How to say goodbye to the old you?
crogers9189
Posts: 41 Member
Hello all I was over weight my entire life, not once was I considered a normal weight. More than half my life I was classified as morbidly obese or super morbidly obese. I was sleeves on November 9, 2015 and have since lost 105 lbs so far and went from a 28 to wearing a 16 today!!!! I can't seem to get my brain to connect to the new me. I know I've lost all this weight but when I think about myself I see the me at 340lbs. Has anyone had this issue and if so how did you change your self image?
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I struggle with this every single day. I'm not sure my brain will ever flip over to "healthy weight" from "obese." It's as simple as me automatically walking into the plus-sized section when at the store or being startled by my image in the mirror. I'd love to see what our long-timers can offer in this thread.0
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It takes a long time. I still find myself worrying about sitting in chairs, looking for exit paths out of conference rooms based on who I will need to squeeze by, etc. I still think of myself as a fat person, even though my dimensions say otherwise.
On the other hand, I still look longingly at the donut tray, still have a lot of the old me in my mind, so in some ways I am *not* a completely new person. I figure it will get better with time, but in some ways I will always straddle the line between my old and new body.
I don't hide pictures of my old self, although I get some really odd looks from people who either didn't know me a couple of years ago or don't remember how big I really was. It took very little time before people I know well to react surprised at seeing old pictures. In their mind, I was never that big. The human mind is an amazing thing!
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I don't know if I will ever be able to completely let go of the old me and my surgery was over two years ago. I still do things like look at the booths in restaurants to make sure I will fit. When I went on vacation to South Africa with a group of people (which the old me never would have or could have done), we were staying in a big house. I was about to go up the stairs when I saw one of my friends about to come down the stairs. I was waiting for her to come down because I thought we both wouldn't fit. She said, "I know what you are doing. We can both use the stairs at the same time". Old habits are hard to break.
I started off at 386 lbs, and now I am "normal" size. It's been a huge adjustment mentally, physically, and emotionally. I am not sure I will ever completely say goodbye to the old me, it will always be part of me, but I try to focus on embracing the new me. Every morning that I wake up healthy I remind myself of how truly fortunate and grateful I am to have this new lease on life.0 -
Wow. Congratulations to all of you. I am just starting my journey pre-operative. My surgery is scheduled for October 2016. Just seen the RD yesterday. The diet is a rough one. No snacks, high protein, lots of non-starchy vegetables, lots of water, and only 30 gm of CHO at meals. Any suggestions or advice appreciated.0
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asgumieny70 wrote: »Wow. Congratulations to all of you. I am just starting my journey pre-operative. My surgery is scheduled for October 2016. Just seen the RD yesterday. The diet is a rough one. No snacks, high protein, lots of non-starchy vegetables, lots of water, and only 30 gm of CHO at meals. Any suggestions or advice appreciated.
I wish I had advice for you my process was very quick less than 12 weeks from meeting the doctor to my surgery date. I can say this forum is full of amazing people who have helped me along my journey! Good luck and feel free to send me a friend request!!!0 -
I am only 9 months post op but just last January I was close to 300lbs. Today I'm 148. Losing half my body weight definitely plays tricks on my mind. I forget that I'm thin and healthy some days. But the rewards are so great that it doesn't take more than putting on a pair of shoes without effort to remember how great I feel!!
asgumieny70 - stick to that diet - losing as much weight pre-op is key. I lost 60lbs before surgery and it really helped make my recovery easier. I worked out leading up to surgery and got right back at is as soon as I could post op. I don't have nearly as much extra skin as I would of had if I didn't keep moving. I chose not to share my surgery with others and you would never guess that I lost 150lbs as quickly as I did just by looking at me.
Take it one day at a time. My goal every day was to lay my head on that pillow each night feeling good about myself. Make yourself a priority. You're worth it!!0 -
I am about 14 months out and down 90 lbs. I still think of myself as a larger person. I still fight to control the old eating habits. I was folding my laundry the other day and it blew my mind that I could fit into the jeans I was folding. They looked so small. I had to put them on just to assure myself that yes, these are my jeans and I fit in them.0
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Murphyraven I feel the same way! 8 months out went from 350 pounds 3x/30 to 215 XL/18! Today I had an XL polo shirt and my brain kept telling me that there was NO WAY it would fit! When I put it on I realized I should've gotten a LARGE! After more than 45 years of obesity I don't think I will ever think of myself as a regular sized person!
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I am ten years out, and still sometimes struggle with the "new version" of me. I think it takes dedication to control self harming thoughts (I'm so fat, i'll never fit there, I'm nervous of what people are thinking about me". Those types of thoughts are the evil that keeps repeating itself in your head, and can be the thoughts that make you lose motivation, or forget why you really started on the journey, IMO anyway. I think I have to remind myself sometimes that WOW...I do fit a med top or ..those are my jeans? AWESOME! And be proud of the new way of life I have worked so hard at maintaining. While the physical changes are hard to get adjusted to, I really think sometimes the mental can be even harder! Good luck
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