So I want to hear stories...

[lalajade 20]

I was sleeved 4 weeks ago. I have been obese/morbidly obese my entire life. Even as a child I was huge. I would like to hear from others who were never a "normal" size before surgery and are now (or are no longer in the obese category). How does it feel? How has your mindset changed? Has anything changed in your life in general? I get butterflies when I think I may someday be able to shop and not go to the plus size section. I just want to hear some stories for more inspiration!

[OKCPirate 5,323]

I was always the "huskey" kid until middle school, then I became the really fat one. Close to 300 5'6" until my soph year and I decided to lose weight. At that moment I grew four inches and lost 100 pounds. Still big, but 46" waist dropped to 36" in 8 months. I stayed about that size for over a decade. But after marriage and kids, started gaining again, Phen-fen helped me get back to 230, but that was banned and in a few years, I was creeping back up and then the stress of a failing marriage and divorce, and boom I was back to 300.

Now I was successfully dating, and was active and successful in business, and I didn't really feel "fat" until I saw this picture:

I had tried to lose weight, run etc. and kept hurting myself. I was really getting discouraged. That is when I found out about WLS. I looked at my calendar to set a date and realized I only had one period of time where I would not be traveling for the month, and that was November 2014.

Now to get to your question - the loss was dramatic. Even within six weeks people really noticed a difference a big difference. But the big thing to me was the change in energy. Suddenly I was empowered and on fire for positive change. I completed my first 5K, became a gym rat, and started taking my health seriously. My dating prospects improved dramatically.

Now I still feel fat from time to time (esp. with the loose skin). But when I seriously look back, it is a major change for the good.

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I hear you, that was my story completely. I won a toddler prize for "biggest tummy" at a fair when I was 2!

So yeah, it takes some getting used to. The first time I went into the "Misses" section at a department store (Kohls) I kept expecting some saleslady to come up to me and say something like "are you shopping for a gift?" or "the women's department is just around the corner over there, you must have gotten lost on the way." I felt like an imposter! But everyone treated me as if I really were able to comfortably fit into normal sized clothes -- and I was! I am not kidding you, when I took clothes into the changing room and they all fit -- or were too big -- I almost started crying (happy tears).

For a long time I would forget that I wasn't fat. So, I have this horrible habit of peeking at what everyone has in their shopping buggy at the supermarket and being silently super-judgy about it. Even when I was morbidly obese I did that. And I tend to assume that other people do the same thing. At one point, after I was wearing a size 10 I think, I found myself looking at my buggy and thinking "I'll bet other people looking in my cart don't expect a giant fat person like me to have such healthy food in her buggy" -- and it took me a few seconds to remember, I am not a giant fat person anymore!

The freedom to just move around in the world without wondering about where you will fit (restaurant booth? airplane seat? turnstile at the arena? amusement park ride?), whether people are looking at you or judging you . . . it's really hard to explain. I truly feel like a psychic weight has been lifted off my mind and personality as much as physical weight lifted off my body.

[ilovemyhusband 5]

I got the surgery December 23, 2015. I started at 283 and now weigh 218. I have been at a plateau only loosing Off and on a pound or so here and there with a total of about 10 lbs in the past 5 weeks. BUT inches are just flying off. I'm 5'10 so 218 isn't so bad. My doctors goal is 185 my personal goal I would like to be around 175. I'm working hard to get past this slow loosing stage.

But, I feel SO much better! Not sleepy all the time, no longer shop in the plus size section, foot feels so much better and everyone telling me how good I look. People even I never talked to that I would just see working at my normal grocery stores! I'm only a little over 3 months out I can only imagine how 12+ will be..

[Stevehud 1,790]

umm lets see i wore Husky, clothes when i was a kid, thats the euphemism for fat kid. i was never thin, always fat. missed out on a lot of life by being the fat kid. Now many years later at 45 i hit my goal 1 year and 3 days after surgery i went from a high weight of 408 to my current of 168. i dont know that i can event ex[lain what its like. to do things like shop in any store i want. to sit in any seat and not worry about fitting. To walk anywhere and not get tired or sweat my ass off while sitting still. I can and do, a lot. not just work out, but move and not fall over dead, i averaged 4 to 5 pneumonias per year the last 5 years with 14 hospitalisations. but since my surgery not one. my sleep apnea is gone, literally i was on a ton of meds for what they thought was narcolepsy and i wasnt allowed to drive at night. or long distances. now i have no problems at all. the differences are vast and not just in what you can do. but what you will feel. im still learning, its like being transported into a new body and trying to figure it out. I only wish i had done it many years sooner.

[TJBintheOC 104]

Where do I begin? I started at 200 and now I'm 133. That might not seem big...but I was hurting so bad emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically. I have been on diets for the past 20 years. I was always 20lbs overweight, but in the last six years I gained about 10lbs a year. I snapped after my dad passed of leukemia in May 2015. I got my surgery in June 2015. The one word I can use to describe how I feel...free. I literally don't worry about food anymore. I have a built-in Portion Control for life. I wear small and a size six. I literally can't believe it. To step on a scale and see 133/134 is indescribable. It doesn't solve every problem. Being thin doesn't mean you'll be happy...but I am now free of the daily mental anguish of being heavy and overeating and dieting. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

[erik78 79]

The other day I went out to buy a suit. Everything nice was made for skinny guys. I finally found a suit that fit and on the front of the suit was a big sticker that said " PORTLY". I had to buy the suit. But I swore that would be the last PORTLY SUIT I buy. My surgery is April 14. Can't wait

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