What an inspiration!
I belong to a Yahoo! group of gastric banders in Victoria, Australia and today I got the most fantastic email from the forum. Rather than try to tell you about it, I’ll just post it without using her nickname.
Hi all from lurkville,
I thought I would update you all on how things are progressing with my fav journey. Went to the clinic today and I’ve now lost 160kgs…woohooo I’m just blown away and so is all there.
They want me to speak at the next seminar which the Prof will be attending. So, I will be at the seminar on the 1st July 08. I amnervous as hell about it, but I owe it to the Prof who saved my lifeand I owe it to others who are struggling and wanting to change theirlives like I have. So, if anyone is going to be there say hi.
On another note, my tummy tuck surgery has been booked in for the 7th August 08. They are trying to put it forward but its not looking too promising. Oh well it’s only 2 months away, that gives me more timeto lose as much weight possible.
Hope everyone is well and are kicking goals in their journeys of fighting obesity.
Can you imagine?? She’s lost 352 pounds after gastric banding! The sheer enormity of shifting that much weight leaves me gobsmacked. I needed to lose 90 pounds and that seemed so huge when I started. I was over the moon when I was more than half way to my goal weight; I can’t begin to imagine what it must feel like to lose that much. Feeling terrific would only be the beginning. Imagine her self-esteem? Imagine getting out and meeting people? Imagine looking in the mirror and smiling back at what she sees?
I’m still fighting with myself about my fat perception. I’m no longer clinically obese, just overweight now, but I still consider myself a fat woman. It’s in my brain. I don’t feel normal yet. I worry that perception will cause me to get fat again. When I look in the mirror I see a normal woman but take me away, and I’m still the old fat lady in my head.
If any of you have dealt with this, encourage me, ok?
June 17th, 2008 at 6:02 am
When I look in the mirror I see a normal woman but take me away, and I’m still the old fat lady in my head.
Just EC dropping on you here but then I saw your solicitation for encouragement from anyone who’s been there. Well I have not technically. But I can relate to being a misconception of myself. I am better now – so take heart that is possible!
I went to Overeaters Anonymous for an Anorexia//Bulimia problem if you can believe that. First I had to get passed the women looking at me and wondering, “WTF is she here for?” [I was there for the same reasons they were - eating problems, eating mentality problems, using food to *control* stuff; me, the world - and I, too, saw a fat person in the mirror. ;D]
I do not know what it will take for you to get to an accurate perception of yourself but I can share my experience; In a nutshell, I quit being so self-absorbed. I quit having a chronically lower than average opinion of myself. I got rid of the garbage in my head that told me I was no good, powerless, and pathetic. [I happened to do this by practicing the 12 steps with step 1 being "I admitted I was powerless over my eating disorders [or, later, my body dysmorphia] and that my life was unmanageable.”
Let’s see. It’s been three years and I think it’s been in the last year and a half that I no longer obsess about what I see in the mirror. Now. I still can get to that place when I feel a spiral out of control but that’s unusual.
As for you…I do not think that it’s unusual for you to still see “a fat person” in there. My friend had gastric bypass and I STILL saw her as a fat person until I noticed in a picture one day, through my peripheral that I didn’t know who that young lady was so I would have to ask someone. But when I put my eyes on her, it was my friend! WELL. If it took *my brain* that long to reprogram my friends image into my mind, I think it’s no far stretch for you to need some time to reprogram YOUR new image into your mind. [Especially since you see yourself daily in a mirror. You know?]
I am encouraging you even if I cannot be of any help. Congratulations on your weight loss and I cannot wait to see how it continues going!
Love,
Samsara
June 17th, 2008 at 8:48 am
While I haven’t done the lap band thing (or any surgical procedure), I’m on a course of exercise and diet right now. I think my problem has always been that I *don’t* think of myself as fat. I’ve had a perception of being much thinner than the mirror and scales show I am. That led me to be careless of what I ate and how I otherwise took care of my body — I was lazy.
