I am 6 weeks out now and doing fabulous. I walk 2+ miles a day and eat and drink what I'm supposed to. I have energy galore and loving life. The only thing I'm a little perplexed about is how I"m feeling vulnerable, exposed or unprotected. I'm not really sure of the best wordage, but you get the idea. I was wondering if anyone else has felt this after losing weight. I have felt like this before when I lost 100 lbs doing Atlins in 2004. I met my husband and felt so vulnerable and I feel I self-sabotaged myself and ended up gaining the entire 100 lbs back. I'm not going to let that happen this time because I now recognize what is happening. I am going to look for a self-help book that might address this problem. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I did have some abuse during childhood and thinking this is a big reason for the feeling.

Please let me know what you guys think. This is the only place I feel free to express my true feelings.

First Congrats!!!! You are doing really great.

Secondly your emotions are on a wild rollercoaster right now..your body is undergoing a HUGE transformation which is also releasing massive amounts of estrogen from those stored fat cells you are burning. So it is completely normal to have some emotional feelings that run the gamut from depression to anger to elation etc.

Just keep on being honest about your feelings and engage your husband in your journey. And most importantly keep on working that sleeve!

The second most caring and loving thing you can do for yourself is to find a therapist that is a good fit for you to help with the feelings of being exposed. Self help books can help but everyone's issue is different and gaining insight into the problem is great, but he answer lies in what you do to make the changes. Therapy is a great investment and can guarantee that bc I am a therapist and I have done my own therapy too. Please do whatever it takes to get some additional help.

The feeling you are describing is quite common among overweight people and especially common when there has been some abuse in the past. Many of us have, literally, been "hiding" behind our weight, and as we start to lose we feel very exposed and vulnerable because our "protective shield" is going away.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to delve into this either via a self-help book, group therapy (does your post-op program have any group meetings?), or personal therapy sessions...being aware of it is the first step, but learning some tools to effectively overcome it will help you move forward with a healthy body and mind!

Good luck, wish you the best!