So, are people beginning to "notice"?

Fenton · 06-07-2008, 05:30 PM

Here's an odd one, but actually kind of nice: *I* am beginning to notice! Because of shame at my weight, I tend to avoid looking at myself in the mirror, but I happened to catch myself out of the corner of my eye yesterday, and looked at myself and I can see that I've lost significant weight.

It felt good.

newhope4me · 06-07-2008, 05:40 PM

I'm with you on that one, Fenton! I'm the same way. Especially this new dress I bought recently, hubby especially likes it too. But it accentuates my hourglass figure, i love that! My waist looks smaller, isn't that great!

SpecialK · 06-07-2008, 06:18 PM

I actually had a coworker (another lady) instant message me at work yesterday (about 2.5 months post op now) and ask if she could ask me a personal question. She's significantly overweight as well and I suspected she might be asking about me losing weight. When I said yes, you can ask and gave her my phone # to call, she said "You're looking good, you can really tell you've lost weight". I said well I'm working at it very hard and am proud to say I've lost about 33 lbs so far. She said it really shows. How are you doing it? .....ugh ugh.... I did honestly answer her that I had Lap Band surgery but was keeping it very private about WLS from 99.9% of the people at work but would be willing to talk with her privately about it if she wanted to know more. She said, Yes, I'd love to know more about it. So she immediately sent me a luncheon invite for Wednesday of this coming week. I'm happy to tell her the joy I've found with this and also the trials too. I keep looking at pictures and am still struggling to see where those 33 lbs came off at... Silly. I'm just thankful they are gone!

Fenton, I too don't like looking in a mirror at myself, tend to never look in a full length mirror for example only the big mirror above the sink or on the dresser mirror. That is one reason I'm bad about buying clothes in the size I think I need and taking them home to try on instead of at the store with their 3 sides of full length mirrors.

Anyway... I am happy someone noticed I've lost weight!

anniedub · 06-10-2008, 02:24 AM

Yep, people are definitely starting to notice that I'm 35 pounds better looking

With the people you see everyday, it takes longer for them to notice. Those people you see only occasionally notice very quickly. I've just come back from a month working away from home, so I hadn't seen my friends in a while. I normally see them pretty much every day. They'd noticed and commented a bit before i left, then after I came back (having lost another 10 pounds in the month) they were like WOW.
Still, I've got another 50lbs to go before I get to goal, so there'll be a whole lot more WOWING going on in the near future!

westcoastmom · 06-25-2008, 02:28 PM

You know weight is such a touchy subject, I think people are so afraid of saying something that might offend us. I am down about 40 pounds and people do notice, but for the most part only those really close to me actually say something.

I know that even I sometimes find it hard to compliment someone on weight loss. It feels like it is hard to find words that won't make it feel like you are saying they weren't OK before.

I also found that it wasn't until just about now that I started wearing a few clothes that actual fit. I am so much more comfortable in clothes that are big. I think I hid everything for so long. Someone recently said it seemed like all of a sudden I was 2 sizes different. It was probably because I started wearing clothes that were 2 sizes smaller...

Fenton · 06-25-2008, 05:17 PM

I think that's true, wcm. I'm still wearing the same shirts I was when I began - 89 pounds ago. They swim around me, but I feel comfortable in them. And I've kept my hair long and beard bushy.

The thing is, I'm down 89 pounds, and almost no one has suddenly exclaimed, "OMG, you've lost so much weight!" It gets to the point where I actually wonder whether I've really lost the weight - after all, maybe the scale is broken, and gradually getting brokener!

Then I look at my belt, at the imprint from the leather straining at the first hole when the belt was tight, then at the imprints on each successive belt notch as I've gone down, and now onto the new notches I had put into the belt when it became way too big for me.

So, yeah, I'm losing!

auntlucy · 06-27-2008, 09:30 PM

Fenton, 89 pounds is fantastic! I think it's time for you to treat yourself to some new clothes that fit better. I bet if you also shaved or trimmed your beard and got a hair cut that you would feel really good about looking in the mirror again! Keep up the great work!

auntlucy · 06-27-2008, 09:35 PM

Several people have commented. One lady at work feels the need to comment almost every day. While it could get annoying, I think she is trying to encourage me to keep it up. I know she genuinely cares, so I'm ok with it. We had a cookout at work recently, and one really sweet co-worker found the nicest way to let me know that he noticed. I had a very small piece of grilled chicken on my plate along with a very small spoonful of cole slaw and a slice of tomato and onion. He said, "You're being good!" and I replied that I was trying. He said, "Well, it's obviously working."

newhope4me · 06-27-2008, 10:11 PM

I did have someone mention that I changed my hairstyle, which i haven't. So i think they are noticing the weight loss, but either don't realize its that, or don't want to mention the weight loss.

I've stalled for about a week and half, driving me crazy, but it helps to hear once in a while that someone notices. Helps me keep going

Fenton · 06-27-2008, 10:21 PM

Well, you know that stalls are just numbers, right? The overall thing - fitness, measurements, weight - is far more important.

I saw today something called a... White Light Scan? I'll see if I can find the original post, but some chick had herself scanned in 3D by her doctor, and now has a 3D rendering of her body at baseline, with all of her circumferences digitally measured so that she can have a final number for all the different key measurements. Every three months they do another one of these scans, and so the patient can compare not just weight, but also the visual representation of her changing body PLUS have numeric values from her measurements to compare - it's pretty great!

Fenton · 06-27-2008, 10:23 PM

Here it is: have a look at this:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/see-m...ht-scan-67733/

Double-click on the picture to see it much larger - it's pretty amazing!

newhope4me · 06-27-2008, 10:30 PM

That is true, and I have been meaning to take my measurements and compare to my pre-surgery measurements. I haven't checked any of them since then.

I know they've changed as I'm wearing smaller clothes. In fact, I bought a 2 pairs of jeans, always wanted this brand (didn't pay full price though, got em on ebay), in my 1st goal size. Well, about a week ago, i was just curious how much further i had to go so tried on one pair of them, and they fit, they were snug, but i didn't have to lay on the bed to zip em! LOL

I'm going to try to find a local place to take the white light scan, that is awesome!

Fenton · 06-27-2008, 10:35 PM

Yeah, it is awesome. It'll be a cold day in hell before they're including those scans in the banding price in NYC, I tell yuh whut!

dewl · 07-01-2008, 02:59 PM

Dr. Pinnar's office also does the 3D Body Scans. I believe 5 are included as part of his program fee. I had my first one done pre-op and now that this thread has reminded me, i think i'll ask about having a second one done now that i am about 3 months post-op and closing in on halfway to goal.

It was a cool machine. You have to strip down to nothing and put your hair up so that it can be as accurate as possible. It felt like when you get a Mystic Tan done but without the spraying. :) I've never been any good at taking my measurements so this is great for me. Plus, it takes like EVERY measurement imaginable (i.e. inseam, neck, wrist, etc.)