bellabloom

You are so gorgeous!! You looked great before and wonderful now too!! I love how your face structure shows now. Thank you for sharing!!! You're gorgeous!!

I'm assuming your life is completely different now. Different stresses and demands, time, responsibilities and temptations. Different mindset. You have to work with what's going on now. Only you know the reasons why you're overeating. And some of those reasons not even you know. Our body is geared to maintain weight, not lose it. If you have soul searched and feel surgery is best for you than go for it. Put the past in the past.

Looking wonderful! Love the color of that dress

Only 22 lbs????! That's a lot to lose!!!!! You're doing awesome!!!!!

Totally. That was a rebound relationship for sure and a hard learning experience. I was with my kids dad for 7 years and I never even looked at another guy. He was bad to me but I truly loved him. I tried so hard to make it work with him. It was a really tough decision to leave but I had no choice. After that I was alone 6 months. When I started dating again it felt sooooo good to be able to love someone again and be loved... But I was SO on the rebound. I wasn't looking out for red flags and I fell in love super easily with that guy the alcoholic. He was really funny, for one, which is a weakness of mine. I was vulnerable and high on the feeling of affection. Anyway that was a rough relationship too and now that I'm past it, I'm in a much better place. I'm looking for someone who is really worth it on multiple levels. My priorities are my kids and my career. If I'm going to invest time in someone they have to be the right fit and be able to contribute to my life, not take away. Dating is fun but I do want a boyfriend. I prefer to be intimate and close to someone. I want to be with someone who knows about my food issues and is supportive. But I'm not even going to settle this time. I'm happy to walk away from red flags. So yeah. I've learned something this year!! The right one will come along. )

Sigh he wasn't for me. I don't know when I got so picky.

Okay okay you people are making me blush now! Please post pictures of your awesome selves!! I know some of you are at goal and I want to see your beautiful faces!

My legs were really big but they did tighten up fairly well. It's my stomach and butt that are in need of repair you never know.. Just wait and see!!

I had to say no to the recently single guy. Too many red flags and too much drama. I'm going on a date tonight with someone I've been texting for some time and I'm pretty nervous and excited about it. I really hope I like him because it seems promising. I decided I don't like being single any more. It's too stressful. Going out on dates is just so stressful because of all my food issues. The only times I really enjoy myself are dates where there is no food involved. And guys always want to eat. I'm also tired of meeting new people all the time. I don't want to meet anyone new for a bit. But I don't want to hang out by myself half of every week either. I just want a boyfriend boo hoooo. Or more girlfriends. I joined a meet up group to hopefully make some new friends. Anyway. Maybe tonight I'll meet the love of my decade!!

I can do carbonation no problem in fact I enjoy it. But I drink wine most often Try a beer and see how you do!

Hahahahah. Do it. (The pee part not the pizza part )

This becomes an issue for me when I have too many carbs in my diet.

It sucks so bad. Avoid sugar and fat combos. Avoid sweets. Avoid eating too much at one time. Dairy does it to me every time. Sorry you're experiencing this. For me it's an almost daily struggle.

Gosh I'm envious. I want to feel the way you do but every day is still a struggle for me.

I'm so happy for you. 62 (my mom is the same age) is a great age to be fabulous and sexy!!

@Sophie74656 I feel the same way as you. When I see these posts of those who have lost too much weight, I have to chuckle because I've NEVER had that problem and I am 100% sure I likely never will. This is a concept that is completely foreign to me. Don't be so sure. I didn't think it would happen to me either.

Miss grace- I'm only now seeing your posts and we are both struggling with losing too much weight. A couple things come to mind. You are grieving and yes, that is definitely going to effect things. Stress will increase your metabolism and you may not be getting as many calories as you think. I'm so sorry for what you are going through. Just so sorry. Are you tracking your calories with an app? I track mine daily and it's shocking how much I feel like I eat and how little I actually get. I can eat all day and still end up at 1000 calories. It's so different when our stomachs are this tiny. A little feels like a lot. Track your calories if you aren't. Also, there is a thing called hyper metabolism. It's what can happen after a period of extreme dieting such as a weight loss phase post sleeve. When you do start eating again, your body can go into a rate of extremely high metabolism in order to rebuild lost muscle, hair and tissue from weight loss. Signs of this are excessive sweating and weight loss even with increased calories. If you do have this going on you'll need a dietitians help to manage it. I suggest to see a dietician outside of your bariatric surgeon. Those ones are too used to teaching people how to loose weight. Your weight is pretty low. We have the same BMI. And I know what it feels like and what the bones are like. I'm in California and trust me, people are almost never as thin as me on this coast! I hope you can figure this out and I'll be following your posts. Hang in there.

Wow smallbird!!! Hotttttt!

Geeze thanks everyone! I'm very happy with my results. It's certainly fun to shop now. I want to see your pictures!!

The post was not really about the show itself, (I only brought up the show to give credit where it was due for the idea of internal integrity) it was about how having internal integrity stuck with me and gave me a bit of a renewed motivation to keep making good choices daily to keep my promises to myself. I will say though that while there are true eating disorders food addiction can come about after months of eating in unhealthy ways even if that had not been the persons norm before due to the addictive nature of grease and sugars. Good point! What bothers me is the idea that losing weight takes internal integrity and therefore those of us that can't do it naturally lack willpower and integrity. That's not the case at all, it has very little to do with that. Losing weight is supremely difficult due to biological processes that are beyond our control. It has nothing to do with value and strength as a person. I hate fat shaming.

Great post idea! I love to see the total transformation. I'm 35, 5'6. I started at 250lbs and now weigh around 117. It's been 1 year.

Nausea is,sadly , a part of this for some of us. I deal with it almost daily even after a year. I take zofran with me everywhere I go. But I'd rather be nauseated every day for the rest of ,y life than be 250 lbs again. Hang in there.

The premise of that show is complete bullshit. Most obese people struggle with addiction to food and coping through food. These trainers don't have that issue, that have no idea what it's like to be wired that way. And the thought of someone purposefully gaining weight makes me sick when so many people struggle to lose it. Plus what they are doing to their bodies. So sad. Reality tv sucks.

Wonderful. I'm so proud of you, this is a great decision you are making. I can't imagine What you have been through in your life and I'm so excited for you to discover the changes coming your way. You going to do amazing I know it!!!

I'm so glad I took pictures on the way down. It's a fun little exercise to put them together and compare. I do feel like I look just right at the moment when I look at these.