Today I had an unexpected and surprisingly satisfying NSV. I noticed that my belly button shrank. It's about 50% shallower than it used to be! Who knew I would be so pleased about less depth to my belly button? ?

my stomach not covering the seatbelt in the car.

5 mile hike today! Would have been inconceivable pre-op. I was so terrified to do anything physical because I never knew if my body would cooperate. Feels great to know that my body is now my friend, not my nemesis.

8 hours ago, losinglosinglosing said:

5 mile hike today! Would have been inconceivable pre-op. I was so terrified to do anything physical because I never knew if my body would cooperate. Feels great to know that my body is now my friend, not my nemesis. 

That is awesome man! Looking great there

I find this more funny than weird. My iPhone thinks I'm a different person before and after the surgery it seems. Photos of me before and after the surgery were grouped separately ? . I told my wife my iPhone is broken and I need to get the new iPhone 15 when it comes out lol.

Then again a lot of people that I've not seen for a while don't recognize me these days. The next time I see one of those negative people around, I will continue to pretend I'm a different person.

Edited September 5, 20232 yr by omrhsn

On 11/17/2021 at 7:53 AM, ColieCallwell said:

Well...if we're going to go there...sex is waaayyyy better, lol!

i agree.....TMI....my area down there is easier for Mr. to get to ?

I take a door-to-door shared transportation service here in the Lehigh Valley called Lantavan. They pick me up at home, take me where I need to go, then come back and get me later. The seat belts would never fit me. The driver would always have to rig-up an extension to a hardpoint on the floor. About a month after surgery, the belt started fitting without needing the extension. Such a little thing made me feel fantastic, that I was accomplishing what I have been unable to do for years.

Eating a hand-picked tomato. Why is that a NS victory? Because of WLS required pre-op testing, I was told that I never had COPD. I was told to quit digging in the dirt years ago. I quit gardening. Both veggies and flowers. It made me sad but I'm so happy to know now, that I can do it again.

So, post -op I decided to start small and grow a couple containers of Early Girl tomato plants on my deck. They are so sweet and warm from the sun when I bite into them. So much more satisfying than store bought. Just lovely.

Also, I'm usually a side sleeper but recently realized I can comfortably lie on my back without feeling like I'm suffocating. I carried most of my excess weight around my abdomen. (the most dangerous kind of fat) It probably didn't help that I also had a hiatal hernia. It was repaired during my gastric bypass.

With each improvement I notice, I am more thankful for deciding on WLS. If I hadn't gotten it, I never would have known about the hernia or the COPD misdiagnosis. And would probably still be sedentarily sitting on my couch gaining weight and wasting my life away.

@losinglosinglosingYou look great You've 80# in 6 months. 80# is my goal and we are similar height. I figured a whole year to lose it. I'm jealous!

On 9/7/2023 at 1:55 PM, Breaking notsobad said:

@losinglosinglosingYou look great You've 80# in 6 months. 80# is my goal and we are similar height. I figured a whole year to lose it. I'm jealous!

It actually took me about 9 months to lose it. I'm sure you're going to do great! Folks who start with a relatively low BMI tend to perform very well.

Being able to try on my first size small was a surprise to me. I have been in big sizes all my life cheers to all of you.

participated in a NUDE PHOTOSHOOT yesterday. ????

this would have been unheard of before omg. while i always kinda had a good amount of confidence, apparently post-wls, my confidence has been thru the roof.

i jumped on a promotion that would've given me a free shoot and a single photo; but of course i ended up buying a package of 10! figured i should have some sort of proof of this body before further aging takes it all away!

it was super fun. and bad-assery inducing, ha! i highly recommend!

The HR ladies have been chasing me to change my company profile photo for some time now. I finally managed to take some shots at home over the weekend with the help from my wife (semi professional / hobbyist photographer here) and I was quite happy to see the difference. Featuring my first suit after WLS (Size S, slim fit ?) and the same tie. Left is the old photo taken in 2020.

The session was way shorter than before since I was not worried about finding the angle that doesn't make me look huge. The time it took me to edit these was also considerably shorter since I didn't have to photoshop certain parts "read a lot" of me that I didn't like. I can finally say I'm at peace with the way I look in photos!

I am not sure that this is a victory, but it's something.

Half way through my day Sunday, I realized my wedding ring wasn't on my hand... Started panicking because I couldn't find it anywhere. I knew it was getting loose, but it had never just fell off.

Turns out it fell off in bed. So my fingers are officially smaller than they have been in like 8 years.

14 hours ago, omrhsn said:

The HR ladies have been chasing me to change my company profile photo for some time now. I finally managed to take some shots at home over the weekend with the help from my wife (semi professional / hobbyist photographer here) and I was quite happy to see the difference. Featuring my first suit after WLS (Size S, slim fit ?) and the same tie. Left is the old photo taken in 2020.

The session was way shorter than before since I was not worried about finding the angle that doesn't make me look huge. The time it took me to edit these was also considerably shorter since I didn't have to photoshop certain parts "read a lot" of me that I didn't like. I can finally say I'm at peace with the way I look in photos!

Wow, what a difference!!! You look spectacular!

6 hours ago, NCL04321 said:

Wow, what a difference!!! You look spectacular!

Thank you so much!