I'm a week post op and down 24 lbs (yea me) but it still feels like a dream that I'm going to wake up and find it is all untrue and I'm still the same "big girl"' I have always been. I still cannot see myself as thinner, cannot see myself shoping in the non plus size section of the store, and cannot see myself a year down the road yet. I know it has to do with the many tried and failed weight loss atempts in the past but I still cannot seem to see me sucessful yet. When did it hit you that this was real and you were going to be truely successful at thie weight loss?

I am 21 months out, 125 pounds down, 40 to go. It still hasn't hit me, I still don't *know* that I'll be/that I am successful.

I think knowing this was for real sank in in spirts... Each time I would lose another 10 lbs. and saw the scale starting with a new number: 200, 190, 180, 170... my hubby-to-be would say to me "you will NEVER see that number again" because he knew that I had lost the weight over and over and it always came back. That was my biggest fear and it felt so good to hear him say that every time. I was losing the weight for the last time. It becomes more real each day because there isn't a day that has gone by where I haven't realized that I'm in some sort of situation that in the past my weight would have bothered me. I am reminded to be thankful every single day because of something weight related. My mind's eye still has to catch up with what I see in the mirror. I have a touch of body dismorphia and it's hard for me to see what I really look like. I'll often ask if I look about the same size as this woman or that woman because I can't picture it yet. It's all still becoming real but I have a confidence now about the fact that I will never be overweight again. It's wonderful to know deep inside that I have a tool for life that is going to help me when I need it.

Wow, that was a bit of a jumbled ramble... hope something made sense.

10 weeks today and have gone from a 30 to a 22. It still hasn't quite sunk in all the way. In some ways I think I feel the same, but not really. Hard to explain. I can sit in a chair and touch the floor, so I KNOW things are not the same. I was just telling my husband last night that it's hard to imagine getting down past a 22 because it's been so long. It just doesn't seem real.

Congrats on your weight loss! Was that 24lbs a week after surgery or did that include weight u lost on your pre op diet>?

Ha this is going to be one of the most baffling things you're going to go through. I'm down 90 pounds and I haven't realized it mentally. Yes I'm in much smaller clothes and yes people are giving me OMG when they see me...but to me I still feel like the same ole me. I guess that could be because I was a "healthy fat person" before surgery and felt fine and still do. Maybe one day it will settle in but till then I know deep down I'm healthier and I'm back to my studly looks

When I hit the 3 month mark it clicked. I was down about 50 lbs (pre-op diet included). I REALLY started to have people notice that I had lost weight. A perminant smile is on my face, and I literally have a bounce in my step. Someone even said I looked taller because of how I am carrying myself now. I still shake my head in disbelief, but Im afraid to pinch myself because I don't want to wake up, LOL! It is real, it does work, but YOU have to work it everyday.

Congrats on your weight loss! Was that 24lbs a week after surgery or did that include weight u lost on your pre op diet>?

yes that is including the 19 lb preop loss.....the 8 lb gain in the hosptial after surg.....and today's current weight

I am just over 2 months post-op and I am finally thinking, "Hey, this might actually work." It's like I am so afraid to let myself hope because I hate being disappointed.

Going through this radical solution is either a great step of faith or insanity. But then, even if I don't lose hundreds of pounds, I *am* losing weight, not gaining, and I'm *not* hungry, and unless all of the other successful VSG posters on this website are delusional I *will* continue to lose weight.

And so will you

As I reduce in size, I'm getting rid of my fat clothes and my closet is emptying out. I've never done that before because I was never sure if I would need them again. I know, now, that they are a thing of the past..

its kind of the same as when a person is heavier- they dont realize it.. But then you go some where and catch yourself in a mirror and youre like, Oh Yeah- I am that fat... hmmm.... and you forget... Being bigger yes you may not be able to do certain things a skinny or more in shape person may do, but you certainly never feel as big as you may be...

First thing, congrats on your weight loss so far, you are doing great! I would have to say it hit me about the 4 week mark. It just hit me, I feel better, my clothes no longer fit and I am not hungry, I like that feeling! It is really hitting me now, I am down from a size 20 to a 14 and unfortunately I have no clothes to wear but I am ok with that. I got rid of all my fat clothes and my closet is empty and I am ok with that! My husband is a great motivator too, he can keep the paws off me, that is nice for a change!

Yes, congrats on your weight loss! Great job.

It hits me when I walk into my room and see the growing pile of clothes in my donation pile and realize there are many things in my closet that still need to go into the pile. I tried to wear a pair of pants at a conference last week and realized they looked ridiculous and had to change. This is hard sometimes too. I have "work clothes" with tags still on them that are now too large and clothes I barely wore that are too big. I pulled out a shirt to wear the other day and almost cried because it was too big and I'd been waiting so long to have it fit me again.

I also have mirror moments where I think that I still look bad and wonder how I could have been so much bigger. I wonder if I'll ever not feel like the fat girl. I sure hope so! =)

I've lost more than 60 lbs and am a little over 4 months out. Now that I've taken up 30 minutes a day or more of exercise, the pounds are melting off faster. I lost 5 lbs since last week! The sleeve is such an awesome tool since it prevents me from overeating all the time like I did before. I can eat 4 oz of Protein and bit of veg and then I'm full like I ate a Thanksgiving meal. It has to be the best gift I have ever gotten and I'm the one who gave it to myself. (:

I still feel like I'm fat and unattractive to men so am planning on starting the dating process when I get to onederland.

I like this topic because I think it may be one of the most surreal aspects of this whole process. I am not sure what everyone else's situations have been over the past but I was never a big guy, I'm 5' 11" and ranged between 155-185 from the time started high school up through the time I was out of the military (4 years active duty) and into college. Since then, I have ballooned to 315 at the beginning of Feb. It will be weird and I do not ever feel like I will ever think I am skinny even WHEN I reach 175-185 again. I will clean out my closet and it will be a strage sensation to shop for normal, in-style clothes again because being bigger, selections are limited, especially for guys!

I love reading all these conversations because it inspires me and gives me hope again. Right before my LapBand slipped and was removed my BMI hit NORMAL! The feeling of being considered normal and not obese gave me an overwhelming feeling of pride. But what it didn't do is make me like myself. Just because I lost the weight didn't mean that I had dealt with all the issues that caused me to gain weight in the fist place. When I lost my tool I immediately started to put the weight back on. So this time around I'm working on getting my head straight so I'm ready not only to have a normal BMI but to truly feel valuable inside and out. Even after the VSG if we don't deal with our head our body may not follow us in the long term.