Half of Excess Weight GONE! (50% EWL!) :)

[duh_Mom]

Honey, you are beautiful! way to go, and when you hit 300 you cry all you want too! you have worked for it and earned it!

 

[Larra]

Congratulations on a fantastic accomplishment! And you are such a cutie pie, too.

I wouldn't give up on getting into the 100's too soon, either. You are doing so well even with just the vsg, the DS will get you much further. And if you can eventually have plastics to remove excess skin, that might be a nice chunk of lbs off of you.

 

[JackieOnLine]

congratulations on the loss, good work!

you are adorable!

 

[more2adore]

You ladies are seriously making me blush with all the compliments, haha. Thank you!

I am seriously impressed. You have done some hard work! The pics are right there and the difference is dramatic.

What about the rest of the story? Do you feel better? Increased mobility, etc? Are you enjoying being a more 'normal' sized woman? To you what are the good and bad points of losing that much weight? Are you adjusting well?

We are different. I never had a fat cell I didn't loathe, hate, and despise. I hated every single day of being fat. You OTOH were a kinder more gentler individual who believed in body acceptance. Your size was just part of who you were. How are you coping with that and have you retained your identity or lost more than the number on the scale? Has your weight loss changed your relationships?

I know these are personal questions and if you would prefer not to answer, I understand!

I'm actually flattered that you want to know all this! Haha. Happy to answer.

Yes, I'm finding it easier to get around. My knee pain has lessened, though it is not completely gone. I want to get off the NSAID I take for knee pain to see if that helps my serious reflux issues but I'm nervous the knee pain will come back full force. I did start having pain in my Achilles several weeks ago - I'm guessing due to the way I walk changing as the weight has come off. I saw a podiatrist right away (didn't want to let it get worse) who did laser therapy on it and gave me inserts for my shoes and that pain mostly seems gone now.

I'm not avoiding walking places as much as I used to, now. This past week I decided to take the bus an extra two stops and go have lunch in this huge mall nearby because I thought it might have what I was craving (Vietnamese rice paper rolls). I used to avoid eating in huge malls because invariably there was a TON of walking to get to the food court, on top of whatever walking I would have had to do to get to the mall. Once I had lunch, I headed back out to the bus stop, but since the train station was just a couple blocks away I decided that instead of taking the bus to the train station I'd just walk it. THAT was the moment I realized what huge changes were happening for me. I used to insist on minimizing walking by taking the bus to the closest stop, always. I walk on average 2-3 miles every time I go into the city, and I do it 2-3 times a week, so that's my exercise for now, and I think it's working!

At home, I'm also hopping up to do things for myself more often instead of always asking hubby to bring me things, etc. And I actually cooked dinner (as opposed to just throwing some stuff in the crockpot) for the first time in the year+ we've been married. He ALWAYS cooks for us (with the exception of occasional aforementioned crockpot meals). I previously haven't been able to stand in front of the stove long enough to cook something as elaborate as dinner for the two of us, but I just did it without thinking. I wanted chili, he was working, we were both hungry, so I just got up and made it.

They don't sound like huge things when I'm typing them out, but they sure FEEL like huge things.

It has definitely been a mindfuck (pardon my language) losing this much weight. I actually had a really weird anxiety dream the other night where it was just after my surgery and half of my pannus/belly/apron/whatever you want to call it just fell off onto the floor! Haha! It wasn't gory or anything - just its own neat little package. I was freaking out, but (in my dream) hubby was nonplussed. I was like DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT A HUGE PART OF MY BODY IS MISSING?! I woke up laughing at myself, realizing that you don't need a psychologist to figure THAT dream out, heh. Clearly losing this much weight DOES make me anxious! My body is changing, rapidly, and each time I notice a physical change in it I have to come to terms with it. The sagging skin on the side of my breasts is especially challenging, as is the huge change in the shape of my derriere from full and round to kind of saggy heart-shaped. It's like I've spent years learning to love my body, only to have to do it all over again as it moves in the other direction. I actually talked in my YouTube video update this week about how this kind of weight loss doesn't feel like it happens to ME. It's always been something that happens to other people... dedicated, flawless individuals who have concrete willpower and never make mistakes. It doesn't happen to flawed, human, imperfect people like me. And yet... it IS happening. Hard to wrap my brain around. And it's also hard to silence that voice in my head that tells me it's going to come back eventually, that weight loss is ALWAYS temporary for me. But that's something for me to work on as I continue to lose.

