Happy Ninth Bandiversary to Me!

NINE.  It's so hard to believe that it's been nine years since my surgery.  Nine years since I've felt bad about myself because of my weight -- and somewhere around eight years since I've been overweight.  I am so, so glad that I made the decision to get banded.  It gave me my life back, let me control my weight, and -- funny enough -- let me enjoy food more than I did before because I don't feel guilty anymore when I eat something delicious.

At Ranthambore Fort in Rajasthan, India

Things are still going well with my band, thank God.  I have reflux if I eat too late in the evening, but it's manageable and doesn't happen often enough to be a big pain.  I still get stuck every once in a while -- most often when someone is stressing me out while I'm eating (which causes my band to tighten up), or if I don't pay attention and forget to chew my food well enough.  It really doesn't happen that much -- maybe once or twice a month at most.

Taking a local train near Deogarh

Check out the Taj Mahal reflection in my sunglasses! 
Our guide took this without me realizing what he was doing!

In love land, things are great, too!  I can't believe Steve and I have already been married for more than four years!  We just got back from a two-week trip to India, which was number one on my bucket list since I was in fourth grade!  I loved it.  It really exceeded all of my expectations.  I was surprised by just how friendly and warm everyone we met was, by how beautiful the nature and architecture were at the different places we visited -- and I was absolutely floored to find out that the Taj Mahal isn't overrated!!  Who knew?!

The cutest baby cow in India....

In weight news, I'm still carrying around that pesky 5 pounds that I've had on me for about two years now.  I'm still thinking about motivating to get it off, but it hasn't happened yet!  That said, I've kept on top of it and haven't let it turn into more, which is a huge improvement on how things would have gone pre-band.  I still weigh myself pretty much every day, and use the number as a guide for how I should eat during the day (i.e. no sweets if it's on the high end, maybe allow a treat if it isn't).  That's my secret to maintenance, along with working out regularly.

That's all for now.  Sending lots of love and well-wishes to you!  I'd love to hear how you are doing if you haven't posted in a while and we're not otherwise in touch -- please feel free to leave comments!  I miss having updates to read all the time on my favorite bandster blogs!