Are you a happier person now?

I don't mean are you happy with your surgery (although, of course that's a contributing factor), but rather has your mental state in general been more positive since surgery? Of course barring that first month when we want to chew everyone's head off .

I never considered myself to be a unhappy or depressed person, but I feel happy now. I smile more, I find pleasure in things that used to seem tedious and I'm more patient with my family, less of a control freak. Part of this I can identify as being happier with my body and my ability to move. Maybe I'm really compatible with the lack of carbs? I know I've had boundless energy since my Pre-op liquid diet when I cut them out.

Does it last? Or am I just high on hormones (or lack of hormones)?

Being 9 years out. Having had ups and downs. Addiction and sobriety. Regain and now back on the losing end.

Life is still life. A day to day struggle.

I now know that therapy is important. Support is even more important.

Happiness comes from balance within. Balance is always a work in progress. Work brings happiness!

I am working on becoming happier, it's still a daily struggle for me. I used to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, but it's getting lighter:-) Therapy helps, being in nature helps, exercise makes a big difference. Changing the outside of myself didn't make as big of an impact as I thought it would, hard lesson to learn but a good one too.

Majority of my weight came off in 2009-2010 after my lap band, then I had a revision to sleeve in 2016. I would say... Definitely happier overall, even when I was up a bit of weight again when my lap band had to be unfilled for months and was waiting for my revision surgery. The daily, even minute to minute reminder, of my weight when I was close to 300 lbs. depressed me: The way it felt sitting in an airplane seat, the way it felt sitting at a restaurant booth, my knees hurting going up stairs, the way people looked at me... Etc.

Life is life, there will be hard times and there will be easy times, but for me... To remove the constant self-disgust and self-hatred from the equation, has definitely made me a happier person. I think because I remember that period of my life so vividly is the reason why I keep at it. No matter what.

I agree, and I think thi****s it for me. There was always this low lying under current of self hatred. I would walk past a mirror and feel dread in the pit of my stomach. I would go out to eat dinner and feel happy to be eating, and then instantly guilty and sad. I was always anticipating and dreading starting another diet or exercise program. The pain and deprivation that comes with all of that.

It's almost a feeling of freedom. I can travel without it being all about what food we'll eat. I can shop without thinking about the food court. I can work out and it only hurts as much as I pu**** Very freeing indeed.

I am a happier person now. I was never an unhappy person pre-op. In fact, I think I was a pretty happy person then too, so I didn't realize I could be happier? But I am. I'm just able to do so many more things now and I love it. I love that I have a body that doesn't keep me from doing stuff.

**** still happens, but even with **** happening my average happiness now is much higher than my average happiness was 4 years ago.

I think that being in better physical health has been good for my mental illness, so that's definitely been a big help. I'm also able to exercise, which has been shown to improve mood, so I've got that going for me as well.

I'm happier than I was 3 years ago, but I only had the surgery 2 months ago, so my current happiness isn't a direct result of the surgery. I was severely depressed from 2004 to 2015 (yes 11 years) and things in my life started changing in just the right ways to get me on the path to recovery, so while I was over 100 lbs heavier in 2015, I was still happy. I used to believe that once I had the surgery (back when I first tried in 2012) I would be happy, but it took me actually getting my depression into remission to realize that my weight would not have had an effect on my happiness in the end and I would have very likely failed if I had gone through with it 5 years ago.

I was always the laughing, jolly fat girl. But I was miserably unhappy inside. I hated being fat...I loathed myself for it.

Now, I'm 11 pounds away from being the lowest weight I ever was in my entire adult life. I am definitely more content, and I'm excited about the whole world of possibilities that are opening up for me now that I can move, and fit places like average-sized people.

I have other issues in my life that prevent me from using the word "happy" right now, but they are slowly being resolved as well. I fully expect that by this time next year, happy will be a regular part of my life and vocabulary!

I love the new path I'm following, and wouldn't change it for the world!

P.S. And now, when I'm laughing and jolly, it's from honest emotion, not faking it!

I'm also 11lbs from the lowest weight I can remember! Let's get it!