Hey Everyone!

I had my 6 month appointment on Thursday and cannot even believe how much has changed in 6 months. I am now 88 pounds down. I couldn't be happier! I'm feeling like a new person. I thought it would be good for me to reflect back a bit on how far I've come. I had started a website/blog when I started thinking about having surgery.

Here is an excerpt from a post I wrote in July when I was awaiting my consultation appointment.

"I wake up every morning feeling completely disgusted with my body and my behavior. I avoid the mirror when getting into the shower. I can hardly look at myself when I have a towel around me and have to put on a baggy shirt to blow dry my hair. I struggle to get dressed knowing that my clothes are too tight for me. Every activity is filled with anxiety for me. Eating meals is like experiencing an out of body experience. It's as though I have no control, yet the whole time I am beating myself up over what I am eating. I am embarrassed to go anywhere knowing that I am overweight and people have probably noticed that I've gained even more weight. I look at my friends as they talk about "feeling fat" or "needing to exercise more" and know that I would die to look like them. Every time I sit down I want to cover my stomach up with something. Every time I walk I have to adjust my pants, bra, underwear, shirt, tanktop to make sure that I am 100% covered. I feel a depression at night - an overwhelming guilt. I lay in bed thinking how tomorrow needs to be a new day...how tomorrow I am going to be different. I will stay up for hours in bed thinking about it."

When I read this, I feel sad for the girl who wrote it. I think it is important for me to look back at how I felt during that time to continue to motivate myself to do well. I am to the point where I can eat more and I have to work harder for the weight to come off. I never want to feel like girl in that paragraph again. I wake up every morning looking forward to the day, excited to pick out an outfit, feeling happy about the decisions I make, and overall just taking pride in being healthy. This was the best decision I could have made.

For those of you interested in the website/blog, the link is below. It is a personal site, but it does give detailed information on my pre-op process. I haven't posted since September since I started writing on this forum.

Surgery Date: August 22, 2012

Starting weight: 231

Current weight: 143

Height: 5'3

Age: 23

website: weightonmyshoulders.weebly.com

Picture 1: Day before Surgery

Picture 2: The before/after picture Dr. Zeni's office gave me on Thursday

Picture 3: Me in the jeans I wore at my consultation

Picture 4: Same as picture 3

Picture 5: Getting my bridesmaids dress taken in!

Picture 6: Standing with my best friend for her bachelorette party last night!

You look Fabulous!!! I can only pray that I'm down 88 in 6 months. I love that you have all those great pictures, I need to take more to document the journey. I'm down 50 in 13 weeks. Thanks for sharing its very inspiring.

You look Marvelous!!!!!

Sent from my iPad using VST

Funny you just described how I feel EVERYDAY!! You look great!! I can't wait to feel as good as you do! Congrats on the loss! ????

You look amazing!

This is very inspiring! I am also a patient of Dr. Zeni and only 10days out

You look amazing. It is good to see people almost the same weight as you and see what they look like now.. You are a beautiful person and I can only hope that my outcome will be as great as yours:)

This is very inspiring! I am also a patient of Dr. Zeni and only 10days out

Awesome! He's great and so is the staff! Hope you are having a good experience too!

I am I dint think I could have picked a better dr if I tried!

Don't*