Tag Archives: reactions to WLS

Post-Op Week 61 Progress Report: Haters Gonna Hate

image

This week can suck it.  If ever there has been a time during this whole weight loss process that I have felt like my wheels are spinning, it’s now.  Continue reading

Don’t Poke the Bear

Those who know me know that there are things that I am very, very passionate about:  biology; science; Mad Men, and consequently, Jon Hamm; learning, and  education.

I’d like to start by saying that education is the thing in life I am most passionate about because I cannot and will not abide by ignorance or stupidity.  So imagine my ire when I read this article posted today in one of the online support groups that I belong to:

I Don’t Support Weight Loss Surgery

It is written by one Amy McCarthy, who claims to be a proponent of Health At Every Size, which is a movement that emphasizes healthy living behaviors no matter what your size, as well as the acceptance of all body shapes and sizes.  I can get behind this philosophy, because even when I get to my goal weight, I will still be considered overweight (nay, obese) by medical standards.  I can also be down with accepting folks of all shapes and sizes, because I don’t think it’s right to discriminate against someone or shame them based on their size, whether it is large or small.

Yet this author boldly states:

I won’t shame anyone for their choices.

By spending a few thousand words focusing on what she perceives to be the negative aspects of WLS and why she feels it’s bullshit, she does exactly that, and totally discredits herself in doing so.

Continue reading

You Know You’ve Lost a Lot of Weight When…

image

  • People continually tell you that you are “wasting away to nothing.”
  • You are told pretty much every day that you look great.  Especially by people who didn’t pay you much attention before.
  • Your husband has a tough time picking you out of a crowd because now you look like everyone else.
  • You have to work even harder at the gym to achieve the same burn that you got when you were 50 pounds heavier.
  • Men who are not your husband check you out.
  • Men who are not your husband open doors for you.
  • You now wear a smaller bra than you wore when you first started wearing them as a kid.
  • You complain about your clothes not fitting properly now, not because they’re too small, but because they’re too big.
  • You find that getting dressed every day is a challenge only because you now own so many cute clothes that it’s hard to pick which outfit to wear.

And finally…you know you’ve lost a lot of weight when:

  • Your own doctors don’t recognize you.  Today on the way to my support group meeting, I ran into the doctor who did my last two followup appointments, and he flat out did not recognize me.  He gushed about how great I looked and couldn’t stop saying WOW.  Before we parted ways, he asked me how much I’d lost to date, and I told him and he pumped his fist in the air.  I told him I’d see him in July at my 1-year follow up.

Hopefully by then I’ll have at least another 10 pounds off and be inching my way down to my goal.  I’m already at 70% EWL and aiming for 90%.  To get to 90%, I need to lose 50 more pounds, which puts me squarely in my desired weight range.

Summer is coming, and this will be the summer of kicking ass.

10 Months Post-Op: A Few Quick Observations

image

It was superhero day at school, so I decided to rock my Super MadMen shirt.

As of yesterday, I hit the 10 months post-op mark.  As is custom on the 8th of each month, I stepped onto the scale to see what I weighed so I could compare it to what I weighed the day I had surgery.

Since my surgery, I’ve lost 131 pounds.  Including what I lost pre-op, I’ve lost 167 pounds.

I am 9 pounds from my surgeon’s goal weight for me.  His goal for me is based on 70% EWL.  I told him last year at my consult (which was about this time of year) that I was not content with “average” and that 70% wasn’t good enough.

So I set my personal goal 50 pounds lower than his.

I am 59 pounds from my goal. 

It doesn’t even seem real.  Seriously, pinch me, because I must be dreaming!

It does, however, seem possible.  Perhaps within the next 7 months, even.  That’d be the best Christmas present ever–to hit my goal.

I have never felt so empowered or accomplished in my life.  It is a truly awesome feeling.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed more and more lately as I march toward goal.

Continue reading

Post-Op Week 43 Progress Report

image

This week’s progress was pretty okay given that:
1. I ate more carbs than usual
2. I ate more calories than usual
3. I am retaining water (thanks, Nature, you suck)

I’m good with losing just shy of a pound–I’m just glad the scale keeps trending downward.  I’ve learned to accept this mantra lately:  I don’t care how long it takes me to get to my weight goal so long as I get there.  This process is not a race.  I am 12 pounds from my surgeon’s goal, and hopeful I will hit it before I see him again in July.  I’m going to go hard at it these next 6 weeks.  I will keep my eating the same, but my exercise has to increase.  That’s where I’ve been lacking and I know it.
Continue reading

Just As I Suspected

These days, when a conversation begins with “You are looking good,” I never expect it to be followed by “Everyone was talking about you yesterday!”

But I suppose that when folks don’t see you in a while and you’ve lost nearly 150 pounds, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

This is also why a school is the worst place to keep anything on the down low.
Continue reading

“I Didn’t Recognize You!”

was a phrase I heard a lot today.
Continue reading

“But you’ve lost so much weight!”

image
I saw this at a restaurant where I had a meeting tonight and thought, how apropos.  Even though I was in my gym clothes, having squeezed in a workout when I was not expecting to have the time to do one today, I thought to myself, “I. Look. Good.”

Everyone else seems to think so.  It’s time I started believing it too.

Continue reading

“I Don’t Know How to Say This, But…”

was how a conversation I had with a student today started out.

She wandered toward me and said that as I was walking around returning quizzes today.

Then she said, “Mrs. F, you’ve lost a lot of weight since school started.” and gave me a look that says you’re not dying are you?

Continue reading

It Doesn’t Get Old But It Will Fade, and Then What?

“You look really good!”
“You are looking awesome!”
“You are doing such a good job!”

Hearing these things definitely does NOT get old.

I have heard these things more this week than I ever have.  But I suppose when you lose nearly 140 pounds, work in a school with a faculty that numbers nearly 400, and don’t see them very often, it’s bound to happen sooner than later. Continue reading