If I lose no more weight (which I feel like I will, if I want, but just, still...) would I consider this sucess?

I have been thinking about it alot. I think the answer is actually not really a 'yes' or 'no' for this size, or weight. I think it is a need to be comfortable with the choices I have made, and the ability to recognize the tremendous changes I have gone through, and understand that at any given point, somewhere, the weight loss stops.

I have not set a goal. I don't think it is a good idea to set a goal based on size or weight - anything really, until I can begin to "see" myself. I literally cannot look at myself in a mirror and see the changes. Somewhere in there I do, because I FEEL good looking at it. That also eases my concerns, and lets me know I have, like I have when I am waiting on my stalls to pass, all the time I need to work on my head, and get myself to see the way I must look - the way that person looked in the photo - then I realized that picture was...of...me...

that.picture.was.of.me.

that.is.me.

me.

i.am.that.beautiful.woman.

I am working on it! lol.

So for now I guess I am comfortable if I never drop another pound, but where I want to be is saying this much further down the road, so the journey continues...

Fellow sleevers, hold my hand and I will hold yours...I do occasionally admit when I need help...

YES! You are a success right now, today, in this moment!

I absolutely could not agree with you more. Sure, I have that ticker to show my progress with my "goal" weight at the right end. But I'm with you, when it's just me and my skin and being comfortable within it -- I'm a success, too. I get more jollies out of daily NSV's than I do with numbers on a scale. BMI charts are overrated and something for doctor's to cling to when they want to encourage more healthy behaviors in their patients. To this day, I remember sitting in my doctor's office when I was about 26 years old and he told me I was "overweight" and needed to lose about 10lbs. This was at a time in my life when I was riding my bike 20-30 miles per day, 4-5 days per week. Running, kaying, hiking every weekend and wearing a size 4/6. I was 138lbs and he told me I was "overweight." I felt the best I'd ever felt in my life and this man was telling me I could "do better."

Love the new profile pic!

YES you're a success right this second. I honestly feel like we're all successes when we make the decision to do something proactive for our health and our well-being, even before we actually follow through on it--just that committed decision shows me that something has 'clicked' in our heads, and we are aware that there's an issue that we need to work on, and we're going to work on it. That also says, "I think I'm worth all this trouble, money, and hassle." THAT is a success, period. Losing the weight is just an outward sign of the inward change.

You'll see yourself in the mirror soon--I promise. You're looking at your body right now, but eventually those things will come back into alignment for you. I see me when I look at pics now--not me in a fat suit, just me. I FEEL like me now. (Colder all the time, but yeah, this is me.) This outside matches my inside. And yeah, we're all successes at this very moment, no matter where we are in this journey, because, like so many other good things, it isn't about "being there," it's about "getting there." :-)

Absolutely you are a success!! I have considered taking the goal weight off my ticker so many times because I feel great right where I am. Yet, when I see that ticker I feel bad that I haven't made more of an effort to get to that number. This time last year I was 240 and wearing a 20/22 now I am 165 and wearing an 8/10 so I KNOW I'm not a failure yet that mocking "goal" weight tries to tell me I am. I have maintained this weight for 6 months now with no effort at all and that is really why I wanted surgery, for the mainteance of the weight loss. So don't let a number define your satisfaction with yourself.

Thanks for responding! I feel like I can't be the only one going through this, so I wanted to post it so others could see the positive replies (which I was pretty sure I would get).

You are definitely a success and I see how much you reach out to help others and that makes you even a bigger success.

Unfortunately, self-perception is always hard. I remember being 128 and feeling like I was 300 and I remember being 330 and going out and internally feeling like I was 128.

Genetics have a lot to do with weight, I agree, but also self-perception. There is a study that shows that women that were molested or raped at a young age have a tendency to weigh more as women, because they try to hide behind their weight. Depression, can lead to obesity too. There is so many things to deal with besides losing the weight. The weight is just a part of the problem.

Learning to love ourselves despite the scale is hard. Being a "normal" weight does not fix what got us there in the first place.

I've struggled since high school with my weight. I have genetics against me, being molested and raped against me, a terrible self image against me. I lost weight and kept it off for 5 years, then I got sick had a complete hysterectomy with a bowel resection and I had gotten sepsis due to adhesions and then the depression came. I gained it all back and have struggled from 200-300 back and forth since 1999.

When I was 128 my personality was very closed off, my trust in people low. I was not the fat carefree girl that trusted anymore. I was the jaded, bitter 128 pound girl that was still just as unhappy as when I was fat. I luckily dealt with my issues, my genes are my genes, but with help and therapy I got over my other baggage and I can now go into this feeling like I have not failed and that I am NOW a success.

I'm only 3 weeks out and I have succeeded far beyond my wildest dreams because if I stopped losing weight now, I know that I spent the last 7 months working so hard and that I did it for me and I am now a happy person, secure in myself .

This is all a process that we're going through! I love it! We get to see the old habits that had got us to our fat suits and now we can work on changing those habits for a more healthier life. We all have a skinny person inside us and now it's just seeing that skinny person come to fruition! Yayyyyy! We will get there and we are working hard to get to our goal and to maintain! The biggest step is acccepting us for who we are in our own skin. Great job everyone! We are all beautiful people.

Pookey, you are such a success, are you kidding? I think you look freakin fantastic! I follow your trials and tribulations, you are a tremenous help to us all here. Where would we be today if we didnt have our surgeries? Self perception is a weird thing for some. You ARE the beautiful woman in that picture!!