What was your experience?

[BethFromVA 5]

This may be dealt with here, but there are SO MANY topics, I just thought I'd ask.

How many have or had issues with your brain and eyes catching up with your weight loss? In other words, what was your experience with body image? Granted, I know my skin won't look great, and I can be okay with that now as it's more important to be healthy, but after being fat for so long, I wonder how my brain will handle a large weight loss. How did y'all do with that, and was it hard? Easy? Did you see what others saw? I can't help but wonder what that will be like.

[joyful me 0]

I had my surgery on June 24th and I have lost 66 pounds as of yesterday. I am down two whole sizes and I understood that in my mind but it is just recently that I see it with my eyes AND my heart. It is a wonderful feeling. I do still have a long way to go and it is still hard to imagine what I will look and feel like when I get there. So, for now, I am just enjoying it! Good luck to you.

[BethFromVA 5]

Oh wow, that's WONDERFUL!!! Congratulations!!

I have lost a lot of weight before, but never enough to not be heavy. Once I lost 50 pounds, from 230 to 180, and I felt pretty good then. Another time a couple years ago I lost 70 pounds, from 289 to 220; and though I felt good, I wasn't what you would call thin-ish.

I am trying to imagine being in the mid 100's, which I haven't been for nearly 20 years. I know some people can't "see" with their eyes what they really look like because the mind can't let go of the weight. That is -- not worrisome to me, per se, but... I don't know what to call it.

[joyful me 0]

I know exeacly what you are saying. It takes a long time for the brain to catch up. It is pictures that finally did it for me. Somehow I see it in a picture where I can not in a mirror.

[BethFromVA 5]

So true. I have the reverse problem: Though I know I am fat, I don't see just how FAT I am until I see myself in a pic. :biggrin:

[joyful me 0]

I used to have that too. You just wait - you will too! I will tell you the key for me. I do not weigh myelf at home. I only get on the scale at the Dr's office. I do not focus on how much I weigh- how much I have lost- or what size I wear. I have committed - to myself- that I will take good care of myself everyday. I eat right, I work out, I get enough Water and I sleep at least seven hours. That is my focus. I know that if I am true to myself in my committment- the rest will come. And it does! I have the picture to prove it!!!!!!

[Julie1962 0]

I was banded 5/29/07 and have lost 173 lbs. I am now below my goal weight and am wearing a size 2 which is totally bizarre to me, because at my best weight as a normal-sized teenager, I never saw anything close to that size.

I am definitely finding it hard for my brain to adjust to my body. It is just such a huge change and I find it hard to believe that I can shop in regular women's sizes, much less at the small end of the range. I was a size 24/26 before surgery and hadn't been in regular sizes for probably 15 years.

I am lucky that my skin doesn't look awful all over. I definitely am saving up for a tummy tuck/breast lift, but my arms aren't bad and I don't mind wearing short-sleeved shirts...something I never thought I would be able to do. I don't find that I feel self-conscious about how I look in clothes; it is more that I just don't recognize that I am as small as I am and when I go shopping, I usually start out a couple sizes too big.

The one thing I hadn't really thought about is the reaction from friends/family. I have some people who insist that I look emaciated, anorexic, unhealthy, etc. It is most often from (hate to say it) women who have their own weight struggles. It was like it was okay for me to be the fun, fat friend but once I started to lose weight consistently and keep it off, the cheering for my good health ceased and sadly, some comments that I could consider snarky started. Sigh. For a while that really bothered me and I found myself second-guessing my weight loss goals and progress. Now I just make sure I am healthy, that my doctors (regular GP as well as weight loss) are okay with where I'm at, and I try to tune the rest of it out.

Whew, that was a longer answer than you bargained for!

Julie

banded 5/29/07 at 295.3 lbs (BMI 50.7), goal weight: 140 lbs (BMI 24.0), now at 123.2 lbs (BMI 21.1)

[Julie1962 0]

Oh, and ditto what joyful me said about weighing at the doctor's office. The whole time I was losing weight, I only weighed at the doctor's office and did not look at the scale at home. That really helped keep my progress in perspective.

[Jachut 487]

Its come full circle for me now. I can finally understand that when skinny people complain about being fat they're not "just saying that".

I am most definitely a thin person now. But I had some fill removed about four months ago, after some menstrual difficulties I was having appeared to make me tigher than a fishes proverbial. The unfill made little difference until 3 weeks later, problems appeared to resolve and wham, I'm suddenly so wide open. I have really had to work hard to maintain.

But over time, its creeping. I'm about 3 lb up now, after a huge weekend where we had three big events on. I seriously feel ENORMOUS. I feel bloated and miserable and really fat. Truly, I do.

Its 3lb! A week or two of sensible eating and it will be gone. Another fill (have an appointment for 3 weeks time) will keep it away. But until then, I'm one of those annoying thin people that moan about being fat.

I have lost all perspective on how fat I used to be.