I was banded on 8-21-08 and have done quite well...78 pounds gone..forever, I hope!!! BUT the last few days have been hard..... I can't really describe how I feel, but it isn't good.... My husband and I had a special event on Sunday and I saw myself in some pictures... It was upsetting... I had lulled myself into thinking I was doing so great and looking better, but when I saw those pictures I realized I'm still very fat.... I think it was just a serious slap in the face that this is a long walk and I'm just getting started... I would like to magically be at my goal, like next week!!! I know that is unrealistic, but it's where my emotions are right now... I've been eating too much the last couple of days and right now I'm over full and feel miserable. Anyone else encounter these blues along the road??? Please tell me this is only a phase that will pass........ I've had three fills, but still no real restriction and after the last one that was very difficult to get, I'm afraid to go in for another fill.... It took 10 days to get over the last one... Sorry to sound like a downer, but I'd love to hear from any who have some good advice... Thanks........ Julie

although i havent been banded yet i can feel your pain. Ive found that when i get down into those deep dark days that getting some sunshine and some exercise helps a little. i also journal...a lot! it helps sometimes just to lt the feelings out. you have already taken such a huge step in taking back your life and taking back the power you have over your own body. we all have bad days but if your days have been going on for a few months maybe you need to talk to your docotr about depression. there is no shame in having depression or in getting help for it. perhaps a support group would help? ive also found that keeping track of my emotional eating ...journaling when i overeat or emotionally eat...helps me recognize my emotional triggers so that i can recognize them and distract myself ith something else before the food touches my lips.

you should be prooud of the commitment you have already made to getting to a better you. you are doing great and just keep on trucking and youll get to your goal in no time!

I'm just recently banded (Feb 11th) but I just wanted to say WOW!!!! 78 lbs in 6 months? You are truly an inspiration!!!!

I wonder if getting out a pic of you pre-surgery might help you remember how far you've come and give you a bit of motivation to keep going?

I hope you feel better soon....I hope I'm checking back in 6 months from now with even 1/2 the weight loss that you've managed!!!

I think we all go through this. I had some photos out the other day, long story, but purely by chance I saw one of myself and my daughter. I'd had the jeans i was wearing for years, bougth them hoping to get into them one day Well I did, they were a 16, the largest size here in Australia in many normal stores, I'd had my hair straightened, I'd lost 20kgs and I was feeling great.

Oh boy. I was huge in that photo. I even saw it when it was taken and felt good but looking at it now, sheesh.

I do remember though feeling quite desperate in the low 80kgs range, thinking I was almost to a normal BMI and still SO fat, I bulged out of my bathing suit, I still couldnt wear shorts to run in etc. Well, that last bit of weight after you hit "normal" and continue to lose makes ALL the difference. Just as I know now as I agonise over do I need a tummy tuck that I really just need to pull my finger out and lose another 5kgs. At the end, tiny amounts of weight make a big difference, at the start, large amounts make very little difference.

hang in there, one day you will reach that goal, and you wont feel this way anymore.

Well we were banded almost the same day and it sounds like you're doing great!! But I had the same feeling today, I think I was meant to read your post. It made me feel better to know I wasn't alone.

I went shopping with my best friends today, normally something I avoid due to the fact they are toothpicks, lol. Past couple weeks I've been feeling so good!! Losing weight, my pants are really baggy! But then today, as you said, it was a slap in the face. I still have such a way to go. I couldn't shop in the same stores they did. They were all trying on cute heels, and I wouldn't cuz I knew my feet wouldn't fit into them :rose:

Standing next to them in the mirror was very sad to me. And to top it all off, I haven't seen them in probably 1 to 2 months, and no one said anything about my weight loss. So I guess I'm so fat they can't even tell when I've lost almost 40lbs!!

Anyway, enough of the pity party, lol. I hope too that this is just a phase. I'm gonna get back to my plan of action tomorrow and keep on trucking. I wish you the best of luck. Don't get too down on yourself. Pull out your pics pre-band and compare them to the recent ones, I'm sure that will make you feel better at all you've accomplished!!

We all have these blues along the way . . . it is perfectly normal. The incredible thing is, you can lose a lot of weight in the beginning but still look very overweight . . . but when you get closer to goal, a difference of 10 pounds can make a big difference.

