Walter.Sobchak

I like what you said about being heavier longer than you have been lighter. I am the same way. It has been 17 years since I lost a significant amount of weight. It was my junior year of college and I dropped about 60-70 pounds through diet and exercise. I have been over 300 pounds for about 12 years and over 400 pounds for about 4 years. I actually did lose 40 pounds when I suffered my nervous breakdown because I was so depressed I wasn't eating. This was late 2014 I have since gained it all back plus 20 pounds. So, I have essentially gained about 60 pounds since recovering from my nervous breakdown.

I'm a woman yet I can relate. I don't think I'm that big until I look at myself completely naked in the mirror or see "stolen" shots of me. It's depressing but there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the weight loss surgery. Height 5'0" Weight for consultation: 216 lbs. Pre-op Weight: Unknown until January 20th. My profile picture is not me. It's my "FitSpiration" body. I understand. Plus society is so much harder on overweight women than they are men, it really isn't fair. Is that Ashley Graham in your profile picture? She is beautiful.

Yeah that's not too cool. This wasn't my primary doctor, my primary doctor is great. His mother in law got gastric sleeve and he has been recommending that I get it for like 3 years. The doctor that called me fat was a gastrointestinal doctor. I went to another specialist who was way cooler, he talked to me about my weight but wasn't so hurtful about it.

That is what my wife said about this surgeon and his staff. She said everyone was awesome and no one shamed her. I had a doctor actually call me fat, not overweight, not obese he literally said fat. He said, "it's not just that you are fat, it's that it is affecting your organs" That really hurt my feelings. I didn't go back to him, I found a new doctor. How far along are you in the process? Do you have a surgery date scheduled yet?

Thank you. My appointment is tomorrow. It is with a surgeon one of my wife's coworkers recommended. My wife saw him about 2 weeks ago. I am nervous. I am always afraid a doctor will fat shame me.

I feel the same way. I am scared, I hate being put under anesthesia. I am also scared of the changes that the sleeve will make, but like you I have to do it. I am so miserable with my weight. My body hurts all the time and I have some serious health issues. In October of 2015 I was getting abdominal pain and I went to see a specialist and he diagnosed me with Fatty Liver Disease. He said I needed to lose 40 pounds, I have since put on 20 pounds. I didn't lose any weight and I packed on another 20 pounds.

Thank you. Have you had the surgery yet? Or are you working towards getting it?

Yep, I understand. I am stressed about that aspect of it, due to my food addiction.

Thank you my friend. Please keep me posted as well. I am excited and scared and nervous. I just want to get weight off so bad. I am tired of always feeling miserable. My back hurts all the time from my massive stomach. My knees hurt really bad too.

I certainly will, I am loving it here. I have encouraged my wife to make a profile here but she hasn't yet. As I had mentioned in another post, she was always opposed to weight loss surgery. She was convinced she could do it on her own as she had success in the past. She was successful with weight loss ten years ago, before she met me and before she had kids. She had more time to work with a trainer and exercise back then. She has probably gained 80 pounds since we got married and I have probably gained about 100 pounds. We celebrated our 6 year anniversary yesterday She wants another baby as well, we have two kids already and she wants one more

How long has it been since you had the surgery? I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder as it is and I know my morbid obesity is not helping. I am always feeling down because of my weight. I am thinking that some weight loss would go along way in that area. Much like you, my blood work is good. My doctor said based on blood work alone, I am healthy. But there are a bunch of other issues my weight is causing.

Thank you for the input. I appreciate what you had to say. I see the surgeon on Tuesday, but my insurance requires a six month waiting period.

I need to take pictures and look at them too. I was still questioning why or when/what made the changes in my life to get to where I'm at today. LIke you, it's very hard to hear morbidly obese. I had the same thought process about it. My husband told me today, "that's the past, this is now. Stop comparing yourself to the 'used to be'." I'm basically going to have to create a whole new me, not just the physical, but the mental too.My wife and I are both planning on getting Gastric Sleeve. We are definitely going to take before pictures.

What is your age? If you don't mind me asking. When is your surgery date? I hope it's not too hard on you, all the traveling you are going to have to do.

Yeah...Japan. In the summertime, during vacation, elementary school students often meet in a local park to do their exercises at 6:30 in the morning! Daily! That used to drive me nuts because the music would wake me up when I wanted to sleep in. In the last city I lived in, I lived directly across from a large park, and it was the same thing, only with old people. Every morning, 6:30 start, through all seasons except winter. I always watched them as I did my laps around the park. JHS and HS students who are on the track team are expected to run to and from school (from home) - they have a friend who cycles along them to carry their school work and regular clothes. So yeah, exercise is definitely a part of daily life here. Yet Japanese food is very carb (and protein) heavy with few, if any, vegetables. I try telling my students that Japanese rice is not healthy and they are in shock - it's so contrary to everything they've been told. The first time I realised I was morbidly obese, I went into a deep denial about that. I always thought morbidly obese meant people who were so large they couldn't walk 10 steps, or used a cane, or used a mobility device, that sort of thing. I've had friends (and relatives) who were that large and had so many health issues, that it was hard for me to make the connection that I fell into the same group. But, my weight is what it is, and the truth is there in every picture of me. I tried to avoid pictures for so long, but since I started on this journey I've been forcing myself to really look at myself objectively and there's no avoiding the fact that I am a long way away from the days of being somewhat overweight and active. How did you end up in Japan?

