I now have the $$ to put down the deposit and have my band done. I am using Dr. de la Garza in Monterray. My dh can't come because we have 3 little kids and I don't have anyone who can watch them. I'm so sad! :cry

I'm also getting scared. I've had surgery before, so that is ok. I am more worried about not being able to eat and eat when I feel bored, down in the dumps, anxious, etc. I have started exercising to relieve my stress and am trying to do deep breathing exercises.

My question is: have any of you who have lost a lot of weight have a problem seeing yourself differently? When I was in high school (I am 40 now) I dieted and lost about 35 pounds when I was a senior. I quickly gained it all back and more! But at my graduation, I was the thinnest I had ever been. But I didn't know it. I was looking at pictures and saw a pic of myself the day of graduation. I looked NORMAL. I had no idea I looked that way. I have been really overweight all my life and started dieting as a small child! How could I have not known that I looked normal? I have no memory of looking this way. What if I lose weight but I don't see myself as any different? I'm worried about this, although it sounds dumb. I wish I would have known then what I looked like. Maybe things would have been different...

Well said Jack!!

Take lots of pictures!! Before & during. That is the best way I have of seeing the changes.

Jack you are wise and eloquent! Fiveholtz, most of us struggle with proper body image, I think. You will never know That answer until you get thinner, If you cant see yourself as you really are, have people video you doing various things and speak with your voice, it helps to make what you are seeing seem more real. I always saw myself as thin or at least normal. when I kept seeing myself in pictures It was momentary denial, but when I saw videos and heard myself interacting with other people the reality was horrible, You my friend get to do the opposite!

Well said Jack! I think our minds sometimes have to catch up with the scales. Sometimes we can't see how much weight we have lost, but pictures will tell the story. It is amazing to look at the before and after pictures and see for yourself how much you actually have lost.

Good luck!