"I didn't recognize you"

[Daisee68 2,493]

Anyone else bothered by this statement? I mean, I know the people mean well and I am VERY open about my surgery, but I must admit, this is the one comment I am really having a little trouble with. I checked in at a hotel last week on business and they asked for my ID, and the clerk looked me up and down and finally said "Are you sure this is you?" Um, yea - why would I carry around an ID of some random 330 pound person? Guess it is time for a new drivers license...

Anywho, I know I will get used to the comments and I know they will even eventually stop completely, but in the meantime, when I look in the mirror, I still see the same face staring back at me (although much thinner/bonier face) so it is hard to hear that I do not look the same to others. Perhaps because I was in complete denial about how I looked in the first place nearly 140 pounds ago...

PS - Anyone ever stare at their ticker and think "surely there is a mistake and that cannot be mine?"

[Christinamo7 4,042]

comments can be annoying, but the changes are real. There are some people when I see the before and after and I would not have known it was the same person.

[KindaFamiliar 3,867]

I've posted my theory on this in another thread at some point I think @@Daisee68

I just think we see ourselves differently than every single other person does..

I don't mean mentally or anything...

I mean physically...

We are THE ONLY ONE who sees us from the perspective that we do..

Ultimately, we view ourselves from the top(ish), looking down...

Everyone else sees us from the front/back/side/whatever...

Our view of ourselves is a completely unique angle..

Add the fact that these people don't see you every day and it's actually quite possible that these people don't recognise you..

So I say, good on you for being 'unrecognisable'...

Use it to your advantage...

Go out and run amok...

Call me if you get into trouble...

I'll bail you out..

[Christinamo7 4,042]

I've posted my theory on this in another thread at some point I think @@Daisee68

So I say, good on you for being 'unrecognisable'...

Use it to your advantage...

Go out and run amok...

Call me if you get into trouble...

I'll bail you out..

you.are.the.best. that is all. :-)

[Daisee68 2,493]

I agree @@Christinamo7, @@KindaFamiliar is the best!! And I agree - I totally don't recognize other people when I see their pics so you think I would understand this phenomenon, but I do not yet...

Now if I would actually post my pics somewhere on here, you could tell me if I really do look THAT different. (Well to be honest, seeing the pics side by side might make me realize that I am unrecognizable...) I still hate pics though, so there is that....

[KindaFamiliar 3,867]

@@Christinamo7

@@Daisee68

Oh stop it..

(No, don't)

You're making me blush..

(And I love it!!)

The only catch to bailing you out is...

I wanna see the pics and videos that DON'T make the news...

Yeah, I'm not one for pics...

I've posted one side-by-side pic in the 14 months since my op...

And the classy little number that's gracing my profile...

And that's because I don't see the big difference...

Despite the reality of the 230+ pound loss thus far, I just don't see it..

We're strange creatures, humans..

But for the most part, we go alright...

[Elode 8,093]

I love it when people say that!!! Now if only the people I don't like would REALLY not recognize me that would be great!!!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Oh, yeah -- I heard that, too.

T.S.A. flat-out told me to get a new driver's license.

They also said my new hair style was a lot better than the old one.

Everybody's a critic.

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

We see ourselves ...sometimes people see a shell of us .

[Miss Mac 6,262]

It was one of my favorite compliments. At six months out, I had to see a specialist that I had not seen since a couple of weeks pre-op. I was on the treatment table and the doctor looked at the nurse and said, "Are you sure we have the right patient on the table?" They rechecked my ID band and my chart and re-verified my name and birthday verbally. I had to show the doctor my incisions to convince him that I had surgery and lost over 60 pounds. It was my first NSV.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I am color blind and I also have a condition that is called face blindness. So as a result I rarely recognize people outside their usual setting. As a result whenever someone approaches me and begins a conversation, I just play along. Afterwards I ask my wife, "Who was that person?" So if someone doesn't recognize me, or if because I have lost over 100 pounds and someone doesn't recognize me after the weight loss, I take no offense. Absolutely, none at all !

I remember years ago, I went through boot camp. During the first week I met a lot of new individuals and made some friends. Then they marched us into the barber shop and shaved our heads. When we left, I couldn't recognize anyone anymore. Nor could anyone else. You had to start all over again.

So I would probably take the comment "I don't recognize you" as a compliment. It basically means the surgery and all the work that went into it before and after, had a very positive result. And that is very good.

[Ele marie 92]

My face has never been big if you don't know me in person and you're just a Facebook friend or something like that you would have no clue that I have a weight problem. However at the DMV it's quite funny because I have always put that I weigh hundred and twenty-five pounds no matter how much I weigh I am a natural blonde who dyes my hair black that always throws people off because I've had the same driver's license for years. As far as the weight thing goes at the DMV they always ask me are you sure your information is correct and I smile and say yes! I dare them to tell me that it's not right. You're going to have your license for years so who are they to say I wasn't a hundred and twenty-five pounds when the picture was taken. I think putting weight on a driver's license is stupid because people's bodies change.

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