CowgirlJane

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

MOST people I know have seen me struggle... and know that I have tried EVERYTHING since I was 8 years old and started my first diet.
My answer to the "Easy way out" comment would be "only way out".
I just could not break the obesity/hunger cycle. I tried and tried, I used to be able to lose weight and regain, but in recent years, i couldn't even really successfully lose weight anymore!
Unless you have been obese - I don't mean 10-20 pounds overweight, but seriously obese, you just don't realize that the person finds themselves in a physical cycle that is so hard to break. Used to be they blamed it all on emotional issues, and while that is certainly a component, just plain all consuming hunger and rive to eat is one of the many struggles for people with metabolic syndrome.

MOST people I know have seen me struggle... and know that I have tried EVERYTHING since I was 8 years old and started my first diet.
My answer to the "Easy way out" comment would be "only way out".
I just could not break the obesity/hunger cycle. I tried and tried, I used to be able to lose weight and regain, but in recent years, i couldn't even really successfully lose weight anymore!
Unless you have been obese - I don't mean 10-20 pounds overweight, but seriously obese, you just don't realize that the person finds themselves in a physical cycle that is so hard to break. Used to be they blamed it all on emotional issues, and while that is certainly a component, just plain all consuming hunger and rive to eat is one of the many struggles for people with metabolic syndrome.

I was a band to sleeve revision and my personal experience has been 180 from the band.
I basically experienced with the band that I was hungry, but would experience pain from eating too much or eating the "wrong thing". Overtime, that definately encourages you toward slider foods. I did have vomiting problems, but I just learned to avoid foods that triggered it so it wasn't too bad over time. Main thing was once the band slipped, I had to have the Fluid taken out and I regained everything PLUS more weight.
The sleeve has reduced my hunger (although that has been returning) and capacity for food. I no longer have that I am still hungry but have food stuck/pain. It feels pretty normal, just get full on small amounts. I have vomited maybe 2-3 times in 10 months -each time caused by eating too fast so I didn't realize in time that I had enough. this is actually a pretty easy problem to avoid with the sleeve and in my opinion when you read about it on these boards it is probably people eating too fast or having too big of servings.
I still eat with appetizer utinsils and on a small tea plate, not a dinner plate. Portion Control is the KEY to success with the sleeve.
The sleeve has turned out to be what I thought that band would be and never was. I am only 10 months out, so only time will tell, but so far it has been a great decision for me.

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

As the saying goes, when the bad thing happens to you, the percentages don't matter do they!?! Iggy has had terrible time, and is still in the middle of it so it is still very personal and frankly scary!
So, I am sure this comment will offend some - but i will say it anyway. Surgery, any surgery is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Weight loss surgery is a really big deal - each of the procedures has significant risks and drawbacks. If you have a chance in hell of getting weight to something reasonable without surgery - for Pete's sake do it!!! It is beyond me why so many relatively young, not very overweight people are taking this risk. To me it is a risk/benefit analysis... and being just "some" overweight and being young enough that you can change the path you are on without the intervention - just do it! When I was in my 20s I too thought I was a healthy fat person - and as was said before, I was healhty until I wasn't - it hit me all at once as well. Arthritis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and borderline high blood sugar.
The recovery from surgery and getting used to it all is no fun but I have fought the obesity monster for decades and just can't seem to do it on my own. I started out with a 52 BMI and co-morbidities, middle age, I was on the "dying slowly" path with a Detour through "disability land" first so for me, it was worth the risk. Had my BMI been in the 30s, and I was younger, no way would that have made sense for me.
I feel that so many people don't really face the risks and challenges preop. Lately there is alot of focus on complications (the bad news) - I swear when I was preop it was 100% roses and success. Neither of those extremes are true.
What I figured out, and I was a revision from a failed lapband experiment so I have that background too, is that WLS just gives you that shot in the arm to get you off the obesity cycle. It is so easy to regain with all the surgeries (except maybe the DS). I personally know many bandsters AND RNY gastric bypass patients that have regained. I suspect in the next 5-10 years I will know many sleevers who do too. I don't have the answers, but I am pretty eyes wide open as to the problem.
My hunger started returning about 7 months out. Disappointing, but a reality. So far it is not as severe as it was before, but what is clear to me is that the surgery gets you launched, but your ultimate trajectory is up to you.
I am not disappointed because no way could I have gotten under 200# without the surgery and I knew this was a risk up front.
We spend alot of time worrying about dying on the table, getting leaks (very legitimate concerns!) but too little time thinking about living with this for the long run. Take it seriously - both the short term and long term risks/issues but ALSO the risks/issues of keeping the weight. They are both very real - do the math.

