I was told by someone to begin a list of reasons I want surgery. Some are obvious like health reasons. Others are probably silly but they matter to me. I'd like to share my list (or at least what I have added so far) and would love to hear from other people too!

*weigh less than my husband

*not get winded going upstairs in our house

*shop at any store (and cut up my lane bryant credit card!)

*see my collarbone

*be under 200lbs for the first time in nearly 7 years

*bend over without pain or losing my breath--tying shoes, painting toenails etc

*cross legs comfortably

*for my husband to be able to pick me up (he's in the military and we've never been able to do the dreamy homecoming where i run into his arms and he swings me around) =)

Would anyone else like to share their list?

Hi,

Your list is almost identical to my "personal" list. I have severa comorbidities and also want to be able to go off many of my meds as I get healthier. I hope we both reach our goals. Good luck to you!

Rob

Thanks! I am very excited. I am lucky to only have one health problem but it's a big one. Hoping this surgery will help.

Only thing I would add is when I get pregnant for people to know I'm pregnant and not just fat

*over all I want to feel better~winded after walking up steps or down the block, Joint pains, high colesterol, high blood pressure, shortness of breath

*I want to have energy back~ My weight makes me lazy

*I don't want to feel embaressed for my kids cause their mom is fat (they don't care but I do)

*I want to stop hiding~I avoid going to the mall, visiting friends, going to parties...basically doing anything that involves other people because I'm ashamed/embaressed of what I look like now.

*Shop at "normal" stores

*feel hot/sexxi again

*I want to excercise...I never want to take my body for granted again!

Lovex5 - our list are identical - weighing less than my husband is huge! He used to be close to 400 pounds but 3-1/2 years ago had the vertical sleeve and duodenal switch and now is in the low to mid 150's. It's embarrasing when he puts on my sweatshirt and drowns in it

There is such beauty in our hopes and dreams... we all deserve these things! My reasoning looked like this.

I am 43 and have carried 100+ lbs extra for 20 years... I cannot get it off with diet and exercise, battling PCOS, and it is not going to get easier as I age. I have severe sleep apnea and cannot sleep without a machine to keep me breathing... this will hinder my passion for travel - having to lug around a machine and worry about plugging it into foreign currents. My father is 75 and struggling to walk... will that be me in 30 years? I learned to love myself at size 20, because I failed to do so at size 10. For me, this is not about being skinny... it is about being able to live my life unhindered by my limitations. I want to be unlimited!

Wishing all of you all the best!

tired of diet after diet gain lose. i want to feel full and satisfied with whatever i eat. i dont want to have a slice a cake and want more cake i want to enjoy a slice and leave it. i want to paint my toes do my own pedicures the nailshops just dont do it good enough for me. iwant to cross my legs i want the fat meat in my thighs to go away wheni have on a dress it makes me look like i have two stomachs yuk. i want to put on that sexy fittying dress and not worry about my tummy or the fat in the front of my thighs sticking out, i want my coller bone back. i want my skinny pretty face back im not asking to be skinny i love being thick but i want a good sexy thick you know what i mean

I have lost alot of weight since my surgery, and I have actually achieved most of the things I wanted to achieve. I have to warn people that I have days that I feel just as obese as I ever was (completely irrational) so I suggest that you focus on alot of things besides your looks. Rationally, I do look alot better - everybody tells me that and I can see it in photos, but sometimes I don't "feel" it.

-reduction in health risks/co morbidities like:

high blood pressure - GONE

pre diabetes blood surgar - GONE

sleep apnea - significantly reduced

-ability to enjoy life improved:

Became a much more confident rider and have had chances to ride other people's horses and try new things

No worries about me keeping up with the guys on a family outing. We spent a day walking the hills of Seattle recently and I was good - even the big hillclimb from the waterfront to downtown.

I still have body pain, but my knees are oh so much better

I can do all sorts of things I need to on my little farm that I just couldn't do before. I can easily climb in and out of the bed of my truck - all that stuff

I can even run now!

I no longer feel like I am made of glass and ready to just shatter should I take a fall or something

Looks/Clothes:

I am out of plus sizes and into normal sizes

I can actually wear coats or something that are just around the house - I am no longer the "special" size.

