No longer obese - so happy to be "overweight"!

I just realized today that I have now left behind the "obese" BMI category - it is so amazing to now just be "overweight."

Obese is such a charged word in our culture.  I felt so much shame attached to being obese. For me, that word conjured up connotations of laziness, gluttony, slovenliness, unattractiveness, and more.  At my highest, my BMI was 44.1 - morbidly obese.

I was lucky - even though I was morbidly obese, I was still healthy (though starting to get joint pain) and had a "pretty face". I didn't suffer through the limited mobility, severe health issues and mental anguish that so many of my fellow sleevers here did live through before joining the losers bench.  I am fortunate enough to have a great education and a successful career, so I could afford to buy nice clothes and look well put-together...  but I was still OBESE, and it felt like a millstone around my neck.

It is amazing now to start feeling "normal". I can shop at regular-size stores with no problems, not always having to take the biggest sizes that they carry and hope for the best.  I sit next to "normal" looking people on the bus or train and notice that I am about the same size as they are (which still throws my brain for a jelly wobble, honestly!).

Yes, I'm still heavier than I should be for my health - and I am still losing and focusing on getting to (or perhaps below) my goal weight of 140.  Since I've never been anywhere near a normal BMI since childhood, I really don't know what final weight will be my healthy/happy/maintainable weight.  Could it be even lower than 140? A year ago that would have sounded like crazy talk - now it seems like a totally reasonable question to ask!

Thanks again to all of you posters on OH for the inspiration before, during and after my surgery. Thanks to the veterans who keep posting and showing me that maintaining a healthy weight is a REALITY for you.  Not that it is easy, but that it is achievable!

The next time someone tells me that I'm looking great, I will smile and think to myself "Yes - because now I'm just OVERWEIGHT!"

Thanks for reading :-)
Heather

It is a big deal to switch categories. I remember screaming it to the mountian tops! My goal weight was 135 and that was a crazy stretch. I got down to 111 (too small) but have since bounced back into the 120's. Anything is possible! YEAY for you!

Well done! I look forward to that distinction too one day... what a great feeling!
Lynn

Kuddos.....I hit that today too.  Best feeling ever!!!!!

Way to rock it!

Jen