I need to lose at least 100 lbs but could lose up to 125 lbs without going too far. That’s half my current body weight.
I guess there just has to be a happy medium of self perception or maybe just a realistic one is the correct one to have.
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June 17th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I have the same problem with thinking that I am skinnier than I am. Though I still have only 15 pounds left to get to my pre-car accident weight gain, I find that since I think that I am skinnier, I am not watching my eating habits as much as I should be.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:09 am
hi im 37 and in december 07 my dr asked me i wanted to be referred to a consultant for a gastric band operation, as my weight kept on creeping up and mobility was starting to become a problem, and i had tried diets and tablets and they hadnt worked as i had no motivation and was severly depressed , stressed etc, i weighed 34 and a half stone. i said i would have a chat with my family and get back to him. At the beginning of January i had a letter saying i had been referred to the consultant and got an appointment to see him in april 08, i joined a slimming club and was determind now to lose weight incase the consultant wanted me to lose some before i had the operation all been well i could have it and i fit the criteria for it, i went to see him he was a lovely man and spoke to me like any other person he didnt look down on me due to my size it was nice to be treated for once with respect. I had lost 3 stone and 4lbs by the 21 april and i was so proud of me, and my mobility was improving and i wasnt getting so out of breath,.
We had a chat about the procedure and the diet i would have to follow and about different things regarding the band. He said i met the criteria for having the operation, and would apply to my local health authority for the funding, Once the funding had been agreed they would write to me with dates a procedures.
Then i went into another room with the nutritionist who showed us the gastric band procedure, how it was fitted etc.
She explained that once they had received funding she would write to me and give me directions of what to do and when.
I had a letter saying funding would be agreed and what diet i had to follow 2 weeks b4 the op and the diet of shakes and yoghurts to be followed a week before the op and my pre-op assessement date.. which is 4 aug 08 and my op is in sept.They have also asked me to lose another 2 stone.
But today i have found out i have gall stones and am waitin for my gp to contact me with what i have to do. i hope i can still have my gastric band fitted as i really want this doing and i have prepared myself for it, i have looked on internet and it says i can have medication to get rid of the gall stones or gall bladder can be removed when they do my banding operation..
Well good luck to all you out there including myself who are losing weight , it is a difficult thing but we can and will do it keep your chin up and good luck, ill keep you informed if i can find this site again.xx take care all..denise..xx
June 19th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I had gastric bypass surgery in 2004 and lost 232 lbs. I can’t afford the plastic surgery to get rid of the access skin and I feel the same way that you do. I am so afraid with the extra skin still on my body that I will gain back all the weight I have lost. I live in the United States and it seems the plastic surgeons around here, don’t take any kind of insurance, they want you to finance or pay cash for your plastic surgery. It would cost me over $60,000 to have all my excess skin removed and I can’t afford it.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Hi Andrea, 232 pounds is a massive amount of weight to have lost and I can only imagine how it must feel to have all that skin. Not only that, it can be a health problem as well cause you’ve got all the nooks and crannies that can get infected if it doesn’t stay dry.
I’ve done some investigating on plastic surgery in Thailand and so far it’s looking good. The hospitals are top class and the surgeries that I’ve read about were very successful. That will be my choice when it’s finally time to get it done. It will cost about $12,000 but that will include the airfare and hotels, plus I will get a bit of a holiday first.
That’s the plan now.. things could change!
June 21st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Congratulations on no longer being clinically obese. I envy you and wish I could say the same for myself. Self-acceptance can be a long road, but not an impossible one.
I’m kind of in the same boat as Margaret. I look in the mirror and my perception is that I’m not as fat as I am, but when I see a photograph of myself, I say, “holy COW!” and I DO mean COW.
I suppose this is both good and bad for me. On one hand, I am comfortable with my body in ways I never was when I was younger and thinner. On the other hand, my complacency interferes with the daily motivation needed to lose the weight. I wish I’d had the same level of self-acceptance back then as I do today – I probably wouldn’t have gotten this fat if I did.
Enough about the past. Tomorrow is a new day!