Just remember that this is a journey and you should be proud of what you have accomplished so far, but also know that this is only the start and you have a lot more celebrating to do down the road as well.

I call it my new fat, I've lost 42 pounds since my surgery date of 08/05/08. The most weight I have ever lost and most of the time I feel good and look much better than before, but I sometimes get depressed because this is my new fat. We forget so soon how far we have come. I look at old pictures and old clothes and realize, I'm doing good. My husband even commented that my stomach isn't nearly as close to the steering wheel as it use to be. So, I just keep with the course of my new lifestyle and embrace it.

78 lbs in 6 months is wonderful!! Hang in there, it will come. This is a life changing process, take your time, make the changes stick. As Jackie said the large amounts that come off first and as time goes by, your are steadily schrinking. Pictures and clothes show YOU the difference. The compliments will come, Some of them may not say anything as to refer to your larger self before the wt loss. I went from a 16/18 to a current 6/8 now. My clothes continue to fit different every week! It is a healthy thing now, looks dont matter. HANG IN THERE!! I love my band.

Hang in there. YOu'll feel this way on and off throughout the whole journey including once you reach goal. I lost 80 lbs not so long ago on Atkins and remember having the same feelings you are. Mine was triggered because as the weight came off, it revealed the incredible damage I have done to my once lovely, smooth, svelt physique. Stretch marks, stretched skin, saggy lower belly, saggy inner thighs, saggy breasts. This was not the body I remembered having nor the one I was striving to find!

Its a lot of head work, getting good with ourselves, the way we are right now, in this moment. You are lovely. You were lovely before, you are lovely now. Hang in there and be tender with yourself. Think about how you'd react to your best friend having the same issue and do that for you.

Try to think what the pictures would have looked like if you DIDNT lose 78 lbs! I do know what you mean. I thought I looked thinner than I am and my husband took a picture of me. It was certainly better than at 250 but I had hoped it would look better. We set all sorts of expectations for ourselves that are unrealistic. Sometimes I feel great about the weight loss and don't even recognize myself and then I have a moment like that and still feel bad. We all have to work on our self-esteem. Give your self a big hug for what you have accomplished. You are doing great! Don't give up!

Hey, thanks all..... I'm glad to hear all your positive comments. I know in my head that this is silly and I am proud of what I have accomplished so far, but................. I can't even blame PMS or any such thing.. It's just me..... I've been waiting all of my life to be normal.... I've been fat since I was 5 years old... The only times I haven't been fat I almost died from some sort of complication... It's quite a head thing to get around all of this.. Glad to have all of you to bounce things off of occassionally... Thanks very much... Onward and downward..... Julie

Girl, you are doing awesome and have lost way more than me in half the time. lol.

I'm so glad I kept one pair of my size 28 pants and have kept up with my measurements and took a before picture to keep track of, because without those I don't know what I'd do. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I still see the 300 lb girl. But when I go to a party they call me skinny, but I'm not, but to them I am because they remember the 300 lb me. I still have far to go, but I saw a picture of me at a party a few weeks ago and I still felt disgusting. But like somebody else said, just think about how it would be if you'd never have lost weight.

Standing next to them in the mirror was very sad to me. And to top it all off, I haven't seen them in probably 1 to 2 months, and no one said anything about my weight loss. So I guess I'm so fat they can't even tell when I've lost almost 40lbs!!

I think that's just not true. Your friends most likely didn't mention it because they see YOU, not your size. They like you for who you are! Be happy to have friends like that!

Hang in there! We're all going to succeed!!!!

Thanks Donna, I do have good friends. I guess we all just get down at times and see the worst.

My husband even commented that my stomach isn't nearly as close to the steering wheel as it use to be.

Boy! Our DH's really have a way with words. This is one of those comments I would taken offense to and my DH would be like "but it's a compliment"... ha ha ha

I know how you feel. I feel like Iv lost so much until I see a picture of myself and realize Im not looking as thin as I feel, I still look .... errr fat. My stomach isnt going down as fast as Id like especially.

You have done so well. Iv been banded longer than you and not yet where you are.

What I do is count every 10 lbs, and Celebrate it when I hit it. Each 10 lbs took a lot of effort, so tell yourself, thats 10 down, and only look ahead the next 10 lbs. Dont try to make large goals that take too long, make smaller goals that you keep achieving.