Melva: "I was taking tons of medication that wasn't even helping solve my health problems. And to me, the fact that three months after surgery I was taken off all medication, to me, that is what my goal was, it was to be successful and not be dependent on meds."

Karen: "Uhm-hmm, that's fantastic."

Teresa: "Success for me is I'm here, I'm healthy, I'm almost at my goal, and I'm gonna be here for the next hopefully 20 years for my children. I've done it, I'm doing it, so that's very successful to me."

Stephen: "I think success for me is not feeling embarrassed in front of my children and their friends anymore. You know, at their sporting activities, things of that nature."

CJ: "Success for me, it's just being able to be a part of my family, because I was, I was always kind of... I was a part of my family, but I was kind of removed from my family, because they would always do things and I couldn't keep up with them. You know what I mean?"

Steve: "I think success for me just means maintenance. Maintaining because, you know, like we said before, we've all tried all of those diets, and we've all lost 60 pounds, 80 pounds, 100 pounds. But as soon as you stop taking the pill, or stop drinking the powder, or stop whatever, then the weight would come back on. So I think for me, success is not only getting to the goal, which I did, but now trying to maintain and stay there, and not go back in the opposite direction ever again. And I think I'm doing a pretty good job."

CJ: "Well, being almost, being almost five years out, you know, it's like I look and I'm like, 'Gosh, I guess... I guess I am successful,' but it's so funny because it's like I don't even think of it in that kind of way anymore because it's... it is... it's part of my life now. And that just came over, you know, that first, those first couple of years of just really, you know, following the rules and doing what you have to do. So it's really just become a way of life."

Steve: "Uhm-hmm."

Karen: "I remember prior to losing weight, my idea of what a normal portion size was way out of control, and the amount of food that I thought I needed to consume on a daily basis was just a ridiculous amount of food. And being three years out, I now think I have a pretty good handle on what a normal portion size is and how much food my body actually needs to sustain every day. And there will be times when I'm out with family or friends and we'll go to a restaurant or whatnot, and the plate size or the portion size is just a ridiculous amount of food. And I used to be able to eat it. I could put it away, and, you know, sometimes I'll just look at that and just be amazed at the difference of what I used to be able to eat compared to what I eat now."

Melva: "I think that the biggest success after having surgery is that we've had so many bad habits where we've always eaten an enormous amount of food. And then to be able to just eat the quantity of food that we have and be satisfied, I think that is something that maybe at the beginning we weren't sure if we were gonna be successful in accomplishing that."

Steve: "But you're still enjoying the things that you always did before. You're still getting those tastes, and you're still enjoying those foods, just in a lot smaller amount."

Stephen: "A lot smaller."

Steve: "So it's not like you've had to give up completely and cut everything completely out."