Don't know if it was hitting my target weight but, in a blinding flash today, I suddenly realised I don't have to deal with food the way I have done throughout my life. I can wipe clean the slate from the mistakes of the past and keep eating in this new way. I don't want to be defined any more by what I eat or how I eat - and I now know that I don't have to be.

The rest of the world will no longer judge me if I eat a couple of fries or have a biscuit. They will see someone normal sized just eating a bit of food not some fat person eating something they shouldn't.

It's ridiculous but I feel it is now truly my choice how I eat today, tomorrow, next year - that's a heck of a lightbulb moment for me.

This sounds really stupid when I read that back to myself. But I have never thought of myself as someone who would ever be able to control their eating enough to lose weight. I just didn't believe it. But here I am and I don't ever want to go back...

What's been your lightbulb moment?

Edited January 4, 201412 yr by Indigo1991

My light bulb moment happened this week. I had my surgery on November 22 and have done pretty well. I have stayed the course and have not swayed from my list of acceptable Protein options prior to this mini vacation.

This week I went to San Francisco to care for my aged father. When I arrived in SF I went to the market immediately and bought my Dannon light and fit yogurt, cottage cheese, Light Baby Bel cheese and turkey slices before I even went to my Dad's. I wanted to make sure I continue to make good choices when it came to food. Seven days later....... I am home and food wasn't an issue. For the first time in decades I took control of my eating habits when visiting the family in San Francisco. I said NO to a cannoli, NO to a Joe's hamburger, NO to a Tostada, NO to a crepe, etc.......my response was, "Can I meet you afterwards?" I always carried a Baby Bel Cheese in my purse and always felt satisfied.

I came home 4 pounds lighter and the feeling........I GOT THIS!

Yay, SassyTink, what a result! That's exactly how I feel!!!!

I wasn't always a good citizen, I had a time of incarceration when I was a young man. I vividly remember the day of my release. I remember taking a deep breath of free air and tearing up over the realization that the oppressive restrictions were over and that a life of rich possibilities lay before.

That moment came again many years later in Wal-Mart. I was trying on jackets and kept putting them back and getting smaller sizes. When I finally found the size that fit me I realized that my fat straight-jacket is really coming off! My goal of health was actually within my grasp!

Many of the problems that I had considered to be "just getting old" turned out to be connected to obesity. To me it was the equivalent of going back in time and becoming that free boy who had boundless energy and passion for life.

When anyone criticizes VSG they are talking about the hero that broke me out of a torture chamber. No need to expect me to be objective about it.

Gmanbat, that has really touched me - especially talking about going back and becoming that free boy. I am so glad you have got him back.

For me, fat was a barrier that kept the world out. But I have come to realise it was also a cell for me without a key - until VSG. I am grateful for that release every day and don't intend to waste any of this freedom.

I don't think I've had mine yet (apart from creeping smiles as the sizes have got smaller)

I'll get back to you on that

Too early for me. But yours hit home. Getting to the point when I can eat something and not be judged for eating what I shouldn't. It will be great to be a normal sized person and just enjoying a treat and not trying to hide.

My light bulb moment happened this week. I had my surgery on November 22 and have done pretty well. I have stayed the course and have not swayed from my list of acceptable protein options prior to this mini vacation. This week I went to San Francisco to care for my aged father. When I arrived in SF I went to the market immediately and bought my Dannon light and fit yogurt, cottage cheese, Light Baby Bel cheese and turkey slices before I even went to my Dad's. I wanted to make sure I continue to make good choices when it came to food. Seven days later....... I am home and food wasn't an issue. For the first time in decades I took control of my eating habits when visiting the family in San Francisco. I said NO to a cannoli, NO to a Joe's hamburger, NO to a Tostada, NO to a crepe, etc.......my response was, "Can I meet you afterwards?" I always carried a Baby Bel Cheese in my purse and always felt satisfied. I came home 4 pounds lighter and the feeling........I GOT THIS!

That's AWESOME. That city can be so DANGEROUS with amazing, so-bad, diet-busting food! My next visit will involve a trip to Swan's Oyster Depot for deliciously guilt free crab legs :-)

For me, who is stubbornly refusing to purchase new, smaller clothing 'cause I still have so many pounds I plan to lose, it was when my previously snug pants fell to the floor (yes right over my still large backside!) while zipped and fastened because I forgot my belt! I'd have been embarrassed if I had not been so stunned. How did that happen...oh, right, thank you sleeve!