gowalking

Beautiful picture!

Good. Now you can relax. I'm sure if they were concerned about the other breast, they would want you in right away.

You look so wonderful Di. I'm just so so so happy for you. I can remember when you started posting on this site and now look at you. What an inspiration!! And yes...it can be done. I lost a pound on my cruise. Just shows that you can still have a great time without losing control over the food. I know how fantastic you feel right now...I surely do.

You're a good friend Mikee.

Vince and Halloween....say bon voyage to the old you and embrace the new, healthier, and thinner you that is coming. Between my obesity and mobility issues, I was like someone in jail. No freedom at all. Today, I can move normally again and I fit everywhere. I move like a thin person...I don't rumble and jiggle down the street anymore. I move and everything moves with me...not against me. Life is good again and you are both lucky to start this process before your health was negatively impacted. Good luck to you both.

I don't think this article is applicable for many of us. You have to remember, shopping when heavy or obese is an ordeal. If you find something that fits, you buy it in every color and get the hell out of the store as fast as possible. For those who are/were heavy and obese for many years, this is the first time in a long time that shopping can be fun again. I've spent a considerable amount of money over the past year buying clothing that only fit for a few months or even weeks before going to another size. I don't regret a moment of it except when I was still purchasing like a fat girl. One in every color. I understand now that I don't have to do that anymore. So...most of my clothes have gone to charity or to friends. I'm glad they are being used by someone else. We also may overdo because suddenly we actually look good in clothes. That's a big change for many of us. I have to stop myself from overbuying. But it's hard when you see how nice you look now. My only consolation is that I try to buy from discount or lower end stores and I take advantage of sales as much as possible. I look good in dresses again so I just bought six of them. But they were half price so I got them all. This could be construed as being a shopaholic but it's not. Nothing personal, but the last thing we need is to be afraid of something that is new again and pleasurable. As long as you can pay that credit card bill, there's nothing to worry about. Have fun shopping gals!!

I was actually out of the office on medical leave for a period of several months and by the time I got back, I was virtually unrecognizable. I mean literally, people didn't know who I was. It was very disconcerting and uncomfortable but it does pass and people get used to the way you look and the comments stop. As far as no one saying anything as your weight goes up, the hope with WLS is that we don't gain it back. Good luck and hoping you will become the person you see in your head soon enough.

This is probably not what you meant but I wish I would have known how successful I was going to be. If I had known, I'd have done this years ago. Good luck!!

Are you allowed SF pudding? It's a staple for me when I want something sweet. What about SF sucking candies. Sometimes one of those like a butterscotch can satisfy the sweet tooth.

Think seriously about seeing a professional. I do and I know she is helping me to not sabotage myself. There are alot of psychological issues behind body image dysfunction and I am starting to explore it with the therapist. I dropped alot of weight once before and put it back on along with another 40 more and I just can't allow myself to get off track again.

Those pictures show that weight loss is not always the best barometer. There is an obvious change in your body that does not reflect just three pounds down. Great job!

Yes. I feel like a fraud. I feel like a fat woman in a thinner body. I look at pictures because I don't see the way I look to everyone else. I'm 25 lbs. below my goal and while I'm not too thin, I keep thinking I need to lose more because I'm not thin enough. I see a therapist to help me with my body image issues. Most of us have problems seeing ourselves whether we're overweight or not. I only saw a fat woman when I saw pictures of myself. I didn't see the fat woman in the mirror, and I don't see the thin woman in the mirror either. You are not alone...believe me. And it has nothing to do with age either. You're a young woman and I'm a 56 year old grandmother. Here's my before and after picture. I don't recognize either of these women and they are both me.

Doesn't even have to be weight related comments. For the first time in years, I spoke up for myself the other day. I was heading up the staircase at the train station. The escalator was out of service but for once I didn't care because I was thrilled that I could get up those stairs. Just so happens that a train let people out at the same time so there were alot of people heading down as I was going up. A man made a remark about stupid people and I knew he was aiming it at me. I shot right back and said he didn't own the staircase and he was rude on top of that. Now, if you know the city, you know that people mouth off all the time. I never did this before because I was always terrified that someone would just call me a cow and that would be the end of me. Not any more...not this new gal.

Hmm...I wonder if asking if the food is OK is a suburban thing. I also eat very little of my meal but have never had the server ask anything other than if I was finished. I guess they are used to crazy anorexic people here in NYC...LOL!!

OMG!! I'm such a New Yorker..lol. I saw the title of this post and had to read it to see what the OP was talking about. How does one tolerate the subway? I thought she was referring to the underground trains we take. Then of course I realized she meant the sandwich. Hahahaha!!!

Pink Dahlia, if you are a baseball fan, go to the Hall of Fame. I have to admit that when I went to Cooperstown, that's all I did. It was a day trip and I had no time to do any other exploring. But I do recall that the area was very pretty...I'm sure you can take advantage of that even if it's just exploring the area.

So sorry for your loss Arlene.

Oh I can so relate to the line, 'I love my mother, I just don't always like her.' That's our relationship for sure. She and my dad tell me all the time now about how proud they are of me. I can't help but wonder if that means they weren't proud of me before. I never heard how proud they were of me for raising my children alone when my husband died. Or how I created a second career for myself. One that affords me the opportunity to live better than I ever did when my husband and I struggled to get our business off the ground and profitable. This too, is a frequent discussion with the therapist I see. Somewhere along the line, this relationship I have with both my folks has given me a terrible self esteem issue...even though I know logically that I look very nice these days. I've already appologized for all kinds of things I did to screw up my kids. I don't even know what some of those things are, I've just accepted that I must have done them...lol.

You just started this journey. Don't have expectations and you won't be disappointed. Once you are healed from the surgery, you can focus on losing. Good luck!!

Stupid jerk. Should have told him it wasn't just flat, but small too. LOL.

Just focus on the positive aspects of eating healthy rather than having them worry about the negative things. I bet once they see you happier and healthier...and able to do alot more things with them rather than just watch on the sidelines, they won't care about what they can't or shouldn't eat.

You are so right about the F2F support. It's why Lisa and I co-lead the NYC/LI/Tri-state Local Support Group. It's time consuming but we understand how much it helps not just those who attend, but it helps us just as much.

Aww...thank you for the birthday wishes.

food anesthetised me. When I ate, nothing bothered me. But I paid big time for it...ballooning up to nearly 270 lbs. on a very small frame. I was morbidly obese and heading towards life in a wheelchair. I absolutely could not walk away from a half eaten meal. I could eat copious amounts of food and I felt entitled to finish all of it. I'm working on the core psychological issues with a therapist now because I fear gaining it back even though I've met and exceeded goal. I know that I have a problem that is both physical and psychological. Just today, I went into the fridge at work to portion out some eggplant parm and spaghetti that I had leftover from lunch yesterday. Even now, it was hard for me to throw away the extra spaghetti. I really wanted to eat it even though my life is 1,000% better than it was a year ago. I see it as an addiction same as any other addiction. If I was an alcoholic and found a bottle of booze in my fridge...I'd probably have the same issues with throwing it out as I did with the spaghetti. But I'm not an alcoholic and many a time, I've poured the lefover wine in a bottle down the sink because I didn't want to bother putting the bottle back in the fridge with only a glass or so remaining. Wish I could do that as easily with food. I see this as a lifelong battle and am just hoping that now that I have my life and mobility back, I never take it for granted again and use that as my incentive. Good thread! Thanks for letting me respond.

Did you see the PM I sent you?