Have you inspired anyone else in your life to move more, lose weight, or have WLS?

I am curious...have any of you inspired anyone else to lose weight or have WLS?

When I was in the first year of weight loss, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone in the world who was struggling with their weight to have WLS. Not that I EVER would, of course. But I mean, I felt so energetic, no longer lugging around over 300 lbs, and I would see people on the bus (for example) looking uncomfortable with nowhere to sit, and I would think, if only everyone knew that it's possible to lose weight. Let me reiterate - I would NEVER tell anyone (friend, family or stranger) to have WLS, but when people asked me about it, especially if they were morbidly obese, I would be open telling them I had gastric bypass and answering questions.

I ran into a woman I used to work with last year the auto show and I barely recognized her, she had lost so much weight. We greeted each other, and I said, wow look at you! And she said, I had surgery - I was inspired by seeing how well you had done. It meant a lot to me.

I had another friend who approached me and said she wanted to have WLS so I answered a thousand and one questions for her. She's a "success" in the sense that she went from 300 lbs to about 150, but she also got a divorce and according to social media, is out drinking every single night and dating about 30 people. So hmm.

How about you guys - have you inspired anyone?

Interesting question.

So I've got two partners and both of them have made better choices in their lives thanks to my WLS process. They eat healthier since the house is not a restaurant and I don't put a lot of effort into preparing things that aren't in my way of eating. They can, of course, cook for themselves - but they don't. They'll eat what they want when they're out, but we all do leftovers for lunch, so that's still eating the food I've prepared.

Lance was already great about exercise before my WLS. Post-WLS I started doing Aikido with the ulterior motive of getting Art to do it with me. He'd studied as a kid and tried to get back to it as an adult a few times but it never stuck. It definitely stuck for him this time and I've now lost him to the dojo 4-5 days a week. Sadly I couldn't keep with Aikido because I keep damaging myself and I don't enjoy it enough to prioritize it over the other activities I do. Art also started swimming. So those are positive changes thanks to the changes I've made in my life!

A friend of some of my friends also contacted me about WLS. I'm not sure if I was the inspiration for her, but I was definitely the only person she was able to quiz with all of her questions, so I helped her to make the decision and such.

The receptionist at my physical therapist's office knows I had WLS, asked me about it in great detail a couple of weeks ago. I don't know that she's thinking about it or anything, but I liked being able to answer the questions she had and was able to tell her what it's really like vs what the general public thinks they know about it.

I have two friends and two nieces that have had an RNY, and all have told me it was because I inspired them to do it. That they had been too scared to even consider it, but after watching me, decided it could help them too. I am so proud of all of them for choosing health, and showing such commitment to their futures. They are an inspiration to me.

One of my friends adopted my approach to eating (high protein/low carb) and has lost about 25 lbs. She's since joined weigh****chers for the accountability, but has continued on with the same eating plan.

I think in different ways we do inspire others, by our choices and giving support and understanding. At first they are in shock when you share with them your journey but start to believe just maybe, just maybe.

I have a very recent example of my WLS. I don't openly say, hey I had surgery, but if someone asks, or it comes up in no way am I ashamed to admit it. I'll tell anyone who wants to listen about how amazing the choice was and what it's done for me.

There was a woman, a patient at my work. She was very, very large, about like I was, but I know she was maybe 30-40 lbs heavier than I was. She was an absolute doll. The sweetest, kindest person. Everything was a struggle because of her size and pain was always an issue because every time she had to move, this giant wound she had in between the folds of her skin would pull and tear. Despite that, her spirits were always high. I just knew some things mortified her, because they would have me, and I could see her face at times when it would take 3-4 of us at times to help her. So bad I wanted to ask her if she had considered WLS, or thought about it even, but I would never bring this up to someone who didn't ask.

Finally, one night that was slow her and I just talked and chatted since all my stuff was ahead and done, so we talked about all kinds of things. We both looked at the tv and it was a cooking show, of course they were baking some kind of sweets and we both said how delicious it looked. She said she should change the channel, all it made her do was want to eat and that was her problem. I said it used to be my problem as well. That opened the door. She asked questions about how I handled it and I told her right away that I had therapy, then I had surgery. Every time after that she wanted to know more, how safe it was, how much recovery hurt, if her insurance would cover it (she had medicaid, so I knew for a fact it would), and about the doctors I saw. I don't know if she went forward with that information once she was finally out of the hospital, but I would like to hope she did. She deserves a chance at a life not saddled with health issues and pain and shame. I really hope she is well and moving forward. I really, really hope for that.

Everyone deserves to not be trapped in a body that causes pain and shame. I sure hope you inspired her. It sounds like you did. That's an awesome feeling. I think had I known someone who had WLS and was successful, it would have helped me decide to do it earlier than I did. As it was, I went into it convinced that I was the one person it wouldn't work for. I was convinced I would be the person who just didn't lose weight. And when I came out of surgery I didn't have any gas pains or incisional pain, so I was like hmmm, did they really do anything to my insides? I think it took me that entire first month to realize oh, ok, they did do some rearranging.

I am open to everyone about my surgery but if it's a non-obese person, I just casually say "oh I had a procedure and then ate low carb and high protein" whereas if it's an obese person I specifically say "I had gastric bypass". A larger woman at my gym told me on my very first day that she hoped I would love it there and that she had lost 100 lbs through diet and exercise. I was open and said oh I lost a bunch too but via gastric bypass. Within two minutes we were chatting all about protein sources, and exercise, and I was pulling my clothes all around showing her my plastic surgery scars LOL. The door was opened :)

I felt the exact same way. I was so worried that I was going to fail at surgery! I had almost no pain, no gas, was up doing chores and playing with my pets like it was any old day. Now I feel silly for having been convinced I was going to be a surgery failure before I even gave my body a chance! Brains are so dumb sometimes.

I have not talked about my WLS very much, but I have had several friends that do know tell me that my increased activity level is how they motivate themselves, that's nice because I hate working out and it makes me do it when I don't want to! It's a positive cycle, lol.