I know that the er horror stories are often exaggerated, lol, my mom was an er nurse for many years, now shes an educator. I think she is only against the idea of me having this surgery because they use to teach their er nurses that when a WLS patient comes in with a sense of impending doom chances are the patient will expire. But you're right, soooo much has change in WLS in just the last 10 years alone! I will try to remember what you said if my recovery nurse panics, lol, I was way to groggy to be sarcastic (and her fear poured over in to me. I was hoping she would tell me not to worry about it, that it was another patient but no she admitted it was I whom had the elevated HR, btw thats how out of it I was at that point I couldn't even feel my heart taking off and I'm a sensitive one, my anxiety keeps me in pretty good tune with the rest of my body).
I believe at this point I have decided to move forward and stay on the surgical path. I deserve to have a full and long life, and to enjoy the life I lead without trying to avoid photos and hiding behind someone else on the rare occasion I allow someone to take my picture. I deserve to love what I see in the mirror. I am worthy of all of this, even if I am terrified. I feel like this is a "leap of faith" for me and I just have to trust in my doctors and listen closely to my body so that I get medical intervention if necessary (even if it means finding a different bariatric surgeon post-op because the surgeon who did the procedure isn't listening to me, as Miss Iggychic did! And good for her for continuing to push, she listened to her body and did everything she could to get the help she needed.). 321 lbs isn't ok for my relatively small frame to carry around for long!

CowgirlJane, I can very much relate to most of your post, especially what I quoted above...it was like you were reading my mind...I have 51 BMI, I am 50 years old, have many co-morbidities including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure...I have also been up and down the scale, but over the decades more up than down...for me, the surgery--even high risk--now seems less risky than remaining as I am, with a high risk for a stroke leaving me permanently disabled...that quality of life is surely worse than living with a smaller stomach and restricted diet...also less of a burden on my loved ones...I very much take this major surgery seriously--which is I why I have waited so long (maybe too long) to proceed
Iggy, what happened to you is one of my worst fears from the surgery, and in no way would I ever downplay your suffering...for me, though, once I have considered the relative risks and made myself as aware and educated as possible, I feel I cannot focus on the worse things that could happen...that will only make my life miserable leading up to the surgery...I am thinking that others feel the same; i.e., once you've come to the decision to proceed despite the known risks, you then just need to pray, leave it to God and do whatever your surgeon advises pre-op to minimize the very-real risks of the surgery

