What does "Normal" mean to you...

another "normal" is hearing all the skinny comments......

you've lost too much weight

how much more are you going to lose

you're too thin

and.....my response.....i'm not losing any more.....i'm not too thin....i'm actually in the middle of the weight range for my height.....and i'd actually have to weigh 118 to be "under" weight which is about 25 pounds less than i weigh right now!

another "normal".....

buying size "small" shirts.....buying size 4 pants.....finally feeling good about myself.....not being ashamed to look in the mirror when i dress for work every morning!!.....thighs not rubbing together.....normal blood pressure......no cpap machine......normal cholesterol with no meds.....energy thru the roof!!!

sorry so long.....just started thinking about it and had to share!

I love hearing from everyone.  Share all that you want.  Sometimes I have to share several times because I can't remember everything I want to say at once.  I guess too much brain overload.  I think the first time that I actually felt normal was when I could sit in one of my son's classroom desk.  It was a wonderful feeling.

Tess

Normal for me?
Being able to shop anywhere and NOT in the Plus Size sections. Basically just being able to fit into anything right off of the rack.
It would also be great to be able to work out and do a Zumba class without my flabness wiggling all of the place.

It is really interesting to me how our definitions of normal differ so greatly.

For me Normal will mean when I look on the outside how I feel on the inside. 

I think 'normal' can mean different things at different times. At least for me. Being smaller than my husband, to me, meant normal. Being able to get pregnant, meant normal. I still get sick off food sometimes, especially dense meat...it really doesn't bother me because I can walk in any store and find something that fits. That is normal!

 normal defined for me:  using a public bathroom and actually being able to fit in the stall, being able to ride a roller coaster, beign able to swing on a swingset with my kids, being able to fly on a plaine, being able to fit the car seatbelt around my body, being able to grocery shop and have actual energy to spare afterwards, being able to shop for clothes anywhere, "being able" to function in our society without physical size limitaions is what normal means to me. 

For me, "normal" is not having to expend any energy worrying about where I will or will not fit (e.g., theater seats or restaurant booths), whether or not I can participate in something because of my size or weight (e.g., horseback riding, rollercoasters), or whether I have something acceptable to wear for a certain function or activity. 

Normal is not standing out in a crowd because of the way I look. 

Normal is being able to go out to eat or go to functions that involve food and being able to eat without drawing attention to what or how little or how much I am eating (and not having to make a big freaking deal about where I "can" find somethign acceptable to eat -- I have a friend who is even further out from her RNY than I am and no one wants to invite her to do anything that involves eatign out because she makes a HUGE production out it... she almost acts like a martyr when it comes to eating).

Mostly, normal is about being a person who just happens to have had a RNY -- just like I happen to have had a cholecystectomy and hysterectomy -- rather than being a RNY patient, if that makes sense (I realize that it probably won't make sense to some of the new post-ops).  My weight, my diet, and my altered digestive system do not define me or control my daily life...

For me normal is NOT about the numbers... because I feel pretty comfortable with my numbers (even if not my thighs, LOL) in my "real life", but I feel quite uncomfortable about my numbers here among so many people who are so tiny.

Lora

THIS ^^^^ (minus the comment about the thighs)

Thanks everybody for all the great replies.  It is good to see that as individuals, we all have in our minds what is normal to us and not what the others say that we need to become to be "normal". Have a greatweek full of awesome choices.

Tess