Thank You....

I would like to thank you all for the wonderful comments to my most recent thread.  Your supportive comments...encouraging words...and kindness is greatly appreciated.  Although I am very down with myself right now, I know that we all go through these moments.  A very wise person told me that after we lose weight, and are "thin"...we are constantly complimented and supported.  After awhile..the weight loss stops..and being "thin" is simply the way it is.  Sadly, it becomes anti-climatic..and it is as though we lose our purpose.  I know for myself..  I have lost that purpose.. I have to wonder if I allowed myself to gain..only so that I could feel sorry for myself..to then inspire the renewed weight loss.  If that makes sense.   I know that I am not happy with myself.  I know that I am tired....work has be dragged out...and that life at home is having its moments...but tell me somebody not in the same situation. I know that in all things...this tooooo shall pass.   I have really taken the bull by the horns this week.  I have been doing light breakfasts, (protein shakes), I have been doing yogurt for lunch, a package (6) crackers and peanut butter (as a day snack), and then a sensible dinner.  As long as I watch what I do....continue to exercise... I will be okay.... OF course, part of being okay...is knowing that you are out there for me... THANKS!!!!!

Do you attend a support group?  I go to TOPS, because my doc is an hour away.  I need the weekly accountability.  It took years for me to be fat, and years for me to know why, and now  years to keep it off and recognize the triggers. Just can't be a lone ranger as far as weight loss is concerned! We are here for you, and kudos to you for reaching out!! blessings, Tami

Daniel, Your comment about how eventually our lives at a normal weight can become kind of anti-climatic, like we've lost our purpose--that really struck a chord with me.  I didn't start gaining weight until my early 20's--I turn 58 tomorrow--and I gained it quickly.  (My parents died in a plane crash, and food was my narcotic.)  I think my weight, in a bizarre way, made me "special".  Even though it was such a negative thing, it was something that set me apart, something I got attention from--always on a diet, or thinking about it, or talking about it, or actually losing it & then re-gaining it, etc.  I was never shunned--I had (have) a wonderful husband, many friends, great co-workers.  But I always had my obesity to define me, and although I was so unhappy about it, I still think there was something perverse in me that somehow made it OK for me to continue to live my life so miserably.  I know I'm not explaining this very well! Then when I was losing, of course, there was NO GREATER "HIGH"!!  At last--the kind of attention that I had only gotten from being obese--now I was getting for losing weight (which, like many of us, I'd done many times before).   So now . . . I'm normal . . . my dream come true! . . . but now what makes me "special"??  It's really so hard to learn how to just be normal--when my whole life I've been abnormal--and lived as a food addict.  WHICH I STILL AM!! Well, I'll stop rambling!  I just wanted to let you know that we all have our demons, our strange idiosyncracies, our battles.  Please keep coming here for support.  I'm working very hard to lose some weight I've re-gained, and I truly think this board is my greatest help! People like you *****ach out help the rest of us too! Jo

Hi, Dan.  I read your prior post and many of the responses, and am glad they were helpful in gaining some insight about where you are.  I can really relate to the "anti-climatic" sensation; I sometimes wonder what to do with myself now that I've arrived, so to speak.  Before WLS, a lot of my time and energy went into just handling my day-to-day existence.  My weight made so many things so difficult, that I did not have a lot of energy left for other things.  Now I've got so much time and energy that I don't always know what to do with it.   I still get a great emotional "high" when I'm losing weight, and it can really dampen my day when the scale goes up.  Like many folks, I'm afraid of regain so I weigh myself every day to make sure I'm staying on track.  But in some ways it feels like that daily stepping on the scale determines my mood for the entire day.  And I don't always want that to be the case.  But learning how to maintain without constant monitoring is going to be a struggle for me.  (I still keep track of everything I eat as well.)   For me, I originally thought WLS would "fix" everything.  That if I was "thin" or at least not super-morbidly obese, that life would be all sunshine and kittens.  Intellectually, I knew that wasn't true, but my weight had hampered me so much for so long, that I desperately wanted it to be true.  So I still work to reconcile these things in my head.  I try to focus on the positive things in my life - thinking of my glass as half full and not half empty - and I try to be grateful for the freedom that WLS has given me.   You are definitely not alone in your little boat, Dan; there are many of us floating along beside you, working hard every day to continue moving forward.  We all experience ebbs and flows, and we're here when you need some support -  Good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie

Hi Guy, When I read your original post to this follow up, I felt so bad for you. I joke around too much so, serious heart-felt posts like yours make me a little uncomfortable to reply to. I never want to insult anyone or make them feel I am flippant or too casual with their feelings or problems...But I had to tell you that I am sooooo happy you are feeling better about things and have taken control, cause I really wanted to give you a big cyber hug and now that you are feeling better I regret that I didn't just tell you that even silly people like me get down on themselves and need some help getting picked up now and then...So now that you're up again ...stay and lean on everyone...they don't mind...that's why we're all here even though we're "graduates"... {{{{Daniel}}}}  <----Cyber hug I haven't figured out how to use all the cute little tennisball smiley dudes that can give high fives and thumbs up....I'm so old school... Anita P.S.  Don't tell my hubby, he hates when I cyber hug other men  ;)  No no...I don't usually...well sometimes, but only if they really need one...::::whatever::::walking away mumbling nonsense to self::::::