Happy

Last week I posted about my first real negative response to having WLS. Well, call it good Karma or whatever but here is what happened this weekend. I have season football tickets at the University where I played football and from where I received my degree. I have been sitting in my current seats since 1995, so almost ten years. Anyway, at half time this gentleman who sits about five rows below me came up and introduced himself. He then told me how great I looked and asked me how I had done it. I explained that I had WLS and he was very complimentary and ended the conversation by saying that he was proud of me for making the choice to do something about my weight and that I had done a good job. So, I thought of that sad woman for last week as I basked in the glory of a stranger offering his encouragement. I have decided now that when somebody I don't know asks me how I have lost my weight, I just going to say that it has been lost with a lot of hard work. I will then decide if I will tell them about WLS. This is not a lie, it has been a lot of hard work. I'm at the gym almost everyday and I do work hard. Anybody who thinks this is easy hasn't been through it. Don't get me wrong, I would do it all over again, but it hasn't been a cake walk.

What a great story, Ken. And you're right, YOU are responsible for your great success. The surgery was a jump start but it would not have worked had you not committed to life changing behavior, like eating the right things and, most importantly, exercising hard and regularly to not only change the shape of your body but to alter the ill effects that life-long morbid obesity has caused to your metabolism. You have been a constant source of inspiration for me -- I've kept going because of you, and others on this board. Thanks for being there...Maureen

Well, I glad I can help. We all need to help each other out. It is difficult for people who have not been morbidly obese to understand how horrible it can feel. How do you say to somebody that you had difficulties just wiping your hind end? Anyway, there are many benefits to having this surgery, it has really changed my life. And I don't know if any others have notice how differently you are treated since you are no longer so obese, but I sure have. It is nothing overt in most cases, but there are many situations where I think to myself how it would have been different if I stil weighed nearly 500 pounds. It is also a weird feeling at times to slip into a booth or some seat to think it wouldn't have been possible 8 months ago. I hope you have a great Turkey Day. I know that I have so much to be thankful for this year and I know lots of you do as well. Keep the big picture in mind. It is is to get caught up in the day to day struggle, but we have all come miles from where we were. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Just keep picking up those feet and moving forward.

Wow that was nice of that guy. Its nice when it is sincere. It IS alot of hard work!!! I am struggling like crazy right now since I went off track and started slipping into old habits. They dont magically dissapear and we still have to work out and eat right and STILL have those bad cravings. It is definitely NOT a miracle cure! I wish you the best! Elizabeth M