[kitty56]

Does this happen to some of you, that you seem to be more aware of very heavy people now that you have lost all that weight. Well I went for a walk in the mall today while my hubby had a MRI today on his shoulder. There are alot of people that walk in this mall all day long, winter like summer and in fact more now that it is so cold outside. I seem to be much more aware of people who are really heavy, pretty much as heavy as I was before surgery and they remind me so much of me and how hard it was for me to walk at that stage of my life. It is so hard for me to watch them becasue that was me a year ago and I just want to tell them about the surgery or at least eating healthy. I have learned how to eat much more healthy now and I love the taste of my heathy foods and enjoy what I cook. It was so much fun walking in the mall and talked to some of the walkers. Their is this one elderly lady, I bet she was in her middle 70's and wow can that lady move. Well I was determined to keep up with her and figured that there is no way that I can let her outdo me and I am over 10 years younger than her. So I kept the pace up with her and I have to say I did pretty good. I am sure I did right around two miles in that mall today. I walked pretty fast for 40 minutes, and the only break I took was going to the bathroom. I am so happy with my surgery and my new life and want to help those people that I see that are sooooo heavy and so uncomfortable with themselves, all I want to do is shout it from the roof top. That there is help out there and it is right there for the taking, seek and you shall find. My surgery was the best gift I gave myself, a fresh new start with a fresh new life and a new me!!!!!!!!!!

[Perfesser]

I know exactly what you mean! I have been noticing that more lately, and wondering which one looks like I used to. (Denial is a wonderful thing. I can't even remember looking fat, but my pictures from then tell a different story!)

I did talk to one friend about it, and he is seriously considering it, but I'm letting him work on it himself. His wife says she's not eligible for some reason, but I challenged her statement with facts and she may look into it now, too. She got some hearsay from "someone who knows".

I'd like to be able to tell folks that there is hope, but how do you do that without ticking them off? And some, like my step-sister, will never, ever have the self-control to turn away a homeless calorie!

Oh, well! At least my wife has seen the light and is actively seeking these blessings in her life. And I had nothing to do with it, except to set an example. This is strictly her choice, and I'm glad!!

CT

[clancythecamper]

My heart goes out to them and you want to say something so bad ~~~ you don't have to live like that!!!!! I know for me the journey was my own and who knows how successful I'd have been if I hadn't be mentally ready ~ maybe those we see just aren't there yet..... Hey, I've got an idea (!!) wouldnt it be cool if there were really neat tee shirts we could wear (especially when walking, etc) that somehow state WLS saved my life or something? then people could approach us.......

[Trulykath]

I see people all around me now who could use this surgery...I told DD that I wanted to talk to some of them....she told me that was just rude!!

Isn't it funny.....how we see things now....the hard part? Heavy people look at us now and probably think we have no clue or don't understand....because they have no clue what we've gone through.....if only they knew, huh?

[lvmyboys]

I feel the exact same way. I want to tell everyone I see that is heavy about the surgery. I know it would make them unconfortable so of course I don't do it but....I know how miserable they probably are. This surgery does so much more then just helping us to lose weight. I am so much happier now...I am outgoing...I am motivated. I know how badly I wanted to feel the way I do now when I was heavy.

[judijo]

I see patients daily who could benefit from WLS. I bring up my surgery as a vignette about another subject (like being away from kids, or the best drugs in town, etc) and some ask questions about it, but some don't even acknowledge the surgery part of the story.

I just received an email from my HS best friend. She had a stomach restricting surgery done back in 85 or so, which did not fare well in the long run. Now she is heavier than ever and convinced that another WLS would not help her. When I was researching, she tried adamantly to talk me out of the surgery.

Now she says WW isn't helping her anymore and her knees are not allowing her to walk for exercise. I want her to be healthy but she probably won't ever go. It breaks my heart.

Kitty, brava on keeping up with that mall walker. Sometimes I go to the mall on my way to work and walk a quick mile. Those seniors have the pace DOWN! There is no stopping some of those guys/gals!

[qt82699]

I notice this too...it is hard because i have been there and feel their pain and i have to bite my tongue because i just want to share with them what life could be like...i only do if they are curious and ask about the surgery...congrats on all the walking!!

[traciflud]

I was just wondering if it was just me that noticed these people. Since I started working, I really see a lot of people who are like I used to be and worse, so many people come in to grocery shop and have to ride the motorized carts, so many in fact that sometimes they are waiting at customer service for one to be returned, we have 4 of them. I also notice what people are buying when I am bagging groceries for them, so much junk food and no vegetables, people with kids and they just buy cereal and twinkies and "granola bars" and sodas, boxed dinners, no vegetables. That used to be me! I bring up that I used to weigh over 300 lbs. to people whenever the conversation allows, some people ask me about it, some dont.

[kitty56]

Traci, talking about those motorized carts. I see mostly really heavy people that use them becasue they are just to heavy to walk in those big superwalmart stores. I had such a hard time in the small walmart store before the big superwalmart store went up and opened up this summer. I would sit on the pickup while hubby did my shopping for almost a year and hubby wanted me to use the motorized carts and I was no way going to be caught driving one of them and it would have been truly how bad off I was at that time in my eyes, I just sat on the pickup while hubby shopped for me. I have seen so many heavy people drive them and there was no way that I wanted people to see me drive one of them. I was just to embarressed to be driving one of those. Now that I have lost all this weight, if I had to I would drive one of them becasue I am not so heavy like that anymore. I feel more like a normal person who I see some drive them. My hubby drives one of them when his knees give him lots of trouble. Hubby has really bad knees. I walk all over the place now with no problems what so ever. I even do extra walking in the big stores just to get excercise in as long as I have the time and as long as I am there already. I love walking now where before I hated it becasue my knees and back and legs would hurt so bad and I would be out of breath with just a little walk in the stores. Now no one can keep me out of the stores when we go to town, I hate sitting in the pickup to wait for hubby now, even if it is just for a few minutes. I guess when I see really heavy people in those carts I see me and how far I have come. I guess I feel like the professor said that I do not remember me being so heavy until I see the pictures of me and brings me back to reality. Or when I see really heavy people I see ME!!!!

[Perfesser]

There's another problem with us trying to tell people about WLS. One look at us and we have no credibility at all! I mean, what can a skinny person tell a fat person about weight loss! They've not seen the "before", so they ask themselves how can we understand their fears and feelings? If we were still fat, they wouldn't listen to anything we would say because it obviously hadn't worked for us. Now that we're no longer fat, they won't listen to anything we say because we look like we can't relate to them. <sigh>

CT