I definitely don't feel who I am has changed. I do often feel, though, like I'm on a tightrope, trying to straddle two worlds - the fat acceptance community (where the majority of my dearest friends are), where I absolutely Cannot Talk About My WLS as it's a completely taboo topic, and the WLS community, where (in some Facebook groups) there seems to be more than your average amount of dumb, there's SO MUCH PERPETUAL BODY HATE on people's "before" pics that I just find it draining, and I can't really relate to people whose start weights are approximately where my goal weight is. It's hard. Very few people really fully get what it was like at 600 pounds and can relate (thank god for @DuodenalSwitchaRoo). It can feel very lonely sometimes, like so few people truly understand. But it is what it is - I keep going, keep doing what I think is best for my health and my weight loss (despite the "carbs aren't bad for you!" arguments), and at the end of every day I go to bed feeling good that I've met my goals for the day and I'm setting myself up for something even better.

 

[newanatomy]

Great questions @Munchkin!

 

[southernlady]

I decided that instead of taking the bus to the train station I'd just walk it. THAT was the moment I realized what huge changes were happening for me. I used to insist on minimizing walking by taking the bus to the closest stop, always. I walk on average 2-3 miles every time I go into the city, and I do it 2-3 times a week, so that's my exercise for now, and I think it's working!

I KNOW that has to feel amazing.

I can't really relate to people whose start weights are approximately where my goal weight is. It's hard. Very few people really fully get what it was like at 600 pounds and can relate (thank god for @DuodenalSwitchaRoo). It can feel very lonely sometimes, like so few people truly understand.

Yeah, I can't relate but I CAN be in awe of y'all for being so determined. It was hard enough for me, I can not even begin to comprehend how hard it was for either of you but I can cheer you on and celebrate your victories with you.

 

[Munchkin]

Sounds like you are coping well. I predict further issues with your friends in the acceptance movement. Sorry but you may as well be prepared.

I hope your physical issues continue to improve. Movement should be pain free! And there should be happy dances associated with being able to do the simple things most consider to be just daily life. Keep on!

 

[Pacifica]

Wow. Just wow. Those responses were just as incisive and insightful as the questions. Thanks for trusting us enough to give us a look into your journey, @more2adore.

 

[k9ophile]

They don't sound like huge things when I'm typing them out, but they sure FEEL like huge things.

Thank you so much for your answers to such thought provoking questions. I love your honesty and wisdom that is shown in them. They are huge things and I'm so happy that you're enjoying them

I think it is only other WLS patients who can appreciate our victories. While my change from size 32 to size 12, is the most important change to some around me, I found others to be more important. I hated having to use a shopping cart when all I needed to buy was one small item. The changes in my mobility are truly more important. Well, that and the loss of a few problems such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and obstructive sleep apnea. Yet the health problems were known only to me and my doctors. Those seemingly invisible victories are HUGE!

 

[Whit]

Congratulations. You are going to have to change your "handle" NoMoreToAdore? LessToAdore? Adorable?

 

[southernlady]

You are going to have to change your "handle" NoMoreToAdore? LessToAdore? Adorable?

I like Adorable!!!

 

[Larra]

Adorable, YES!!

And stay in touch with the fat acceptance crowd. I've seen others learn, the hard way, that while societal acceptance is a worthy goal, the physical and health problems accumulate as time goes on. Mobility decreases. Pain increases. You won't be the last to accept the need for bariatric surgery, though it's an extra hard decision for them.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Awesome!

 

[Bagaof4]

Wow! Just WOW! You are amazing and your sassy little smile says it all. While I can never know how hard it was at your starting weight, I am in awe of your strength, positive attitude and determination. Congratulations!!!! Adorable is right!

 

[MsJacquiiC]

You look AWESOME and well done!!!

Here here!!!!!!!!! Cheers @more2adore
So proud of you. Just wow.

My boobs just look like saggy tubes.

Don't even get me started!! I was buttass nekkid in front of someone for the first time in years this weekend. I've been 'almost' naked - but never 100% completely.. I kept looking at my boobs. It's super-incredible how much definition has been lost. My poor titties LOL. For anyone interested - I AM collecting for the Jacquii Cooke's Big Titties fund. I made a Facebook page and a stupid graphic about it:

Spoiler: Probably NSFW and .... your eyeballs - so view at your own risk yehehehehe.

I know - it's super ridiculous.
A graphic made in 10 minutes and a *piece of a poem* made in even less time LOL

I haven't made the page public - it's been collecting dust for a year or so now hahaha. Je t'adore .... a bit ironic. But haven't each of us come from a place of unsatisfaction only to find that we ARE worthy of love? I think so. And I'm totally loving your success right now @more2adore --- Anyway - perhaps one of these days when my fund reaches capacity - Can share a bit for all of us with the saggy tubes. And perhaps a bit of help for us with the batwings as well LOL. Only request I have is if you can share some of those shapely hips! Excuse the language - but fuck what you heard!! Your shape is EVERYTHING girlie.

Cheers. And here's to your continued success!

J.