I was listening to the radio with my boyfriend the other day and we heard this story about how no matter how much weight you lose, the people around you will always see you as "fat". They will see you currently, but in their minds it will always be a thought of, "they used to be fat." and it's true, I'm guilty of it. There is a guy in my shop that I talk to often that, after researching for my own lap band, I'm 99.9% sure he had WLS of some sort, which is great, because he is so much healthier, but whenever I see him, the first thing I think of is, wow! He's lost so much, he used to be so heavy!

Does this ever bother anyone?

what (we were) in the past, made us who we are now (today)

that is all that matters

I don't know....maybe you would think of yourself as fat still (I know many of us have issue with our body image)....but I would hope as Carolinagirl said, people would take you for who you are now, and be happy for you that you've succeeded.

Interesting question. I hope people will not see me as who I was in the past. I am starting to change not only externally, but Internally.

I have lost 70lbs in the past 9 months (16 of that was post surgery) and I do get very uncomfortable when people who haven't seen me in a while react shocked by how I look. I know it will only get worse when I lose the remaining 90lbs. lol.

Maybe I am being dumb today but.......... why would you care if someone who you know knows you were fat. .....I was fat.. now I am not...

I think that I am a role model and people who know me from before never feel intimidated asking me questions about WLS. My kids and family are really proud of me since it is not an easy gig.

I think my weight loss story and history makes me more compassionate to the struggling people I come into contact with who feel trapped and hopeless. The operative words here is USED TO BE FAT.. I wish I was not so jigglely and I wish I would have been banded sooner but I am so glad I am not Fat anymore and I think if anyone sees me that way that is their problem not ,mine..

It's not a matter of being ashamed or in denial of where you came from. I think many of us feel like who we are on the outside does not match who we are on the inside. So when the outside finally matches the inside, it would be disappointing to have people still view you how they did before. But at the end of the day its not something we can control. Just my take on it anyway.

I think people do that no matter what the situation .but are they saying it positive or negative. Cuz if u say " she use to be fat but wow she looks great " is differen from " yea she use to be fat and that band is gonna fail and she gone gain it all back!" OR " her husband use to beat her but she finally found the strength to leave" is differen than "her husband use to beat her so I'm sure the next guy will too" it's human nature to identify people from where u knew them it's just about how.

if someone said "wow youve lost a lot of weight..man you were sooooo fat" i would respond with "yeah funny thing. I lost the weight, but you're still an a-hole, guess you can shower all you want, but that stink still stays with you...buh-bye"

I never get tired of hearing people tell me I look great. Whether or not they still think of me as a "former fat chick" doesn't bother me. What bothers me is my own poor self image...I'm working on that, but it's tough to reconcile your old body image with the new one.

There will always be people who will have something to say about your weight loss just take it with a grain of salt as long as you are happy that is all that matters. It is all about you and waht you think and feel not others

There will always be people who will have something to say about your weight loss just take it with a grain of salt as long as you are happy that is all that matters. It is all about you and waht you think and feel not others

I call them HATERS!

I never get tired of hearing people tell me I look great. Whether or not they still think of me as a "former fat chick" doesn't bother me. What bothers me is my own poor self image...I'm working on that, but it's tough to reconcile your old body image with the new one.

You said it better than me! Pretty much what I was getting at! lol