Journey/tool
HALA-you know, my naturally skinny friends were actually my best support system, now that I think back. They could not possibly imagine what life could be like at 340 lbs, yet they were my greatest cheerleaders.
My weight challenged friends aren't even on my radar anymore
RNY 4-22-02...
LW: 6lb,10 oz SW:340lb GW:170lb CW:155
We Can Do Hard Things
It's interesting, the only people who I know who have said that WLS is the "easy way out" are other obese people who think that it'll just take one more fad diet and they'll be skinny forever.
VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)
Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170
TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)
To dondomit ...
You'll have and create your own WLS experience. Just like everyone else here did or will. It happens, just like ours did, one day at a time.
It's so easy to assume that everyone else will or ought to experience WLS in the same ways we did -- good or bad. In fact, it's a common human default reaction, e.g., "Your sixth grade horrors and glories were probably similar to my own."
There is absolutely no possibility that any of us can know what's ahead until we're there. That's not possible, so don't even worry about that. All we ever have to do is today. What we know changes, and that's as it should be -- if we're lucky.
And you can call any of these stages or passages or whatevers anything you want. Because they're yours. :)
Best wishes. :)
ANN 5'5", AGE 74, HW 235.6 (BMI 39.2), SW 216, GW 150, CW 132, BMI 22
POUNDS LOST: Pre-op -20, M1 -10, M2 -11, M3 -10, M4 -10, M5 -7, M6 -5, M7 -6, M8 -4, M9 -4,
NEXT 10 MOS. -12, TOTAL -100 LBS.
You are free to call it what you will, but I still like "journey." Just because it implies you can take different paths and detours.
As to the tool idea, I like that phrase, but I always use it juxtaposing it against "magic wand." My sleeve is just one of the tools I used in losing 90 pounds. I still did the gym time, and found ways to stay motivated. But the sleeve is a great tool. It changes your hormones and made everything else possible. But like my hammer, if I don't use it correctly, then the results are going to be sub-par.
But please use the language you want to describe what is happening in your life.
