Question:
When could you see the difference?

I have had two people this week tell me that they did not know who I was when they first saw me until I started talking. These are people I have known for years. I can't see the difference except that my clothes hang off me. In the mirror I look the same.    — natjemison (posted on September 22, 2003)

September 22, 2003
Funny you should ask that question. I am 14 months post-op and it STILL has not set in that I am 130 pounds lighter and a size 10. It even seem strange to type this.
   — HelpMeRhonda !!

September 22, 2003
Congratulations! You're perfectly normal! I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who felt or saw the differences in themselves for a very long time. I'm almost six months out, and down 85 pounds and seven sizes, and don't look any different in the mirror. I think some of it is because I never saw myself as being as big as I was--in my mind's eye, I've always been about this size. A friend also pointed out that I see myself every day, and so won't notice the incremental changes. I also know that I didn't want to see myself before, and so have difficulty seeing myself now. I also see all the loose skin and baggy, saggy parts that look like fat to me. I think it takes a long time for reality to sink in. In the meantime, enjoy the compliments!
   — Vespa R.

September 22, 2003
I think it depends on what size you were before you started, and where you drop the weight. People didn't notice until I lost 45lbs, and then it was "you look different" not "you lost weight". At 60lbs , everyone noticed I was losing, but they thought it was a "few pounds" now at -76lbs I am hearing "how thin you are" yet I have 50 lbs more to lose. My best regards -
   — M B.

September 22, 2003
I must be the biggest oddball in the world as there is no way I see a person 169 lbs bigger in the mirror. I could see the loss right away in my clothes, therefore logically I am smaller. Not to mention I don't mind looking at myself in the mirror or a window any more. <p>If your clothes are hanging on you, logically you must be smaller. Go buy some new clothes and admire yourself in the mirror. Don't sit and pick yourself apart because you still have a roll here or there or something is tight in the gut etc. Look at how much better you look. I still have rolls and bulges but they are so much smaller that I am happy with them. I'll be even happier when they are gone, but happy for where I am at. <p>Take a pre-op picture and blow it up in sections till it is as tall as you. Paste those pieces to cardboard and make a pre-op cut out and put it right next to you when you look in the mirror. Somehow you need to jolt your brain to see the real you. You are doing wonderful on the weight loss now work on getting the brain to lose the old image. You have pictures for that you don't need to keep that imagine inside you any more. Good Luck!
   — zoedogcbr

September 22, 2003
I still don't see myself as much smaller even after losing 135#. I really have no idea how I look and I quit asking my husband to tell me how I compare to others I would point out because he said I always point outsome one 30 or 40 pounds heavier than me. I am still shocked when I take my clothes out of the dryer because they look so much smaller. I have caught a glance at myself in a window and not realized it was me.
   — Tawnda C.