I am finally smaller then my husband (he helped me out by gaining weight over the last 5 years too)

Oh, and here is a big one, I no longer stand out in a crowd as so much bigger then the average. Even though I am still obese, in a group photo, I blend in much better as being sorta normal looking.

I know I look a lot better and every once in awhile I catch a reflection and am surprised it is me!

As I mentioned before, this is probably the hardest area because when I was stuffed into a 26W - being a 14 or 16 sounded like a dream come true. Now that I am in the 14/16 range, and especially since it seems like so many people get weight loss surgery at that size, I guess it still seems pretty big. I don't let it get me down because I am loving life so much, but if I used that "feeling thin" or "looking great" as my primary motivator, I would probably not be as joyful about the weight loss as I am.

I have had the funnest summer in many many years - galloping the beach on my horse, going camping with friends, meeting new people and having new adventures. Much of that would not have been possible without the weight loss!

I am looking forward to getting another 35-40# off and we'll see where that leads me!

There are a zillion, but here are some:

- Reduced risk of diabetes (Runs in my family)

- Reduced risk of numerous other diseases

- Being around for my family

- Being more active in my family/able to help

- Not dying at an early age from obesity related causes

- Feeling better about myself

- Decreased PCOS complications

- Able to try new things without feeling embarrassed

- Able to ride roller coasters

- Never have to worry about fitting in a booth again

- Able to wear any clothes I want

- Never having to shop at a plus size store again

- No longer being the fattest person in the room

- Never huffing and puffing when going up stairs again

- Being able to keep up with my friends

- Trying physical activities: rock climbing, hiking, bungee jumping

- Less heel pain after long work days

- Better ability to help my patients with ambulation, etc

- Not feel like the first thing I'm judged on in an interview is weight

- Feeling confident in the dating scene

The list can go on and on =) I'm already feeling a difference in some of these!

It's sad we all have these hurdles to overcome but it's nice to know other people feel the same. Sometimes it feels like no one can relate. Not too many thin people have to map out a mental path to the restroom in a crowded restaurant ya know?

Oh I love this!!

Here's my list:

-for my husband to be able to pick me up

-to be able to wear a tshirt and look comfortable instead of lazy

-to enjoy the beach

-to not have to untag myself in every fb picture

-to get those 'that girls hot' looks

-shop in the regular size clothes section

-for people to be able to tell I'm pregnant and not just overweight when I decide to have babies

-so I can go to my high school reunion

-so I'm not embarrassed when I see people from the past

-to be healthy for my children one day

-tmi...so I can feel sexy when I'm on top during sex

-so I can stand up for more than 5 minutes without my feet hurting

I could probably keep going...

:]

These are all great reasons and awesome personal and community motivation tools for us all (great topic, Lovex5!)

I'll add a few of my own to the above... sorry if these are duplicates:

-so I can stop using my evil CPAP machine!

-so I no longer fear getting kicked off an amusement park ride because the safety latch won't close over my big gut

-so I can sit in coach comfortably again.... and without a damn seatbelt extender

-so that I'm not the one everyone in the elevator is trying not to stare at when the doors close too slowly or do that close-open-close thing

-so that I don't need to take the elevator to go up two stinking flights of stairs

-so that at my HS reunion I can prove everyone wrong that voted me "Most likely to become a fatass" (OK, that one's made up...)

-so that I can take my name off the "Single Sleevers" group members list

I was fat, unhealthy and getting worse. I was slwly and surely killing myself. So my reason is: I just wanted to live.

It is awesome to see other people think the same way I do. I love the one about having to mental map your way through a restaurant! I do that.

I am sick of hiding from cameras (and untagging myself on facebook when they finally catch me). I want to go on the go carts and actually believe it is a slow car and not my fat behind slowing it down. To go horseback riding with my daughter and not worry that I am too heavy for the horse. To be able to go on the zip line next summer in Jamaica. To quit buying clothes for my daughter that she doesnt like because I wish I could wear them. Oh the list could go on ...

I am having surgery because I am tired of regaining my weight. I want something [tool] that can help me to keep it off!!! In my past Ive lost a great amount of weight [50 or more pounds] 3x's and put it all back on and some. NOT GOOD!!!!