So, how happy are you?

[Fallenangel2904 494]

YES! Exactly as Aussie said! I didn't want to post here for fear of being the odd man out, but Aussie summed up my feelings perfectly.

I think it's important for pre ops to see both sides of the coin. Before surgery I think I looked at surgery as a fix for all the things wrong with my life. 'If I have surgery everything will fall into place' with relationships, jobs, family, friends and overall happiness. That isn't the case. Just as we tell people surgery isn't a quick fix for weight loss, you can't have surgery and just expect to be skinny- same goes for the quality and happiness in your life. Surgery isn't going to just magically give you that either. I hate to break this to people but being thin DOESN'T automatically equal happiness.

I was someone who struggled with bouts of depression pre op, and that hasn't just gone away post op because my size shrank. I think on some level I thought it would. I've actually experienced some difficult emotional changes post op. I can not stress enough how important the psychiatric part of this process is. I need to get myself into therapy and I regret not doing it sooner. Don't just brush that off as unimportant. This process is SUCH a mental process as well as a physical. Therapy is an important tool and I recommend sticking with it from the beginning.

Just my two cents and my experiences, of course yours will vary, but if you have any sort of underlying issues just know surgery isn't going to cure them. You have to do that on your own regardless of your size.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

I totally happy withy weight loss. I would five or a 10. I love eating some amounts. I have a 10 even though it really sucks dealing with the head hunger. But I got this.

[JProx 161]

Love this forum.

[Ms.AntiBand 2,984]

I'm over the hill happy.. Oh, wait that's my age. On a scale of 1-10.. I am at least a 9. I'm healthier and that alone makes me the happiest I've ever been. They fact that I'm getting thinner is just the icing on the cake.

[NtvTxn 1,262]

I had a friend tell me, and this was prior to surgery, that my optimism can irritate the sh*t out of people some times. My glass has always been half full. My favorite saying "It could always be worse" That said.....my life prior to surgery; I was just a couple of months shy of turning 50. I was married to my high-school sweetheart. Happily married, we were still holding hands, liked to hang out together! Sex was good, kids were grown, and both were happy - three grands, all three are pretty darn cute kids. I was happy, on the scale, I'd say I was a 9.5 most days. I was NOT living in Texas and I'm a Texas girl, that was the 'biggest' deal in my life. I did not like to shop, I did not like to have my picture taken and I hated going to any kind of party, although I did it occasionally, but I did not like feeling like the biggest girl in the room. Three years post op.....83 lbs lighter - maintaining for 2.5 years. I'm still married to my HS sweetheart and we still hold hands and like to hangout. Our daughters are still good and the youngest grand wasn't even two when I had surgery three years ago, so he will only ever remember 'this size' Dee Dee - other than pictures. I love, love, love to go shopping, even just window shopping. I like to go try on clothes just because I can!!! LOL Get togethers are fun, and many, if not most of the time, I am the SMALLEST girl in the room. Sex is off the chart good. I love it that I feel TINY next to my husband, and wow, he can pick me up. It's just nice that he can more than wrap his arms around me. I had no health problems at all.....and that is still the same. I'm a cheaper date, but make up for it with clothes! Oh, and on top of everything else, we are back in Texas. I weigh every morning and it tells me I am 145'ish - and when I shop for jeans and slip into a size four.....on a scale of 1 - 10, ecstatic, 10+ No doubt about it!!!!

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Being thin may not 'equal happiness' but it sure as heck makes "RETAIL THERAPY" a lot more fun!!!!!! I'm just sayin'

[Nicolanz 1,484]

Ntv, same here! My husband thinks I'm weird for always finding the positive in any situation. He says it isn't normal! Haha! He's a major grinch though. We keep eachother balanced! I love that grumpy old man!

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Ntv, same here! My husband thinks I'm weird for always finding the positive in any situation. He says it isn't normal! Haha! He's a major grinch though. We keep eachother balanced! I love that grumpy old man!

This made me giggle, my husband is not an optimist, not at all. He is an IT Director, he said it is his JOB to look at any situation and think about WHAT COULD GO WRONG!!!! LoL Everything that is except my success, he's been my biggest cheerleader, I love my 'glass is half empty' guy too!!!!

[mistysj 1,940]

This made me giggle' date=' my husband is not an optimist, not at all. He is an IT Director, he said it is his JOB to look at any situation and think about WHAT COULD GO WRONG!!!! LoL Everything that is except my success, he's been my biggest cheerleader, I love my 'glass is half empty' guy too!!!![/quote']

I have had your husbands job in a past life, and I totally get where he is coming from!

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I felt happy and grateful for many things in my life...even at my heaviest but quite literally - shedding the burden of carrying around the weight of two people so improved my life. Everything was just hard work at 300#++ and it is so liberating to be fit.

I do agree that losing weight wont make an unhappy person happy. Might make them sadder even since food gave solace.

[erp 2,016]

My happiness has grown with every pound lost. Before at 250+ lbs, I hid. I literally would try to compact myself on airplane seats, sit in chairs at an agle to try to appear smaller ,I avoided social outings with friends, I was tired all the time, embarrassed at my own size and had no energy. Now after shedding over 55 lbs, I feel like the possibilities are endless and only matched by my happiness. I didn't expect losing weight to solve all of my problems (need to hit the lotto for that). I expected losing weight to give me my life back and it has. I would say I am an 8.5/10.

[NewSetOfCurves 1,555]

Also' date=' I notice that people treat me differently now that I'm thinner. That pisses me off when I think about it much, but there it is.

Lynda[/quote']

I experienced the same, but in opposite order. People treated me different when I got bigger. Family members and friends--particularly males--use to go out of their way to say hi or talk to me...all that changed when I became a fatty

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I feel more like "Me". I used to look in the mirror, and could never quite recognize myself there. I always bought new clothing, hoping I would look like "Me" when I put them on, but just didn't. I feel more like myself now, even with the lose skin and enhanced wrinkles...I am also in better shape than I have been for years...This makes me happier. That being said, when I got this surgery my Dr. mentioned that people can get depressed after getting the surgery, and they weren't sure why... chemical changes, expectations..?. and sometimes I do feel chemically depressed...just slightly but noticeable... I am still VERY happy I did the surgery, it has been a big part of me finding the strength to make my life better on the whole.