Pics in my profile, FINALLY!!

I put a before and "so far" after pic in my profile. Why is it that I am STILL hyper critical of my appearance, even after losing a good deal of weight. I realize I have a long way to go still but I have also come a long way. Has anyone, or everyone?????, dealt with this and how do you get through it? Thanks folks Donna

Joyce, I do the same thing, go straight to the womans section. These days I find so much in my old sizes, 26/28 and 30/32, and sometimes I want to buy them because that's all I know! I realize if I do that would be silly, but I still gravitate there. Yet on the flip side I am ecstatic when I can buy something in a regular store in XL. Yes it is all in our heads, Joyce. Hopefully one day that won't be a problem! Thank you for the compliments Donna

Donna, You look soooooo good !!!!! You are a pretty lady....... Did you send in a pic to OH for the sidebar ? Great work !!!! Congratulations sweetie Phyllis.........

Thank you Phyllis!!! Yes I have sent in a pic for my messageboard photo. Not sure how long they will take. I figured it was time to put a face with the name. You are an inspiration for me, I will keep going all the way to the end!!! Donna

Donna, Nice to see you! You are doing great and you look wonderful. Congratulations on your success so far. You are an inspiration. Blessings, Maren

Maren!!!! Hello there, it's been a long time since I've seen your smiling face. Thank you for the wonderful words, they truly made me smile. I hope all is well with you and yours and I look forward to seeing more of your posts very soon!!! Donna

Hi Donna, I'm glad to have a face to put with your name. You have come a long way. Keep it up. I feel exactly the same way as you do. Being overweight most of my life, I always wonder if I am "normal size" yet. I think there is a part of us that will always feel heavy. But maybe that will work to our advantage in the long run and keep us focused on watching our food intake and exercising. One thing that helped me is that I don't measure my success on how I look or what size I am wearing. I try to focus more on how healthy I am feeling. I am at a whole different level of fitness than I have ever been before. Lynette

Hey Lynette, Thank you for the kind words, they are greatly appreciated. I don't know that I would even know what normal size what if I stumbled upon it. I have always been a "big girl" and I guess I got to be the "biggest girl"!!! I am big boned and feel absolutely comfortable at around 180-200. I realize that it's not about the numbers, thankfully I got over that a long long time ago. I call my scale Satan, my 13 year old finds that incredibly amusing. I think you are absolutely right about being healthy and happy. I remember when I was 350 and I told my other half that I would be ecstatically happy being 250. And you know what? I am okay here. Someone actually told me that if I didn't lose another pound I'd be okay. But I'm not where I need to be health wise yet. I need to be smaller in size, not "thin", just smaller. My body will know when I get there, and until then I will focus, as you said, on how I am feeling and how wonderful it is. Have a beautiful day. Donna

Hey Donna, I took some time to read your entire profile. You have invested a lot of time thinking, processing, and earning your way back to health. I think it's phenomenal the amount of research you did when you were looking into WLS; and how you gracefully made the decision to forgo the surgery and take your life back from the bully we call "the food addict." Your picture is beautiful. You and I are about the same height, and the same weight! We're truly doing this together!!! I'm 5'8" and 249#. Slowly but surely, we will take back our power and take care of our bodies. You're doing an amazing job!! Just remember that. Jessica

Hey there Jessica Thank you for taking the time to read my profile. I haven't gone back to read it in its entirety but I will soon. I have never regretted my decision not to have surgery. I don't know that I could go year after year wondering whether I was going to have some complication from having my body so incredibly altered. That's assuming I even made it, or didn't have severe complications right at the beginning. I know that we are around the same height and weight, and I love looking at your progress because it truly mirrors mine. We even started our programs at the same time! Keep up the good work, we should all be proud of ourselves for the wonderful jobs we are doing! Donna