Did anybody else get this surgery, simply because they are 'shallow'??!!! Surely I am not the only one who wanted to LOVE shopping, who wanted to buy cute clothes and look good in them!! Is it a sin, is it taboo to do this to look better? I don't see that it is any different than bigger breasts, a face life or botox. I am in Texas, Texas women...SOUTHERN women are vain, I am certain I'm not alone!!

I had NO health problems, zero, which is why the insurance route was not an option. I cannot admit to the majority of people that this was all about vanity, but to tell the truth, it was. I fought to maintain 228 lbs. I had been on a constant diet, picking, choosing and feeling guilty, for 32 years! I could look at my dad's sisters and many cousins who are all older than I am.....who are morbidly obese, some way more than 300 lbs, and I feared as I aged, it would get worse. That could be me!!! Thanks but no thanks. I chose what I refer to as 'preventive maintenence'. Surgery is a breeze when there are no health problems, at least it was easy for me. I have absolutely NO buyer's remorse. I love shopping, clothes and I feel great. My knees would have been the first to go, and they feel much better. I was 50 when I had sleeve surgery in June 2010, I only wish it had been an option twenty years ago!!

C'mon, am I alone????

I would be lying if I said I did it solely for my health. There were so many reasons that I did it, for my health, for my self-esteem, for my future. I was 31 with no comorbidities. I had worked my entire life to lose weight since I was grade 5 and I started Slim Fast. I hated being in my body every day. There were also a multitude of obesity related illness that ran in my family and I knew it was just a matter of time. I had 2 small children and I wanted to be healthy for them. I wanted to live to see my grandchildren. I wanted them to have a good role model.

Now I am healthier than I ever have been. I can take my kids tobogganing and play with them at the playground. And I can go shopping wherever I want. I can usually grab a size small off the rack and know it will fit. I am more at peace in this new body of mine than I ever have been in my entire life. So I wouldn't really say it was partly vanity. It wasn't just to look better, it was to feel better about myself. I love my sleeve!

I can usually grab a size small off the rack and know it will fit.

Ah how I look forward to the day! It's been years since I could grab off the rack and go! I have to try everything on - making sure it covers and camouflages and doesn't cling here and there! Another reason I can't wait for my sleeve for sure!

I love shopping now! My daughter is not too happy that I'm stealing her jeans lol

I need to go shopping again

Yup I wanted to wear cute clothes and be able to go skydiving , go to the water park, go wake boarding again, hiking, and just plain look cute and be active.

I wanted to be able to go on rides at the amusement park again

I wanted to be able to walk my daughter down the isle and not have ppl say "wheres the bride" "I think that guy ate her" lol

I am 32 and did have high blood pressure and sleep apnea when I made the decision to have surgery but I would be lying if I said those were my only reasons. I am not a Texas Girl but I live in San Antonio I am actually a California Girl so you don't have to tell me about VANITY lol they build more women than they birth in California .I was 226 at 5'2 and I could see I wasn't getting any thinner despite constant yoyo dieting and I was depressed I was no longer the young,fun and flirty girl my husband met at 22 I wanted to be that girl again.I was feeling trapped inside a body that had aged 20yrs vs the actual 10yrs that had passed everything always hurt .I did this surgery for my health and to find me again.I have lost 43 pounds since October 31st and I can feel the real me coming back again .I am starting to like shopping now that I am not limited to the "big girl" section. I was a very tight 36 in my favorite Silver Brand jeans bc I refused to buy Silver Plus Sizes jeans and now I am a comfortable 31:) I am in a much better place health wise and mentally!

I think I started actively dieting when I was 9 years old. Somehow around 2nd grade I turned into the chubby kid and spiraled from there until high school, where I lost a little weight in my jr year by starving myself and some mild bulimia behavior. I fought hard in my late 20s, again with lots of exercise and freaky eating habits (one meal a day kind of thing). I had some emotional junk in my mid-20s that came up again in my early 30s and I think I totally gave up even trying to manage my weight. Career stress added on and I was a mess and getting messier. I had a baby in my late 30s and it's really for him in some ways that I did it. I need to keep up with him and be around for him. I'm not without vanity and I sure like looking/feeling better. I get very uncomfortable when people get too interested in my weight loss because I don't shout out to the world that I've had WLS. It's private to me but I feel very weird when people start asking me for weight loss advice!

I think we all do it for a little bit of vanity. I personally had high blood pressure and onset symptoms of diabetes. Heart disease also runs in the family but to say it was strictly for those reasons would be a lie. I do enjoy the attention I get and the looks from the opposite sex.

I turned 50 a few days ago and do have diabetes and I SAY that's the reason and it is to a great extent, but heck yeah! Arkansas girls like to shop too! I can wait to get flirted with!

Your post made me giggle. Your are right, we have nothing on Cali girls when it comes to vanity!!! LOL Oh to be a plastic surgeon there....of course those docs are on every corner here in Dallas too!!

Anyway, welcome to Texas, I was born in San Antonio, Lackland AFB. It's my dad's favorite city.

It sounds like you are well on the way to the 'new' old you!!! Congrats. I love my life, I wasn't miserable before, but being overweight....being downright fat.....was always on my mind. I hated being the biggest girl in the room.

A year from now you won't believe what your life is like!!! Enjoy the ride, it's wild!!!

I am 32 and did have high blood pressure and sleep apnea when I made the decision to have surgery but I would be lying if I said those were my only reasons. I am not a Texas Girl but I live in San Antonio I am actually a California Girl so you don't have to tell me about VANITY lol they build more women than they birth in California .I was 226 at 5'2 and I could see I wasn't getting any thinner despite constant yoyo dieting and I was depressed I was no longer the young,fun and flirty girl my husband met at 22 I wanted to be that girl again.I was feeling trapped inside a body that had aged 20yrs vs the actual 10yrs that had passed everything always hurt .I did this surgery for my health and to find me again.I have lost 43 pounds since October 31st and I can feel the real me coming back again .I am starting to like shopping now that I am not limited to the "big girl" section. I was a very tight 36 in my favorite Silver Brand jeans bc I refused to buy Silver Plus Sizes jeans and now I am a comfortable 31:) I am in a much better place health wise and mentally!

Southern girls.....we just can't help it, can we??!!!! I was 50 when I had surgery, I only wish it had been around and perfected 20 yrs ago!!!!

I turned 50 a few days ago and do have diabetes and I SAY that's the reason and it is to a great extent, but heck yeah! Arkansas girls like to shop too! I can wait to get flirted with!

It seems like a lot of people 'know' but I do NOT broadcast it. I do not talk about it on Face Book.....I pick and choose who I tell and I expect whoever I tell, not to tell anyone else. Make sense?

I've been on so many diets, taken so many pills, attended so many meetings.....I know my metabolism is beyond screwed up. This forced portion control is perfect for me. I love it.

I think I started actively dieting when I was 9 years old. Somehow around 2nd grade I turned into the chubby kid and spiraled from there until high school, where I lost a little weight in my jr year by starving myself and some mild bulimia behavior. I fought hard in my late 20s, again with lots of exercise and freaky eating habits (one meal a day kind of thing). I had some emotional junk in my mid-20s that came up again in my early 30s and I think I totally gave up even trying to manage my weight. Career stress added on and I was a mess and getting messier. I had a baby in my late 30s and it's really for him in some ways that I did it. I need to keep up with him and be around for him. I'm not without vanity and I sure like looking/feeling better. I get very uncomfortable when people get too interested in my weight loss because I don't shout out to the world that I've had WLS. It's private to me but I feel very weird when people start asking me for weight loss advice!