today we type in post #500. For once in my life, I started something and actually kept it going.

On this Christmas Eve, what will our post #500 discuss? A radical change here in the Witham Nation.

My wife has been overweight since childhood. In our 19 years together, she's lost weight on two occasions, but "plateaued" at a level which was still over her ideal weight. Add some other health issues in recent years, and she recently decided to have Lap-Band Surgery.

What is it? Click here. She now has a "tiny" stomach, then the rest of her stomach. The goal is to change eating habits by having lesser portions, eliminating certain foods, emphasizing others, especially any food with lots of protein----then add regular exercise and water consumption.

Her goal? Lose 100 pounds over the next 12-24 months. And, as opposed to gastric bypass surgery, it provides gradual weight loss, rather than radical loss early. Here's a comparison of the two procedures.....

The number one reason she chose Lap Band was it did not require any stomach stapling, etc. It is also a reversible system. They can take the Lap Band out just as quickly as they put it in.

She stayed at the hospital overnight; came home around noon Friday. She is taking longer to back up and running than some others, so we're glad she doesn't return to work until January 5th (though the paycheck sure takes a hit!).

She has been and is still worried this "will not work". I continue to tell her it will because she has the will and strength to see it through. She wants to be physically able to be active with our kids, then with our grandkids.....we want to see her leg pains, back pain, HBP and thyroid conditions to improve or completely disappear.

And, yes, she was posed the inevitable question by several people, "Did you do this for your husband?" And, we ALL KNOW what they mean by that question.

Her answer to them has been, "He married he fat, didn't he??".

My answer is: well, yes, she did do it for me, so we can enjoy healthy active lives for many years to come (and now it's my turn to get some physical issues straight)!

BUT, it has NOTHING to do with any "lack of attractiveness" concerning her AWESOME body. It's always attracted me. :) :)

I will admit, though, that intimate relations after she loses 100 pounds should be very interesting, to say the least, in that new avenues and opportunities will arise. So, I'm excited about that and I know she will be, too, in time. Right now, her entire focus is on the culinary and lifestyle revolutions that have begun.

And looking at the five tiny and one medium-sized incisions 'round her belly.

We'll, of course, keep you posted on her successes, and, do you know anyone who has had the surgery? Click on "comments" below and give us your story!