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Just wanted to share an awesome NSV I experienced last Friday (9/27) at Disneyland.

To start, the basics: At my heaviest I was over 300 lbs. I was 302 lbs as of July 26th of this year, lost about 20 lbs on the pre-op diet, and was sleeved on 8/19. My current weight is 249.

I decided to attend Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland on opening night, September 27th. It's a fun family event where there is special entertainment, fireworks, trick-or-treating for kids, etc. Also, it's the only time of the year that adult guests are permitted to enter the park in costume!

The thought of being in costume made me pretty apprehensive, because I hadn't dressed up for Halloween since 2005. Dressing up for Halloween, for me, always meant the possibility of more fat shaming. I didn't want people to look at me and think that I was the "fat version" of whatever I as trying to be. So I never dressed up. This year, with my new attitude and weight loss, I plunged into the lost art of creating the perfect costume. It had to be Disney (natch)...it had to be relatively easy...it had to be completely fabulous. There was only one obvious answer: Mary Poppins.

On the evening of the party, I put the whole outfit on for the first time, and was really pleased with how it turned out. After meeting up with a friend inside the park, I noticed a Disneyland employee standing (quite literally) right next to us, watching us. Just standing there. No talking. It was very awkward. When I turned to the cast member and asked if I could help her with something, she hit me with the following:

"Um, yeah, I was just wondering, you have a great costume, and I was wondering if you'd like to be in our Halloween parade tonight. I've been on the lookout for some of the best costumes of the night, and yours is really fantastic."

Wait. WHAT?!?!

I was shocked. Of course, I agreed, and was scheduled to be in the parade at 10:30pm that night. The best part, though, was the realization that here I had been scared to dress up for Halloween for the past 7 years. Afraid of how I would look. Ashamed of my body and the thought of being a laughing stock. And once I finally faced that fear, and embraced a costume, not only did I feel great, but I was chosen out of hundreds of people to be one of nine people in a parade cavalcade in my most favorite place on Earth. Now that's pretty cool.

Needless to say, being a part of the parade was an absolute blast. I felt like a celebrity. We got to see the backstage area and watch the dancers prepare and the floats get ready. We were driven along the parade route in an antique fire truck, with a place of honor right before the grand finale float. The cast member in charge of wrangling all of us told us that Disneyland hadn't asked guests to be part of a parade in over 10 years. Even cooler.

Just a reminder that breaking out of your comfort zone can have some pretty amazing results...and I couldn't be happier with the change in my attitude, confidence, and of course, with my sleeve in general. :)

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Just wanted to share an awesome NSV I experienced last Friday (9/27) at Disneyland.

To start, the basics: At my heaviest I was over 300 lbs. I was 302 lbs as of July 26th of this year, lost about 20 lbs on the pre-op diet, and was sleeved on 8/19. My current weight is 249.

I decided to attend Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland on opening night, September 27th. It's a fun family event where there is special entertainment, fireworks, trick-or-treating for kids, etc. Also, it's the only time of the year that adult guests are permitted to enter the park in costume!

The thought of being in costume made me pretty apprehensive, because I hadn't dressed up for Halloween since 2005. Dressing up for Halloween, for me, always meant the possibility of more fat shaming. I didn't want people to look at me and think that I was the "fat version" of whatever I as trying to be. So I never dressed up. This year, with my new attitude and weight loss, I plunged into the lost art of creating the perfect costume. It had to be Disney (natch)...it had to be relatively easy...it had to be completely fabulous. There was only one obvious answer: Mary Poppins.

On the evening of the party, I put the whole outfit on for the first time, and was really pleased with how it turned out. After meeting up with a friend inside the park, I noticed a Disneyland employee standing (quite literally) right next to us, watching us. Just standing there. No talking. It was very awkward. When I turned to the cast member and asked if I could help her with something, she hit me with the following:

"Um, yeah, I was just wondering, you have a great costume, and I was wondering if you'd like to be in our Halloween parade tonight. I've been on the lookout for some of the best costumes of the night, and yours is really fantastic."

Wait. WHAT?!?!

I was shocked. Of course, I agreed, and was scheduled to be in the parade at 10:30pm that night. The best part, though, was the realization that here I had been scared to dress up for Halloween for the past 7 years. Afraid of how I would look. Ashamed of my body and the thought of being a laughing stock. And once I finally faced that fear, and embraced a costume, not only did I feel great, but I was chosen out of hundreds of people to be one of nine people in a parade cavalcade in my most favorite place on Earth. Now that's pretty cool.

Needless to say, being a part of the parade was an absolute blast. I felt like a celebrity. We got to see the backstage area and watch the dancers prepare and the floats get ready. We were driven along the parade route in an antique fire truck, with a place of honor right before the grand finale float. The cast member in charge of wrangling all of us told us that Disneyland hadn't asked guests to be part of a parade in over 10 years. Even cooler.

Just a reminder that breaking out of your comfort zone can have some pretty amazing results...and I couldn't be happier with the change in my attitude, confidence, and of course, with my sleeve in general. :)

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Omgosh your post almost made me cry. How absolutely wonderful for you!!! I'm so happy that you got to experience something so amazing!!! Yayyyyy!!! :-D

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Omgosh your post almost made me cry. How absolutely wonderful for you!!! I'm so happy that you got to experience something so amazing!!! Yayyyyy!!! :-D

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How great is that! A wonderful story.

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How great is that! A wonderful story.

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Omgosh your post almost made me cry. How absolutely wonderful for you!!! I'm so happy that you got to experience something so amazing!!! Yayyyyy!!! :-D

Thank you so much! It was incredibly special, that's for sure! :)

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Omgosh your post almost made me cry. How absolutely wonderful for you!!! I'm so happy that you got to experience something so amazing!!! Yayyyyy!!! :-D

Thank you so much! It was incredibly special, that's for sure! :)

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That is SO cool! I'm an avid Disneyland go-er (annual pass holder) so I am insanely jealous! You look great. Keep up the good work!

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That is SO cool! I'm an avid Disneyland go-er (annual pass holder) so I am insanely jealous! You look great. Keep up the good work!

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So wonderful, thanks for sharing!

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So wonderful, thanks for sharing!

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What a great story! Thank you for sharing and taking pics for us.

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What a great story! Thank you for sharing and taking pics for us.

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What a wonderful story! And you ARE beautiful!!!

Wishing you continued success.

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    • Doughgurl

      2 days until I fly out to San Diego to have my Bypass Surg. in Tiajuana Mexico. Not gonna lie, the nerves are starting to surface. I don't fear the surgery itself, or the fact that I'm traveling alone, but its the aftermath that I'm stressing about the most, after this 8 week wait. I'm excited to finally be here, but I am really dreading the post surgical chapter. I know its going to be tough, real tough and I think I'm just in my head to much now that the day i here. Wish me luck, Hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones, and everything goes smoothly. Cant wait to give an exciting update,. If there is anyone else have a June bypass or even a recent one, Id love to have someone to compare war stories with. Also, anyone near San Antonio Tx? See ya soon with the future me. 💜
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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