I'm not fat (on the outside) any more! I'm not skinny by any means, but I'm not fat. I weigh 157 pounds which is still far too much for my 5.3 frame, but I wear size medium tops and size 8 pants, which is officially smaller than the average American woman.

I am no longer shopping in the women's section.

I am no longer wearing the largest size in the ladies' department.

I pick up clothes in consignment shops and often have to reject them for being too big. ( WTF?!?!?!)

I fit in bathroom stalls and dressing rooms with room to spare.

I can walk through turnstiles/bus aisles/theatre rows front ways instead of turning sideways and sucking it in.

I no longer stress when some jackhole parks too close to my minivan when I can barely open my car door to squeeze in.

Every seatbelt fits.

I can put my handbag in my seat with me instead of on a different chair.

I can sit in a booth without my tummy and/or boobs smooshing up against the table.

People don't mind sitting next to me at the movies or in tight restaurants.

More people make eye contact/open doors/smile/initiate conversation with me than ever before.

I am no longer looking around to see if I am the biggest person in the room because I'm not. Ever. Not even in Zumba.

I can wear my leggings home from the gym and stop at the store without caring if I run I to anyone I know.

I could go on forever. I'm still a fat girl on the inside so this whole thing is very surreal. It's just finally starting to set in that after 20 years of being obese, I'm now just a regular sized fit mom (with some loose skin) who can do anything I fracking want to do because I gifted myself with the least easy "easy way out" I could have ever chosen to do.

Love love love. Love.

Good for you! I can't wait to be able to say those words! My surgery is May 1 & it can't come fast enough for me.

I love your post and it will be some of my inspiration. Everything wrote is at what stage I'm at, the beginning !