Has weight loss surgery made you rethink your career?

[mistysj 1,939]

I'm curious if having bariatric surgery has caused you to rethink your career. Have you changed careers or decided to change careers? Has anyone specifically changed to a career in a field related to Bariatrics, such as dietetics or nutrition science or nursing?

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

hasnt made me change careers but def has gave me more self confidence to handle my job better

def having WLS has changed nearly everything in my life..the only thing it hasnt changed is my hubs love for me..

[AutumnPunkin 313]

This is a very good post. I cannot say it made me change careers, but it was because of my career I decided to have wls. I am currently completing my RN nursing degree, and refuse to be a hypocrite with my patients. There is nothing worse than an obese nurse teaching an obese patient how to lose weight and the support network available. I aim to be an amazing nurse, as I am not in it just for the money, I genuinely want to be there for my patients as a valuable resource, and my weight hinders me from doing this. I hope that made sense.

[L-in-NJ 136]

It hasn't made me think about a career change but it had made me want to go after my photography more aggressively. Being heavy prevented me from getting shots that I needed to maybe get low or even try from other angles. I am still only 6 weeks out from surgery but I'm making plans for shoots for the spring and summer that I wouldn't have thought about previously.

[Indigo1991 1,612]

Won't change my career but it has me rethink the balance between career and life.

When I was overweight, my social life wasn't as extensive as it is now - I like to say "yes" rather than "no" when invited out :-) Hiding away at work as an excuse to avoid joining in with life is now a bit redundant. So I am having to consider how to keep my career on track while building a social life. For the first time ever, I have days when I would rather be anywhere than work - and that's a first in a 30 year career!

[lellow 1,713]

Weight loss made me more confident, which made me speak up more at work, take on more and assert myself more. The other side of that was that once where I was the 'invisible' heavy girl in the room, my hard work actually got noticed, and I was encouraged and headhunted for bigger and better things. So yes, I pursued a career change that I would never have had the belief in my myself to try for before. And I've been really successful in it.

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I didn't change careers, but I did get a much better job in my field. I now work in a place where I am treated with respect, and they appreciate me. At my old job, they took me for granted, and thought nothing of treating me poorly compared to peers. And I am not paranoid - others saw it, too. Of course I'll never be able to prove it was weight related, but I think it was.

Interestingly, I made up my mind that I needed out of that job, and even though my resume was and is stellar, I figured it would be hard to get a potential employer to see past my weight. I also figured that even if they did, they wouldn't pay me what I was worth. So, I had the surgery, let the old employer pay for it and all my recovery time, started giving no more than 8 hours a day, and focused on me. I lost the weight and gained a lot of confidence. When a headhunter contacted me, I was in a much better physical and mental place where I felt I could go after a bigger/better/great job and negotiate a fitting salary. I've been there about 6 months now, have lost another 40 pounds since I started, and love the job! I feel like the sleeve gave me that.

[Madam Reverie 2,958]

I'm now God....

Oh wait, that's my internal dialogue coming out.

Okay, I'll go for Obama's job when he leaves it...

Oh wait, I'm British.

Okay, I'll go for not being 'the work-horse of the team' (as I was once referred at 9pm on a Friday evening whilst still in the office).

I'll continue to reach for the stars and feel physically and mentally confident in doing so.

That'll do me

[♕ajtexas♕ 3,771]

What a great thread. I haven't changed careers but i have received a promotion since hitting goal. Was it related to my weight loss? I think so.

Don't judge a book by its cover...... yea right I've never bought that. Everyone sets an opinion based on what they see. Its human nature.

Plus when you add the boost in self confidence. Well only good things can happen.

[ajustice 484]

I haven't changed careers but moved recently across country and will be looking for a job. Before I always was the one wanting to hide and just did my own thing. I'm now definitely getting more confidence where I'd like to go for the jobs where I am a bit more out there. I'm a lot more social for sure and think it could be a great move with my aspirations. Definitely think before I would have been overlooked if I had even tried.

[Branmuffin 190]

I haven't changed careers but do plan on finishing school and adding that to my current field of work and moving up to better things. I'm more outgoing and outspoken now and stand up for myself and my co-workers while before I would fade into the background. My BUM tried two years ago to get me to finish my degree so weight wasn't a factor but timing with my kiddos just wasn't right.

[Kiap82 239]

I love that someone brought this up. Since my surgery I have had a lot of time to reflect. I realized that I was making up for my failures in relationships and friendships by doing nothing but focusing my career.

While I've been quite successful, I have spent zero time focusing on me. I have let my weight, health, and confidence dwindle while I tried to identify with the only part of my life that was going well.

I have decided that I want to take this first year after surgery and really become the me I should have years ago. This means taking a step back in my career but hopefully multiple leaps forward in ME!!

[parisshel 1,892]

Great thread. I would love to be a patient advocate for bariatric surgery but that does not exist where I live. (So I compensate by talking quite liberally about my own experience to everybody who will listen to me. Poor things.)

I am greatly interested in obesity research and, had I been younger, certainly would have pursued this as a career. It is such a rich field of research and there are so many avenues to explore within this area. But I'm far too old to go to medical school now.

For me, my WLS has me rethinking so many things...some with regret (the road not taken because I was so fat) and some with pride (the road I took anyway, despite my fat). I will say that I'm better in my chosen career (academic research) because I'm more confident and energetic. I am much present at conferences, always pitching to lead a session, whereas before I would just be a passive audience member.

[jamilyne 102668 1,207]

I have thought about this before - I probably wouldn't change careers, but I definitely feel like I fit in more at work and I have a little more confidence. At the job that I'm at now - I wasn't held back because I was obese at all, I have received promotions and bonuses and it was based on my merit. (I work at a law office). They are all genuinely happy for me for losing weight. I will most likely retire from there.

I have thought that there isn't enough information for people that have had wls, and I would mind maybe blogging or something like that - but I am really busy in my life right now & I am just trying to stay afloat - maybe in the future.

[B-52 7,113]

Not change my career...but definitely made me more successful....therefore more $$.....

I am face to face with patients, (as young as 18 months) and their families everyday, and have to deal with some very tough catastrophic circumstances that can rip the hearts out of some people........

In my position, NEED to be supportive, show confidence in what I'm doing, and a little more optimistic than they are, many of whom feel their lives have been pulled out from under them....in order to have a healthy relationship.

Having lost all my excess weight, exercising everyday, etc...my self image, my self confidence, etc, has multiplied!

I KNOW it spills over to other people...people are more friendly to me...and in the case of the patients and families i see daily, I can tell by the way they open up to me and talk freely about some very personal stuff....

Eventually it has affected my reputation, much of it by word of mouth....