For me, I see it as I have now lost 8 years worth of weight. I know others talk about "I haven't been this weight in 5 (or 10 or 25) years", and this is similar, but possibly a little different. For many of us, the extra weight is a reflection of so many emotions we carry around with us. Baggage. So what I am trying to visualise when I think about how far I have come, is all those emotions being peeled off pound by pound with my weight. In a way I think, if I can let go of these layers of fat I have encased myself with, I can let go of these emotions, these feelings, and not be weighed down by them anymore either, you know?

There's this version of me that only I and people who really know me see, and she's not obese. She's a strong, healthy woman. And as I peel back each pound, she comes a little more to the surface. For me, losing weight is being able to show who I really am, but I would also like it to be a way to let go of the emotional baggage of the past.

It is probably fair to say that us guys are not as in tune to our emotions as the gals are. But having said that, how do I feel about my weight loss? I'm almost two and half years out and it's even more exciting today, and every day, than it was two and a half years ago. Every day is a new adventure and if I need a reminder of how delicious my life is - all I have to do is look in the mirror.

I savor every moment of my new life. A life that, not that long ago, I believed was simply beyond my reach. I'm thrilled with the most ridiculously mundane things that most never give a second thought. Putting on my 34" pants - how cool is that? I have medium shirts in every color of the rainbow - how cool is that? I love walking two to three miles and knowing that I just walked two or three miles - how cool is that? I still feel absolutely great and got plenty more in the tank. Amazing. I recently purchased a Total Gym and started strength training for the first time in my life. I cannot tell you how much fun I'm having with it. Every day I discover new strength, new flexibility and new stamina that I have never, in my entire life, known. Astounding. Get this - last night a friend told me that he has lost 31 pounds - and I was his role model. I don't even have a word to describe that one!

I am in control. Every day. And I know it. When you experience a change this profound, you take everything in, but nothing for granted. There is nothing that I cannot be, do or have. How do you put all of these experiences, all of these feelings, all of these emotions, all of this excitement, all of this joy, into words?

It's the dawn of a new day and I'm looking forward to celebrating every single moment of it.

<p>It is probably fair to say that us guys are not as in tune to our emotions as the gals are. But having said that, how do I feel about my weight loss? I'm almost two and half years out and it's even more exciting today, and every day, than it was two and a half years ago. Every day is a new adventure and if I need a reminder of how delicious my life is - all I have to do is look in the mirror.</p> <p> </p> <p>I savor every moment of my new life. A life that, not that long ago, I believed was simply beyond my reach. I'm thrilled with the most ridiculously mundane things that most never give a second thought. Putting on my 34" pants - how cool is that? I have medium shirts in every color of the rainbow - how cool is that? I love walking two to three miles and knowing that I just walked two or three miles - how cool is that? I still feel absolutely great and got plenty more in the tank. Amazing. I recently purchased a Total Gym and started strength training for the first time in my life. I cannot tell you how much fun I'm having with it. Every day I discover new strength, new flexibility and new stamina that I have never, in my entire life, known. Astounding. Get this - last night a friend told me that he has lost 31 pounds - and I was his role model. I don't even have a word to describe that one! </p> <p> </p> <p>I am in control. Every day. And I know it. When you experience a change this profound, you take everything in, but nothing for granted. There is nothing that I cannot be, do or have. How do you put all of these experiences, all of these feelings, all of these emotions, all of this excitement, all of this joy, into words?</p> <p> </p> <p>It's the dawn of a new day and I'm looking forward to celebrating every single moment of it.</p>

Your entire response sounds amazingly cool!!thank you for sharing. I'm just getting started, surgery Monday, but I'm planning on looking at this post a number of times in hopes I can closely relate in time.

Thank You!

You are certainly welcome and congratulations on your surgery - only four days to the beginning of the new you! You are going to be amazed!!

I didn't get heavy until I got pregnant with my twins at age 26 (in 1986). I've heard people say they feel like they're not themselves after losing weight. They struggle with their new image and don't identify with it. I was the opposite - I wasn't myself while heavy. I didn't identify with that heavy woman. I always thought of myself the way I used to be and when I caught a glimpse of my overweight self in a mirror or reflection on glass it was a shock - WHO was that person? That couldn't be ME! For 28 years I've been buried under over 100 pounds of fat. As it melted away I began to see glimpses of the old me. My long lost self image was slowly re-emerging. The girl in the mirror was beginning to match the girl I was in my mind!

So I have found MYSELF again. I'm ME! :-)