After being obese for so many yrs, what is it like to...

be a normal size person?
I'm 60 yrs. old and 2 weeks pre-VSG op.
I've been obese for 35 years...more than half my life!
Not being fat seems soooo foreign to me.
I know everybody says they feel better but how has it changed your life
and what was it like emotionally to go from fat to not fat?
Just trying to wrap my head around all this.

comfortable.
easy to move.
joints don't hurt.
clothes are fun again.

just plain nice.

emotionally... my experience (other than the physical surgical aspect) was best summarized by my therapist as 'my divorce from food'.

worth it.

Well it is absolutely liberating. I had surgery at 59 having been fat since childhood. Some days its exhilerating still to wake up and think I AM NOT FAT, NOT ONE OUNCE!!!...  But mainly its just being able to participate in all aspects of life without weight being in the way. Once in awhile you catch yourself assuming you can't do something when you now can. Its fun when people make a fuss about it. I llke it and I like surprising people I havent seen in a long time. It would be easy to feel lots of regret about all the years I lived fat but I couldn't have done this surgery a whole lot sooner because it wasn't being done that much so I choose just to look forward, not backward. I know I have gained years of life and that they will be good years. So consider this a big adventure and every day there will be some new wonder you discover. GL with your surgery.  Diane

It's wonderful. I'm 42 Years old and have been obese all my life.

I never realized how repressed by my weight made me until it was gone. I've done things in the last six months that I never did before. Examples, Skiing, Snowboarding, White Water Rafting, I even Zip Lined.

What I realized because I never did these things it meant that my kids were never exposed to them. My kids fell in love with skiing.

It's all of the little things that add up as well. I can get into my car on a hot summers day without waiting ten minutes for the inside to cool down.I can walk out side in 90+ degree wheater without sweating like a stuck pig. I can and want to walk to the store that is a 1/2 mile away instead of driving there. I've actually realized that there are things in my neighborhood because I walk around instead of driving. I discovered a hidden park that you can't see from the main road.

I've vowed never to be fat again.

 it is FUN and very exciting - also, it's a bit stressful, just because it's such a change. you need to give yourself plenty of time as your body looses weight a lot faster than your mind can deal with it. 

my 2 major challenges are

not having fat to blame anymore 

my face didn't go back to the face I had before I was obese - instead it is the face of a middle aged woman. damn!  I expected my body to do that but my face was an unpleasant surprise.

but it is SO worth it!!

It is a transformation that I could only have dreamed of...

Emotionally, you are going to see a change in your confidence...over time...that is going to boggle your mind. All of a sudden, things that always were in your way, will no longer be an  excuse.

You will be free to make choices unlike you ever have.

But, it is scary, too. With all the wonderfulness, comes real risk.

I always knew being heavy was holding me back from my dreams. But, as they are unfolding now in front of me, I recognize how brave it is of you and me to take this situation head on.

Being fat was kind of the easy way "out" of life...you are going to go through a lot to get to skinny, but I agree, it is so, so, so worth it in the end.

ENJOY the JOURNEY! Keep us posted. Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip!

I had the surgery at 55 y/o.  It's the best thing I've EVER done for myself.  It's transforming.  I smile alot, Im friendlier.  People smile at me.  I'm not easily intimidated.  I love life now.

So nice to hear all your testimonies.
Funny  about getting divorced from food.
Hope to hear from more of you!

P.S.
How did you deal with the loose skin?

 Hi!  I had surgery at 55 years old, almost 11 months ago and my life has totally changed.  I still feel amazed when I look in the mirror and see the new me!  Wow, and I feel so much better!  am amazed when I go shopping and by size 7 jeans, and they are kind of low slung on the hips!  All I ever wore was jogging suits....like I was going to jog in them!!  Yep, I have a little lose skin, but mostly on the areas that nobody sees but my husband...and he likes it anyway!  Maybe my arms are a little lose in places, and my neck isn't perfect, but who cares....after all I am 56 and am supposed to have a wrinke here or there!  I used to joke that I stayed a little overweight so that I could fill out my wrinkles, but I would much rather be the way I am now!  

I feel cute and sassy and I walk with a little spring in my step now, and you will, too!
Beverly