OK Be Honest..

I have been looking at some of your before and after pics and you ladies look great!!! I am so excited to be having surgery this spring. My question is, did you ever think that you would be so different? I know we are expecting to lose weight and change our health and lives but some of you look so different (in a good way). I just wanted to know if any of you are honestly surprised by the image in the mirror now. Thanks and congrats to all.. Wendi

Great question, Wendi! First of all, I weigh less now than I did in 5th grade. I knew there was such a thing as a size 2-4, but never in my wildest imagination thought I'd ever experience it myself. I've been at goal now for about four months, and while I might buy those sizes, I don't SEE myself as that size. People tell me how tiny I am, but I don't see it. My mind just hasn't caught up yet! It's crazy to fee and see bones, bones I didn't know I had. Sometimes it's even a little scary because I worry that I'm too thin. I'm starting to get used to the way I look, but health professionals say it might take as long as two years to be able to have brain and body seeing the same thing. Interesting journey, this is! Take care

I agree.  Great question.  I'm down 87 pounds from my highest weight.  While I still have a long way to go, I'm wearing sizes now that I never thought I'd get back into.  I'm starting to FEEL smaller, but I don't think I LOOK that much smaller.  I can tell a difference when I look at pictures, but physically, I don't see it.  If that makes sense.  I must say,  Susan's size 4 sounds impossible to me, but it just might happen for me someday.  The sky's  the limit!

I am so surprised that I am seeing me again.  I have been overweight for about 10 years now.  I was always small (size 7-12 largest), then I woke up one day a size 18.  I am feeling like my old self more and more each day.  It is a wonderful feeling.  I truly did not think I would ever be a normal/healthy weight again.  I am hoping to be a size 10, my whole life I was teased because I was skinny, (-10 yrs).  I don't want to be that small again. 

I agree with Susan.  People are always telling me how small I am and that I don't need to lose any more weight, but I just don't see it.  When I look in the mirror I still see a fat person, and I don't know if that will ever change.  I've been overweight my whole life so I don't know what I'm "supposed" to look like.  Now, I know that I look different...I have to because I'm wearing a size 7/8 jeans in juniors as opposed to the size 22 I started out in...but still when I look in the mirror I don't see a thin person.  I don't "think" of myself as a thin person, I still think of myself as being overweight.  I think I definitely have a skewed vision of what I'm supposed to look like.  I think I could drop down to 100 lbs. and still not "see" a thin person.  I definitely don't feel like an overweight person anymore.  I realized today as I was walking through Wal-Mart that my thighs weren't rubbing together when I walked...when did that happen?  I have tons of energy and I just feel good, every morning I wake up ready to go (except when its 18 degrees outside!).  Before surgery, I had to drag myself through every day, dreading the next.  So even though I may not see what everyone else sees, I've decided to just accept this gift that God has given me and just be happy.  I don't worry about what I look like anymore, I'm just happy to be healthy.  But I do have my eye on a size 6 dress for my brother's wedding in August!! I'm so excited for you, you're going to be amazed at your results.  Just wait until people that you've known for years walk right by you because they don't recognize you anymore!  Crazy, I know, but it has happened more than once to me.  Oh, and you'll discover bones and muscles that you never knew were there!

I can't really see a difference.  But I can feel it for sure.  I can feel how my hands can reach all the way around my back, how they can reach other places much easier to.  I can feel the handfuls of fat I can squeeze now, that I couldn't before.  I can pull my skin because all that fat isn't stretching it anymore.  I can feel how my clothes fit differently and I can see the sizes getting smaller.  But I can't honestly see it in the mirror.  The only way I can really see a difference is putting before and after pictures side by side and looking at the differences.

I LOVE THE PICS AND THINK THEY ARE GREAT! EACH AND EVERYONE OF U LOOK JUST FANTASTIC. PLEASE KEEP POSTING US HOPEFULS PICS.. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.