Hi bridget, I accidentally posted my original message twice, but I'll answer your questions here. I lost about 100 lbs the first year, then another 20 after that and then I was at 150 lbs for a very very long time. But, I'm 5'5 and that wasn't a bad weight. In the past few years, though, I have lost another 21 lbs by just being more active (basically walking a lot). I don't 'diet' at all, I eat whatever I want. So I now weigh 129 lbs but I think I could stand to gain a few pounds. I think my best weight is actually 135 - 138. I have never had any periods of regaining any weight. I don't really know the size they made my stomach. I had a basic stomach stapling. I think that all of you now are much better informed than we were, and there are so many more options, but, we were 'guinea pigs'. At the beginning I could only eat a few bites of food, but over the years that has changed and I can eat more than that now. Even so, I still can't begin to eat a 'full meal'. I probably eat about 1/4 of what most people eat. But, I do eat small amounts all day long. I never eat a big meal (can't) so I eat a little, but then I will eat something again in a couple of hours. My husband for example will eat two big plates of food and make himself miserable for several hours. I will eat a little tiny bit of food and feel fine, but within a couple of hours I will eat a little tiny big again.
I'm sorry to hear that there are people who have regained their weight. For a few years I kept in touch with some of the women in the study group, but lost touch with them over the years. I would imagine that in order to regain the weight, they would have somehow had to stretch their stomach back to a bigger size by eating too much, or, drinking high calorie drinks (beer, etc).
Hope this answers some of your questions!!
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