Initially I missed a lot of foods. But 3 years later I don't anymore. I can eat a lot of differnt foods, and some that I can't - make me either very sick or they do not taste as good as I thought they did.  If something makes me sick a couple of times - my body and I - we do not like it anymore. so I neither crave it - or miss it. I think of that food in terms "I hate it", rather than missing it, 

What foods do you still miss?  you never know - one day you may be able to have it - even a little, only to discover that it is not as good as you remember.

Actually I miss my sweets which is what put me in the position I was in to need the surgery.  It's just a merry-go-round.  I know if I eat them, I will be sick so that keeps it at bay.

"Mostly, what I do NOT miss is feeling trapped by the weight and hopeless about the possibility of changing it!"

Amen to that Lora!

Also I don't miss plus sized clothes. 

I don't miss worrying about if a restaurant will have a table because I can't fit into the booth.

I don't miss not being able to take the stairs at work.  I actually like it now.  Who knew??

I don't miss how activities could just be dismissed without hardly a thought because I knew it would involve too much walking/standing or be too hot for me.  I also don't miss my friends doing the same thing if thinking about inviting me to do something/go somewhere. 

Speaking of hot, I don't miss sweating like crazy at the slightest trace of warmth in the air.  And I really did sweat.  Got a LOT of looks with that.  They probably thought I was about to drop from my heart. 

I don't miss having to plan every little shopping trip to maximize my time before I gave out.  I had to plan out parking, the route I would walk if it were in a mall or shopping center, places I could stop and sit if I needed to take a break. 

I don't miss my feet being in tremendous pain before I made it half a block.

I don't miss food being one of my BFF's.   

And although in the beginning I wished I often didn't know what was in the food that I had eaten so freely in the past (or more importantly, what WASN'T in it...I had no idea so many things we eat are just a nutritional void or even a debit) but now I don't miss not having that knowledge.  Because we all know knowledge is power. 

I agree with all of those.  You know, even though I'm alot lighter now and can do the walking, I was so used to planning out where I was going to park at the mall that it is now second nature.  My son asked me the other day why I was waiting on a closer spot.   I forget that I CAN do it now without being in pain or my feet bothering me.

 Great post.

I do not miss feeling embarassed to go out of the house.

I do not miss having to sit and watch the world go by.

I do not miss seeing my kids run around at the park without me.


I do NOT miss my granny panties!

Granny panties!!  Love it.  Bought some boy shorts the other day.  They are CUTE!

I don't miss the constant remorse for eating incessantly.

I don't miss the self-reproach for not doing things with my wife and kids because I was too big to move.

Amen again!  Amazing how I did not ever expect to feel this good about myself!

Hi there Everyone,

Thank you for reminding us to congradulate ourselves on the 'small' things that make our lives better... sheesh... I never would have said that tieing your own shoes was a 'small' thing... it was HUGE... it's very demoralizing when you have to ask your children to tie your shoes instead of the other way around.... *sigh*

1. I can tie my own shoes now without an issue at all... I even wear runners now... :)
2. I can sit in ANY chair - This was always a terrifying subject. When you go visiting, you never know if the chair will hold you or not... A few years ago, at my heaviest, I was meeting a collegue in an unfamiliar restaurant. I walked in and my heart sank. The chairs were bamboo and had high arms on them. I thought to myself, 'If I ever get into the chair, I'll never get out". But that wasn't my biggest problem that day...  After managing to squeeze myself into the chair with as much dignity as possible, a few minutes later, the chair groaned and collapsed. I hit the floor and wanted to dig a hole to hide... 
3. I don't have to wear a seatbelt extender any longer
4. I can find clothing to fit.... I can choose my own style now, instead of wearing whatever I could find that fits
5. I have the energy and the guts to try new things. This weekend I drove a SeaDoo and rode on the Tube. (Never would have had the guts to do this two years ago)
6. It's not a chore to have to walk a block to get to the store you need.... Now I'm walking EVERYWHERE that I can... I love it... !!
7. My mother is jealous over my weight loss.... (I'm smaller than she is now.. *grin*)
8. I can keep up with my teenagers in playing soccer.... (I have to wear spandex or something to keep all the extra skin from 'flying around' when I play sports. It actually hurts when it slaps back down again) Gravity is a ***** *grin* ... but I like it...
9. I can RUN up the stairs.... (I don't think I have ever done that before) I have two sets of stairs in my office building that I have to use to get to my office. They were always the most horrid thing about my job... There are 28 stairs in each set... it took so long for me to get up the stairs in the morning that I refused to go back down until it was time to go home. Now those stairs are my best friends. They have helped me to get fit enough to run up and down them without breathing hard... Everytime I had to go downstairs, I would turn around and drag my huge body back up the stairs and back down again. When it came time to go back up... I would reverse the process... I got twice the excercise!!! It's great!!!
10. Strangers are noticing me now.... They always looked through me or past me.... never really looked at me. At Subway the other night, I actually got HIT on!!! Me??? Not my beautiful daughter... ME!!!!! This guy was actually disappointed that I was married and celebrating our 25th anniversary this summer.... he was such a hottie too!!! LOL...

These are just some of the things that have changed for me. One of the best change is my own attitude towards myself. I'm no longer self-condemning, self-recriminating and hating myself. I laugh a lot more, and really enjoy what life has to offer. That the HUGEST change in my life. I LOVE LIFE AGAIN!!

I hope you all get to enjoy life like I have. I find that I have to restrain myself so many times when I see an overweight person struggling with something. I want to help everyone and share my new knowlege and great feelings and help to change their lives as well... Ya know... happy and wanting to share it... but then I remember when I was that big and someone shared some weight loss tips... I always got very resentful and wouldn't listen... so now I only share info when someone asks.

My life has truly changed completely. I owe it all to the Weight Wise Clinic and all their wonderful staff. But I also owe some of that to myself as well. (pat on the back)

Melody

Congratulations Melody!!  I remember being on a flight last October and refusing to ask for a belt extender.  I could not breathe but I was too embarassed to ask.  Thank goodness the urge to pee did not hit because there was no way I would have gotten that thing buckled again.  It's really remarkable how the little things in life are so much better in a smaller body.  It just lets the us on the inside be able to shine a whole lot brighter on the outside!