This past week I measured a client for a custom wedding dress. Her BMI (I would guess) was well north of 45. I could tell she was extremely uncomfortable in her skin and I saw in her eyes the same anguish, frustration and pain I felt before I had my Gastric Sleeve. I so wanted to share my story with her. Having both battled anorexia and obesity, I firmly believe there is so much more to weight loss than calories consumed and burned. But there is so much emphasis in our culture on self-control and the concept that obesity is the result of a weak will. There's a lot of misinformation out there and even more shame.

So I wanted to ask, what do you do in situations like this where sharing your journey could help someone but you don't know them well?

Here's a link to my story, btw: http://www.virtuousprom.com/my-journey-with-bariatric-surgery/

That's a really tough question. Your story is compelling and you've been through so much and come out great on the other end, and you should be proud of that. But in terms of sharing your journey with the thought that someone might want to take the same trek may be presumptuous. In terms of the customer (or future customers) maybe you can approach it by asking them how the dress makes them feel? I.e., "I want you to feel good in this dress, so tell me how you feel in this dress..." And if they open the door by saying, "Great, I just wish I weighed less," then feel welcome to step through it and share your story.

Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Thanks, that's a really good piece of advice.

I just saw so much profound pain in her eyes... it really broke my heart.