Question about how you pictured yourself post WLS

I'm still so early in this process. Tomorrow is my first visit with the surgeon (YAY). But I can't help but think... how will I look, how will I feel. I have no idea what it would feel like to be smaller. I've been this weight +20/-20 for most of my adult life. Will I have more energy? Will some of these aches and pains calm down?

But comically... I look down at my legs which have always been rocks. I think hmm... am I going to lose weight and these rocks still be as big as they are? LOL.

Did anyone else have a part of their body that they thought noway could EVER change regardless of weight?

I was 300-ish for most of my adult life and 450+ for a few years.  I wore a size 34 on the day of my surgery.  I figured I would lose weight and be a size 18 (maybe a 16) and I would be happy with that.  Well, 3 years later and I am sporting a size 12.,  I haven't seen a size 12 since hmmmm - mayve 1982?  It's crazy.  Yes, I did have to have plastics to get there but it is still totally incomprehensible to me.  I do still have thunder thighs but, they are a family tradition and even if I had never been obese I probably still would have had them.

My quality of life is DRAMATICALLY different -- even from the years when I was "healthy" fat -- and that was 20 years ago.  It is amazing.

 

I am only a couple of months postop but the short answer is yes! You will feel better, have more energy (after surgical recovery) and have less pain. In addition, you will notice that you can do things you have not been able to do like tie your shoes, fit in a booth at a restaurant, fit in a plane seat without an extension. My vision of how I will look is that I will look like a normal person. But more importantly, my vision includes being healthy and vital. Good luck in this beginning. You are brave to start. I have never regretted my decision. Let me know if I can help.

I try not to envision myself as "thin" or "tiny" because I just don't know if I can believe it's possible for me. A solid NORMAL is how I'm envisioning myself when I'm done losing. I will be a blubbering mess if I ever get into a size 10, it will just be too unreal! But I'm only 2 1/2 weeks post op and already down to a size 14 so I'm thinking....a 10 is not only plausible but LIKELY. Still, trying to not go there in my mind for very long of wishing for a size or a certain number on the scale. I'm just going to stick to plan and FEEL GOOD!

Yes, I was in my late 40's on my surgery date of 8/5/10, and was exactly 100 pounds from goal weight.  My pre-op and post-op fear was that I would end up a flab rag-doll, with loose skin everywhere and nothing to be done about it.  That no amount of ellipticals and gyms could change human physiology, that my food-abused body's skin had been STRETCHED for so long that there wouldn't be enough elasticity left to shrink it back down. After all, skin is skin, it is NOT MUSCLE.
I did not resume my pre=op exercise regime until the 4th month post-op. I have been faithful to my workouts these last 14 months. During the weight loss months, I tried to remain positive that all I could do was my best, that a thinner me with a lot of leftover skin would STILL be better than being the Michelin Tire Man with all the rolls of fat on me. At  4'11 , size 26 and 253 pounds it was the cartoon character that I favored the most. 
Along the weight-loss journey, I saw and felt the loose skin increasing, though my clothes size and actual weight continued to reduce. I could literally turn over in bed and the loose skin would follow. I could flap my arms and hear the slap-slap of the loose skin against my body. No Matter, I wanted to proceed to my goal. Que' sera, sera, what would be, would be.
I am now 18mths post-op and 6 pounds from goal, I have, as of this week, lost 97 pounds. And you know what? I have loose skin on my lower abdomen and thighs that CONTINUES TO TIGHTEN, my size CONTINUES to shrink,, I CONTINUE achieving my goals, and, most happily of all, last night I wore a pair of
SIZE 10 JEANS quite comfortably and my stomach is ALMOST COMPLETELY FLAT. 

And I am not finished yet.....it could be that my fears were TOTALLY in vain, that the BULK
of the loose skin I was flapping around with at one-year post-op has continued to resolve itself, and certainly I can already see that the committment to the gym, and rebuilding the muscles, has paid off quite attractively,   Signed, NEVER  QUITS




 

I think I'm mostly afraid of how much saggy skin will be left over. I'm very afraid that I will look worse once the weight is gone due to that. I almost think sometimes I'd rather be fat than look like a deflated balloon. I really hope my insurance covers post-WLS skin removal, though it's not likely. I just know we can't afford it and would never qualify for a loan.