Dare I Ask?

[Chrystee 838]

Probably that I never want to go back to where I was.. and I have an automatic bullshit detector with men, with always being the third wheel.

[gpmed 623]

What has experiencing morbid obesity in life taught you?

Is there anything you don't want to forget about your former life as you drop weight and hit goal?

What changes do you envision in your life just because of weight loss?

It's taught me how easily things can get out of control and how diligent I need to be in the future to protect my health. It's also taught me what it's like to live with a marginalized identity. That's given me a lot of empathy for others with marginalized identities and I never want to lose that. In my post-op life, I envision being a more active participant in my own life. I have a list of things I've wanted to do but haven't because of my weight. I'm looking forward to experiencing them all!

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

I never want to be this heavy ever again.I have a life to live..,goals...losing all this weight will be a game changer!

[Jack 855]

"What has experiencing morbid obesity in life taught you?"

the odd paradox of 1) usually being the the largest person in the room; 2) somehow being invisible to so many retail store clerks who adopt an odd 'can't see you' stance that resembles mesmerized meer cats trying to avoid the lock-on phase of the swooping raptor on it's lunch run.

[Beachsprite 118]

it has taught me to be grateful for my body imperfections and all. pre being morbidly obese i was always a little chubby and hid ti away ashamed and always comparing myself to others.

Then I got really big and missed that slightly chubby body that could run and jump and play sports and go on long walks - now i'm slowly getting back to slightly chubby (and a little baggier and saggier) rather than morbidly obese i'm so happy and grateful for the better range of movement and fitness and i'm very grateful for the body i have now and morphing into. It's never going to be tight and toned but i'm not going to compare myself to those that are and just be grateful for what i am.

It has also been an interesting soical experiment with how people treat you, i've always got on well with men when i was much slimmer this was seen as a threat to other woman and many used to be pretty horrible to me (start rummours and bullying), but even though i'm the same when bigger women saw me as less of threat so nicer to me even though i hang out with guys mostly. will see if attitudes change again when i get smaller or if people just reliese i'm no threat i'm just a tomboy at heart

Finally it has taught me not to be so self defacing - i frequently mocked myself and my weight to make other's feel more comfortable around me almost like - i'll say what people are thinking so they don't say it or think i didn't realize i have a weight problem etc. I won't and don't do that anymore even though i'm still big.

[OKCPirate 5,323]

Looking back, it taught me to be real to myself. I could get away with a great deal being a smart successful male. I could find dates. My personality and intelligence could get me over many obstacles that would stop many people in life. My life was fine in my mind. But I kept seeing little warning lights on my dashboard. I tried to start the C25K program and damn near crippled myself in the first week. I looked at all the things I was adding to my med list to mask the effects of being fat. I added blood pressure meds, cpap, new meds for gout, yadaydayada. It was getting expensive. And it was a downward spiral.

When I saw just how my body was killing me to preserve the fat and how WLS was my best chance to get a do over, that gave me a great path forward. But it has also forced me to get real with myself. If forced me to look at the very real limitations I was self inflicting on myself, but was overcoming in the short term with little hacks, but ignoring (or denying) the bigger root cause.

The spill over has been tremendous. When ever you start getting one area of your life in order you will get others back into balance. It always seems to work that way.