I have a Question for everyone.

I started out weighing 258 from my first doctors visit.. I lost 10lbs in one year... so when i got my surgery I weighed 248.. RIGHT... i AM finally under 200, I weigh about 195-196..but I still feel like i weigh 248 ... i can see i've lost weight but i still feel like that.......DOES THIS SOUND NORMAL..?? DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS WAY???

Heidi, hon... you are SOOOO normal. The abnormal ones are the ones who won't ADMIT it. I've lost 116.5 pounds since surgery. I've lost 139.5 pounds since this time last year. I've lost a WHOLE PERSON. Yet, when I look in the mirror, I see that 450 pound man staring back at me. I can run a mile now. Yet the thought of climbing stairs intimidates me. My friends have trouble keeping up with me when I walk. But I still feel like I couldn't possibly walk London again. There is an absolute disconnect between the reality that we live in, and the reality our mind is used to. YOU ARE DOING FANTASTIC! and! YOU ARE NORMAL!

Hi Heidi, This is very normal...a lot of WLS patients say that it takes a while for some for their heads to catch up to their bodies. If you read Carnie Wilson's second book, you'll find she writes that it took her a very long time for her head to catch up with the new look of her in a new body. I just saw an opera star on 60 minutes this past Sunday and she also said that she's having trouble looking in the mirror and at her new pictures and seeing that it's "really" her in them! Don't fret...just enjoy..and if it becomes troublesome for you, maybe youc an speak to a therapist about it. Paula

Raises both hands,I do. I started at 362 and am now 285 but I still feel like I weigh 362 even though I can clearly see the difference every where! I am told this is normal.So I would say the way you are feeling is normal.It is going to take time for our brains to "catch up" with our new image that we see in the mirror.Hope this helps Michelle

It has been the hardest thing to get used to. I ran into a few people I hadn't seen since I've lost 75 pounds. I don't understand that they don't recognize me. One actually figured out it was me because I had my son's hockey coat on with our name on it. I am still uncofortable at the thought of sitting in a resturant. All those fears of not fitting into things and places are still at the front of everything I do. Even though I am now into "regular" size cloths.Hopefully this will fade with time donna

Hi Heidi, getting rid of the fat image is going to be, for me, the last to go!! Yes, I've lost, yes people are noticing, my clothes are smaller, I move better, I can cross my legs even!! But I still see a fat person. I feel like a fat person. I was on the metro, standing, which is normal in D.C. and there was a seat between two people. I just looked at it and looked away. The young man said, here sit down. And I thought oh my gosh I won't be able to sit in that little spot, but I didn't want to say that so I tentatively sat down. I fit!!! With room to spare. I just was smiling at that guy - I'm sure he thought I had the hots for him and he wanted to say, lady, I just offered you a seat, not my body!! Oh well, I think we're normal Heidi!! love donna

What an awsome story. I know exactlly how you feel. I think that I would have be grinning the whole ride. Its funny because for a long time when I was running meetings I didn't seem to know the "proper" way to sit/stand and place my body so I look more executive like, now with crossing my legs my hands seem to find lap (which was missing for years). donna

Hi Donna, yeah, it was pretty funny. I guess the best part is, the last time I went to San Diego (my home town and I go often since that is where my family is), well this was before surgery and for some reason I didn't get a window seat, or aisle. And I was stuck in the middle!! I was dying, but had curled myself up as close to myself as I could. You know, arms wrapped as tight as possible and just praying that my sides wouldn't spill too much into the other seats. Well the twit next to me on the window side, after we were airbourne for a awhile, turned to me and said in a rather loud voice 'I just need my space'!! Trust me, I wanted to give her her space -- right out the window. I was mortified, but I said in a calm voice, what would you like me to do, I am doing the best I can. And then the lady on the other side had the decency to put up her arm rest and smile and said 'here, let's see if this helps;. I of course got tears in my eyes that neither of them saw, but sometimes people don't realize how hard it is on YOU to be heavy, just a big flippin inconvenience for them!! I sure would like to see that twit in about 20 years and two or three babies later! Oh yeah, there will be justice!!! By you bring up an interesting point, how do we stand, sit, and what do we do with arms that we can really cross in front of us now!! What a concept!! I'd be interested to know, since it sounds like you are in the executive world of things, have you found that the other execs treat you differently? I am retired recently, but I will say that I never found my weight to be a drawback, at least not that I could tell. I think people still took me seriously (I was in HR, employee relations) and I could make my point and be heard. How 'bout you?? love donna

Oh my, the stories are such the same. I am from just north of Boston and spent a summer working in Manhatan. I would either fly or take the accella train to N.Y. Flying would be nice because it was only an hour, but on one of the last trips the president decided to take a puddle jumper of a plane and I was in a panic the whole time. I would rush onto the plane asap, do my best to pick a window seat, struggle to get the dam belt on and as you stated curl up and try not to actual be there. I havn't flown since the surgery but almost want to take a trip just to see the difference. As far as being treated differently. I notice that I act a lot more confident now. That cause's people to react to me differently. But most of the guys here have known me for 11 years so its more of the same for them. donna

Hi Donna - okay this will be my last comment!! I always hear people say, after they've lost weight, 'oh, I'm the same person.' Well I have to say that I am definitely not the same person!! I too feel more confident and just like I have more of a voice now. Yes, I think people treat me different, but I think it's as you pointed out, I project myself differently to them. It's funny, but the more everyone talks, the more obvious it is that we have all faced the same problems at one time or another, right!! donna