Can we have diet soda after the sleeve? I am addicted to it. I have been trying to quit it, but keep going back to it. I have cut way back, but haven't cut it out completely.

I know exactly what you mean. I tell everyone I have reverse anorexia. I think I'm less fat than I really am.I have always thought this way. It's upsetting when I finally see a full body photo or see myself in a full length mirror. I've always had the "fit girl stuck in a fat body" thinking. I wonder? those of you who feel this way as well, were you once fit and trim too? Athletic? Healthy for a long period of time before gaining the weight? This was me. Maybe we don't associate ourselves with obesity as we would have if it's been years of being obese? Our minds can't connect until we see the reality? Guess this is something I should talk/share about in my psych eval, huh?I have always been a big guy, tall and big. I was pretty lean in my early years of college. I worked out all the time and ran. Even though I was eating like crap and drinking all the time, I think the lifting and running helped keep me lean. Like I said before, now I am just big and soft. I have like no muscle mass at all. I think the issue is, you get used to seeing yourself. You get so used to it that you don't realize how big you are.

One of the reasons I have to have surgery is that I am an expat living and working in Japan, which means I do some pretty big trips once or twice a year. But my 22-inch "seat" (butt and thighs) just doesn't fit well into a 17-inch economy class seat for 10-16 hours at a stretch. And depending on the airline, I often cannot put the tray down, which means no meals (the first time this happened I cried on the plane out of embarrassment). Plus, I don't like making the other people around me uncomfortable. Earlier in 2016 I realised that I was choosing not to go on certain trips specifically because of my weight. Since travel is something I love (and sometimes have) to do, I needed to do something to fix the problem. My surgery is Mexico, and I'm flying to L.A. (train down to San Diego). I knew I might be able to handle the flight to L.A. squeezed into an economy-sized seat, but not on the return journey post-op. So I actually bit the bullet and bought a business-class seat for my international flight, which could almost buy another surgery! But I wanted to make sure that I would be alright with room to stretch and to be able to put up my legs (really helps keep the swelling down), so I figure the money will be well spent. Hopefully I'll never have to worry about that again after surgery. I know what you mean, I haven't flown home to Ohio to see my family there in like 6 years. I know I am too big to fit in an airplane seat. And even if I could squeeze into one, it wouldn't be comfortable and the people around me would be very uncomfortable as well. I know it is sad and it is embarrassing.

It's Friday, I am almost off work and all I can think about is pizza and wings. I want to stop on my way home and get pizza and wings. I know I don't need it, I know it is unhealthy, I know it will make me feel like crap and yet I still want it.

I am thinking it is the way to go as well. I have been researching more, and reading posts here and I feel like it is the right thing to do. I see the surgeon on Tuesday of next week. We will see what he says.

I thought of something else today, I haven't flown in 6 years because I am so overweight. I don't want to buy two tickets and can't afford first class. I also struggle with putting my socks and shoes on.

Hello All, I just want to say thank you for all your input, and support and love. I really appreciate it. I had joined a different weight loss and bariatric surgery forum a while back and didn't have a good experience. I poured my heart out in a post, crying out for help, even mentioned that I was suicidal because of my weight. I only received spam replies and a reply from someone offering to do hypnosis with me for a fee. Needless to say I was thoroughly disappointed. My experience here has been great and I appreciate you all.

How long ago did you get the surgery? How much weight did you lose? I agree with you, losing the weight without surgery is going to be very difficult and then keeping it off is another challenge all together. I have my appointment on Tuesday of next week. My insurance has a 6 month waiting period, so I will have time to do more research. I have two female cousins that both got it done and they have been encouraging me to do it.

I wish you luck. I think that we all think we are smaller than we are. Until we get small and then we think we are bigger than we are! Ha ha. I told my family I still think of myself as fat and would like to lose another 25-30 lbs. in unison all said "FROM WHERE!?" My defining moment was when my husband accidentally snapped a pic of my backside (pre surgery) at my daughters bday party. I didn't believe it was me but knew that it was because of the clothing. (You can see said photo in a few of my posts). I was absolutely DISGUSTED with myself. I knew something had to change. I can't wait to follow your journey. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Yeah, I understand. I am scared and nervous. I keep going back and forth. One minute I am all gung ho about surgery, and the next minute I am convincing myself that I can do it without surgery. Part of me is too proud to admit that I can't do it on my own. I am too proud to admit that I have to get 80% of my stomach cut out to lose weight. However, I know I have to do something as I am miserable at my current weight.

Welcome. Are you in the process of getting weight loss surgery? Or just looking for information and personal experiences?