OK I have a question for everyone.

OK I have a question for everyone.

I have lost 70 pounds now. I "still" do not feel the loss emotionally or when I look in the mirror. How long did it take some of you till you "felt" your weight loss? I see it in my cloths of course and changes in my muscle structure changes. But I just do not feel it inside. What did some of you go through when you first started loosing?

Kathleen

It was about 100lbs before my clothing size changed.  This is still unbelievable to me!  As for when I knew I'd lost weight - it was little things I noticed, like being able to reach everywhere better in the shower, being able to fit in seats I couldn't fit in before, not having to use a seatbelt extender, shaving my legs easier, walking farther without being sweaty and winded, etc.  Now when did I see a change?  Well, unless I directly compare my before picture to a current picture I still don't see a change.  In the mirror I look exactly the same to me - if anything I look more like the person I always thought I looked like.  Now when I see a picture, I'm like "yep, that's me" whereas before it was "omg, I'm huge!  when did I get that big???"  I don't know if that makes sense.  I hold up clothes to try on and think "whoa, no way that will fit" and then end up having to get a smaller size.  Its just weird.  Just stick with it, your mind and emotions and vision will catch up eventually.   If you haven't, I suggest taking pictures to contrast and compare as you lose.  Its helped me quite a bit. All the best, Jenn

You are definately not alone.  I have lost 80 lbs and when I look down - I feel like I look exactly the same as I did 80 lbs ago.  I know I can shift my big ol' belly around in ways I could never move it before and I know I can reach and bend in ways that I haven't reached and bended in years, but still I am bigger than any human should be and I want this weight off NOW!  I want to be able to walk further and faster than I ever could before - instead I am tired and winded and sometimes weak feeling.  But I fight it!  I fight the urge to say WHEN???  When will this happen for me and instead say - YEA!!! 80 lbs in 3.5 months.  YEA!!! I am not hungry.  YEA!!!  I am successful.  I have to focus on the positives because if not - stinking thinking can get the best of me.   Again, you are NOT alone!!!

I could see it in my hands face and feet and of course the girls were leaving me. But my belly and legs looked the same. Then when i got the photo album out i really seen the diffrence,it was like wow. I also walk alot but im so wobbly i get scared. But your doing great...

Amazing how much all these ladie's stories match up with mine.  Maybe it takes coming to a plateau for awhile before our brain has the time to catch up.  And of course we don't want to plateau until we are done losing the weight.  So in the meantime, watch the girls get smaller, go back and get smaller clothes for the dressing room and take lots of pictures of yourself! Great job on your loss so far. -dawn

It takes awhile.  I still don't always wee it and have to look at before and after pics to understand.  I know my clothes are way smaller (sometimes I pull them out of the dryer and think they;ve sunk in the wash) but it's hard to see in my head.  In reality though, I never saw myself as big as I was either.

I'm like Jen, in that I couldn't really see or feel a difference until I'd lost over 100 pounds.  I also didn't buy any new clothes until my old clothes were practically falling off, and I think that contributed to the fact that I couldn't see any difference in my size.   It takes our brain a while to catch up with the changes in our body.  I'm 33+ months post-op now and am still working on getting my brain wrapped around what my body looks like now.  I can see the difference now, especially because I now wear clothes that actually fit.  But the record that plays in my head is still playing the "you're fat" tune.  I played that tune for many, many years so I think it'll just take more time to change my tune to "you're healthy, fit, and fabulous," but I'm working on it.   Kellie

I guess that I am a little different than everyone else.  I'm down about 50 lbs. now and I can see it.  A few others have noticed it too.  I'm losing quite a bit of weight in my face and that's probably the most obvious sign.  Of course, I think that my skin is healthier too because I'm not eating so many yucky foods so maybe that's also part of what we're seeing.  I can now buckle my seat belt with room to spare and I can bend and reach places that I haven't been able to in a long time.  I can stand and walk a lot easier.  When I look at myself I can (obviously) see that I have a long way to go yet, but it's been a few years since I've weighed 415 pounds (sad, but true) and I'm really grateful to be gaining back my freedom already.

Kathleen, I so know what you are saying.  I lost 100 lbs. in 2 months and felt nothing.  I am now 2 years post op lost over 200 lbs. and I am still waiting.  LIke you I know my clothes fit well. I still have over 70 lbs. to lose.   I had my second panni in January and still the emotional side of my weight loss hasn't hit.  I have two bone on bone knees and through my first panni, all the weight loss, the second panni I think I expected to be able to walk normally and do normal fun things, but that is not the case.   I can fully understand.  Perhaps some counciling might help.  There was a problem as to why many of us went up to a very high weight and if we don't resolve that I fear the weight might come back on. I wish I had the answer, you are doing wonderful so keep up the good work.   Jeanne

The mind is a tricky thing.  Mine has not totally "caught up" to the fact that I have lost well over 100 lbs. Yes my clothing size has changed, yes I have a ton more energy & I feel great.  WHy then do I automatically go to the plus size section of the clothing stores?  Why do I look in the mirror and still see a BIG girl?  Why do I still put much more on my plate than I KNOW I can eat?  Its weird!  I guess its just something we all have to go thru. There's so much more good than bad at this point, so I keep reminding myself that that cup is ALWAYS half full!  HUGS  Jeanine