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

As the saying goes, when the bad thing happens to you, the percentages don't matter do they!?! Iggy has had terrible time, and is still in the middle of it so it is still very personal and frankly scary!
So, I am sure this comment will offend some - but i will say it anyway. Surgery, any surgery is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Weight loss surgery is a really big deal - each of the procedures has significant risks and drawbacks. If you have a chance in hell of getting weight to something reasonable without surgery - for Pete's sake do it!!! It is beyond me why so many relatively young, not very overweight people are taking this risk. To me it is a risk/benefit analysis... and being just "some" overweight and being young enough that you can change the path you are on without the intervention - just do it! When I was in my 20s I too thought I was a healthy fat person - and as was said before, I was healhty until I wasn't - it hit me all at once as well. Arthritis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and borderline high blood sugar.
The recovery from surgery and getting used to it all is no fun but I have fought the obesity monster for decades and just can't seem to do it on my own. I started out with a 52 BMI and co-morbidities, middle age, I was on the "dying slowly" path with a Detour through "disability land" first so for me, it was worth the risk. Had my BMI been in the 30s, and I was younger, no way would that have made sense for me.
I feel that so many people don't really face the risks and challenges preop. Lately there is alot of focus on complications (the bad news) - I swear when I was preop it was 100% roses and success. Neither of those extremes are true.
What I figured out, and I was a revision from a failed lapband experiment so I have that background too, is that WLS just gives you that shot in the arm to get you off the obesity cycle. It is so easy to regain with all the surgeries (except maybe the DS). I personally know many bandsters AND RNY gastric bypass patients that have regained. I suspect in the next 5-10 years I will know many sleevers who do too. I don't have the answers, but I am pretty eyes wide open as to the problem.
My hunger started returning about 7 months out. Disappointing, but a reality. So far it is not as severe as it was before, but what is clear to me is that the surgery gets you launched, but your ultimate trajectory is up to you.
I am not disappointed because no way could I have gotten under 200# without the surgery and I knew this was a risk up front.
We spend alot of time worrying about dying on the table, getting leaks (very legitimate concerns!) but too little time thinking about living with this for the long run. Take it seriously - both the short term and long term risks/issues but ALSO the risks/issues of keeping the weight. They are both very real - do the math.

Even more then how you look - my riding has improved. I used to be so top heavy, I have always had a good balanced seat, but had this fear that if I started going over i wouldn't be strong enough to keep in the saddle. I don't even think about that anymore so I ride alot more assertively - just so fun! Even losing half your excess weight will make you feel like a million!

As the saying goes, when the bad thing happens to you, the percentages don't matter do they!?! Iggy has had terrible time, and is still in the middle of it so it is still very personal and frankly scary!
So, I am sure this comment will offend some - but i will say it anyway. Surgery, any surgery is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Weight loss surgery is a really big deal - each of the procedures has significant risks and drawbacks. If you have a chance in hell of getting weight to something reasonable without surgery - for Pete's sake do it!!! It is beyond me why so many relatively young, not very overweight people are taking this risk. To me it is a risk/benefit analysis... and being just "some" overweight and being young enough that you can change the path you are on without the intervention - just do it! When I was in my 20s I too thought I was a healthy fat person - and as was said before, I was healhty until I wasn't - it hit me all at once as well. Arthritis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and borderline high blood sugar.
The recovery from surgery and getting used to it all is no fun but I have fought the obesity monster for decades and just can't seem to do it on my own. I started out with a 52 BMI and co-morbidities, middle age, I was on the "dying slowly" path with a Detour through "disability land" first so for me, it was worth the risk. Had my BMI been in the 30s, and I was younger, no way would that have made sense for me.
I feel that so many people don't really face the risks and challenges preop. Lately there is alot of focus on complications (the bad news) - I swear when I was preop it was 100% roses and success. Neither of those extremes are true.
What I figured out, and I was a revision from a failed lapband experiment so I have that background too, is that WLS just gives you that shot in the arm to get you off the obesity cycle. It is so easy to regain with all the surgeries (except maybe the DS). I personally know many bandsters AND RNY gastric bypass patients that have regained. I suspect in the next 5-10 years I will know many sleevers who do too. I don't have the answers, but I am pretty eyes wide open as to the problem.
My hunger started returning about 7 months out. Disappointing, but a reality. So far it is not as severe as it was before, but what is clear to me is that the surgery gets you launched, but your ultimate trajectory is up to you.
I am not disappointed because no way could I have gotten under 200# without the surgery and I knew this was a risk up front.
We spend alot of time worrying about dying on the table, getting leaks (very legitimate concerns!) but too little time thinking about living with this for the long run. Take it seriously - both the short term and long term risks/issues but ALSO the risks/issues of keeping the weight. They are both very real - do the math.

