byebyedarkpassenger

I turn into a one-woman locust swarm and decimate the pantry. Which is what brought me here!

I'm not sure I'm qualified to agree with all of you yet given I'm so early in this process... but I agree with you! I'm visualizing what I'm about to embark on as initially a sprint (the surgery and initial dramatic weight loss) that then turns into a long marathon (shedding the last pounds slowly til I hit goal), and then a nice run, keeping a steady pace of calories in/calories out to maintain the weight loss thereafter. From the comments I've seen here it sounds like I'm seriously oversimplifying what will happen at the running stage, but the point is, this is a long journey. The key is to keep your eye on the prize and keep on trucking.

I'm 50 and will attend my first seminar in a week. I'm hoping that all will go smoothly with the approval process and I can have my surgery in early 2016. I'll be 51 then.

Spaghetti straps on tank tops. Trust me, you don't want me to go braless.

We all probably have a very long list of the comments that people have made, in writing or to our faces, about our physique that has cut us to the core. I feel your pain.

To those of you for whom the days of shopping in the large size section is a thing of the past, congratulations! I'm at the very beginning of this journey, still buying plus size clothing, and thought it would be interesting to see who else here gets frustrated with the "fashion" industry. What are your gripes? I'll start: - Fabrics that cling to every lump and bump on your body. - Capris. They're a two-fer: They make me look more rotund and highlight my cankles at the same time. What a bargain! - Why does it seem that stores never have in a large size the one cute thing that catches your eye in the smaller sizes?

I for one am so reassured when I see people of all shapes and sizes and of all ages at the health club. Makes me feel like I absolutely belong there. So if you're self conscious, know that someone at the gym is grateful you are there.

I'm planning on going horseback riding, which I haven't done since the 1990s.

After dramatic weight loss, we're faced with loose skin. If we're very fortunate, we can undergo surgery to remove the excess skin. But until then many of us have problems with excess skin. We're stuck with discomfort, chafing, rashes, infections. What hacks, home remedies, or inventive techniques have you used to manage this?

On the TV show Dexter, the main character refers to the evil part of himself as his 'dark passenger'. I'm mentally separating the me who wants to be healthy from the dark passenger, that excessively large stomach of mine that has wrapped a fat suit around me. So bye bye, dark passenger.

Does baby corn grow on mini cornstalks?

Thanks for your post! I only hope I'll be like you at 9 months out. Your attitude is great, you're working very hard to figure out how to continue to lose weight, you're pragmatic about the realities of excess skin... and you're keeping your eye on the prize. You're my new role model and I'm rooting for you!

Congratulations! I'm rooting for you.