Hello Ladies, Gents, and Other!

I was banded last August (You can see my Before and Current's if you like ) and since I am starting my Masters program, I have decided to do my Thesis on Bariatric Surgery. This is not like an official survey or anything, but I am trying to get some feedback to see who else feels like me.

:thumbup:I went from a size 20 to a size 10, and I still FEEL like a 20. When I go to sit in a seat on a plane I expect it to be a tight fit, I also think I need to turn sideways to get through areas I can easily walk through now. I always pick up the size thats too big out of habit, and I still call myself a "Big Girl." Do you feel this way too? How long have you been banded, and do you find this to be an awkward/uncomfortable thing, or a funny/weird thing? If you used to feel this way but don't anymore, what changed??? ANy help would be SO great! THANKS!

Nicole

Kind of, but also a bit different.

I know logically I'm thinner and some days I feel fantatic.

I also have days where I still feel big.

so between those extremes, I suspect my own picture of myself in my minds eye is inaccurate. I suspect I think I'm bigger than I am but I just cant quite think of myself as a thin person either.

But I have adjusted to knowing my body's size in any given situation. I know where I'll fit and where I wont, lol.

i went from a size 28 to a size 6 in less then a year...my son and i recently went to the beach and he wanted me to climb through this very narrow hole in between some rocks...i honestly didnt think i was going to fit...i thought about getting stuck and people saying "look at that fat girl stuck in that hole"...i said to myself "even if u do get stuck no1 is going to say its bcuz ur too fat...u'll just b stuck...lol"...i went through and didn't get stuck...i'm always terrified about putting my weight back on...i'm trying to figure out what mind set i should have to keep the weight off....should i think that i'll never gain it back...or should i keep the fear that it can always come back....either way i know i'll ALWAYS continue to exercise...i would just like my mind to be at ease a lilttle...huuuummmmmm

When I look in the mirror or think of my size, I think I am fairly realistic. But, I know where that comes from. I was thin (5'6" and about 119lbs) through my 20's and 30's. Hit menopause at 38 and continually gained to get me up to 249lbs. I think because I KNEW what it felt like to be thin and very healthy it was easy for me to accept my size because I had been there for so many years. Make sense?

At the beginning of this process I made a promise to myself. That promise was to ACCEPT the body I ended up with and be happy. I think my body image is much better now than it was 20-30 yrs ago and I had the cute girlish figure. Go figure!

Edited October 21, 200916 yr by Apples2

Hey Ladies! Thanks so much for your responses! You all seem to be at goal weight (or beyond) now, did you feel the same way while you were, like 6 months in???

6 months into my weight loss journey was little tougher when it came to body image issues. The progression of my weight loss went like this: face first, neck and collar bones, breasts and then arms and legs. I swore it would never come off around the middle. It was the very last to go and I had issues thinking that I would be thin everywhere except my lower stomach. Was an iffy body image stage.

Well, I'm not quite 6 months in, but I will give you my two cent's worth anyway.

I am about two and a half months out, and I have lost 48 pounds in all. (13 preop). People tell me all the time how great I look, but I know I'm still very big. (5'3" and still 235 lbs.) I only feel like I have lost weight when I am able to put on something I could not wear before. When I am in front of the mirror, I don't see it anywhere but my neck...not even my face (a lot of people comment on my face). I don't know how long it will take or if I will ever feel like I am getting smaller. I have a long way to go.

On the positive side, though, I DO have a lot more energy! That is really the only way I don't think the scales are lying when they tell me nearly 50 pounds are gone.

I just finished my second graduate degree, so I certainly can empathize about your master's thesis. Good luck! After my Ed.S. research, I decided quickly there will NOT be a doctorate in my future!

I'm almost 9 months out, down 93 lbs (about 50 more to go), and I definitely have struggled with feeling "bigger" than I am--or rather, not fully accepting or believing how much "smaller" I've become! My ultra-supportive, wonderful boyfriend has nicknamed me "Tinier Val" which helps to remind me

I finally managed to gain the courage to throw out all my size 20+ clothes, but when I go shopping I still grab XL-XXL or 18/20s and am amazed when they are hanging (or falling) off.

Again, I have a ways to go to goal...I'm interested to see how/when/if my perceptions change once I'm there!

Val

As someone else said, the first noticeable thing was my face. I'm blind, so I have to rely on my friends and family for the visual cues. One of the first things a friend said to me was, "Look at your face!!" I have walked through places I know I wouldn't have fit before; and a lot of my clothes are falling off, which is awesome! I was involved in a musical production recently at a theater I've been to several times before, and it was gratifying to sit in the seat and realize there was more space there!

I guess I remind myself of these things because I still feel like I'm the same size I was when I began this journey, though all the things I've mentioned say different.

I have much more energy, and I can feel that certain parts of my body are smaller, and I can reach places I couldn't before. I have a reeeeally long way to go, but I can even feel my arms changing. It's just the dang stomach! :thumbup:

Debbie

Edited October 22, 200916 yr by serenity55

I have never felt I looked as fat as I was!! Now I look back at pictures (which I did avoid) and see even when I was in between my weight now and my highest, I looked a whole lot heavier than I felt I looked. It's very weird. It's like I had my own magical miracle mirror in my mind. Some days it didn't work, but often it did! Now, I look great in my mirror and really surprise myself!!! And those pictures are horrifying, but at least I never had a really terrible body image, except as an adolescent, which is good because I have always been overweight or obese.

YES....REALLY I DO TOO.....FEEL BIG......even if i have gone down 5 sizes, i still feel fat.....chubby, thick...i do not know why i feel this way, or if my mind is now used to this size, and i still need to go down a couple more sizes....i have been a size 8-10 for almost a year, and i feel too fat.....geeeez!!! what is that?????

You guys are all so awesome! Thank you so much for telling me what I already knew about myself Eventually (Hopefully sooner rather then later) I will have an online survey that I will beg you to take :seeya: It should be very short, but the lack of any research on the mental changes we go through as we lose so much weight... i mean its insane... theres like nothing!!!! I will keep everyone updated :smile: Thanks Again! Email me if you want to talk more! I would love it! NicolemRubin@gmail.com

Nicole

Funny you ask... I went to see my new grandson at the hospital the other day and I referred to myself as usual as "your fat granny"... Now, I am still no little thing, but I have lost 91 pounds and no longer have to go to the "Plus sizes" to buy clothes.. Guess it will take a while to think of myself as "normal"... good luck with your thesis!

I have been banded a little over 5 months. Last week I went shopping with my mother, first time she has seen me since surgery (becasue of where I live and where she lives I only see her twice a year). She took me to the petite section. I kinda freaked that I could fit into anything marked petite. I still see myself as size 20.

I'm the complete opposite. I feel smaller than I am. I always get a shock when I look in the mirror and realise that I am a lot larger than I feel.

Wow that is awesome. Please tell me what all you did to get there. What diet plans you used and what exercise you did to loose so great. Please