As the saying goes, when the bad thing happens to you, the percentages don't matter do they!?! Iggy has had terrible time, and is still in the middle of it so it is still very personal and frankly scary!
So, I am sure this comment will offend some - but i will say it anyway. Surgery, any surgery is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Weight loss surgery is a really big deal - each of the procedures has significant risks and drawbacks. If you have a chance in hell of getting weight to something reasonable without surgery - for Pete's sake do it!!! It is beyond me why so many relatively young, not very overweight people are taking this risk. To me it is a risk/benefit analysis... and being just "some" overweight and being young enough that you can change the path you are on without the intervention - just do it! When I was in my 20s I too thought I was a healthy fat person - and as was said before, I was healhty until I wasn't - it hit me all at once as well. Arthritis, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and borderline high blood sugar.
The recovery from surgery and getting used to it all is no fun but I have fought the obesity monster for decades and just can't seem to do it on my own. I started out with a 52 BMI and co-morbidities, middle age, I was on the "dying slowly" path with a Detour through "disability land" first so for me, it was worth the risk. Had my BMI been in the 30s, and I was younger, no way would that have made sense for me.
I feel that so many people don't really face the risks and challenges preop. Lately there is alot of focus on complications (the bad news) - I swear when I was preop it was 100% roses and success. Neither of those extremes are true.
What I figured out, and I was a revision from a failed lapband experiment so I have that background too, is that WLS just gives you that shot in the arm to get you off the obesity cycle. It is so easy to regain with all the surgeries (except maybe the DS). I personally know many bandsters AND RNY gastric bypass patients that have regained. I suspect in the next 5-10 years I will know many sleevers who do too. I don't have the answers, but I am pretty eyes wide open as to the problem.
My hunger started returning about 7 months out. Disappointing, but a reality. So far it is not as severe as it was before, but what is clear to me is that the surgery gets you launched, but your ultimate trajectory is up to you.
I am not disappointed because no way could I have gotten under 200# without the surgery and I knew this was a risk up front.
We spend alot of time worrying about dying on the table, getting leaks (very legitimate concerns!) but too little time thinking about living with this for the long run. Take it seriously - both the short term and long term risks/issues but ALSO the risks/issues of keeping the weight. They are both very real - do the math.

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

I have had two compliments recently that just make me feel like such a success with my weight loss.
One of my brothers told me that I just look "normal" I don't look like I was ever morbidly obese. If course, I still have some pounds to lose, but the drop from a 26W to a slim size 14 is such a shift in everything about how you look! I try on clothes and finally feel like they look good. I was cold and could borrow someone else's jacket - that was crazy, to fit in a normal looking jacket and not needing something from the big and wide section.
The other one was last night. I went to a "tryout" for a ladies equestrian drill team. It is fast paced riding and harder then you might think. The coach came up to me and told me I have a good horse and that I am a "good looking rider". I have been complimented on my horsemanship skills - how I handle my horses, but I have never ever ever had someone tell me that I look good doing it. Of course, what he meant was that i know how to ride and would fit in with the group.
You just have no idea how thrilling I find it to be just normal.... I don't need to be sexy, hot or any of that. Just normal is wonderful.
so, what compliments have you received that just really hit you as being so encouraging and heart warming?

Most favorite: Not being so physically limited! I am riding horses, can easily climb in and out of things etc. - just have normal physical abilities again!
Least favorite: I think facing the realities of long term / keeping the weight off.

Whatever it is - drinking Water won't do it any harm and will likely do you good. Sounds like dehydration to me too. The first couple of months post op... the mantra needs to be sip sip sip but don't be afraid of asking for an IV of Fluid either.
It gets easier though so hang in there!
I hope you are feelng better very soon.