Found this article (http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/health/features/11958/index.html)...thought it was interesting. I'm always amazed at how under-the-radar the 'mental' portion of weight loss is covered. People see the before/after photos and just see the body.

Often times, the 'stuff inside' is left struggling to keep up for many.

Very good article! :tu:

This is something that I have thought a lot about. When I achieve the body that I am trying to achieve, how will my attitude change? How will the people around me change? I think this article does a pretty good job of really going into that subject. Really does put things into a perspective that many people don't think about.

This is an interesting subject. Currently I am down 54 pounds from my weight in mid January. This is the second time I have made this radical of a change in my wieght. The first time I Lost about 60 pounds over a 3 month period. There are a couple of things that for me at least that came as a bit of a shock in terms of my attitude.

The first had to do with confidence. After the initial weightloss confidence is very high simply from the fact that I set out to accomplish a life changing event and was successful. Add on to this the fact that the changes in the mirror are striking, you take a look at an old photo and look back at the mirror and you can only smile. From this alone your confidence can soar very high. When you add the reactions from others it actually becomes an issue of over-confidence. Most people aren't used to having firends they haven't seen in a few months or even weeks gush all over them in praise and admiration. For any normally confident person this would be a huge boost, for the formily low-esteem person this is a huge deal. It's almost inevitable that they will become at least a little over-confident.

Understand however that this form of over-confidence has no real foundation. What enevitably will happen is that they will put themselves in a situation where thier confidence is tested. When that happens eventually they will have to deal with the situation where they get rejected or fail dispite all they have accomplished. And this can be a great shock. I can only say that when I lost a lot of wieght the first time around, when I went from unattractive to very attractive in a short period of time, no one ever told me that attractive people still get rejected. I had to figure that out on my own and my confidence level took a very long time to adjust because of it.

The second big surprise in terms of my attitude was how I reacted to those who were still heavy. I thought I would be a lot more sympathetic. As it turns out I was just the oppisite. It annoyed me to no end to watch as an obese person complained insessently about how difficult it was for them socially all the while stuffing thier face with chesse fries. It angered me to watch them eat horriably. I never openly confronted them but I was rather intolerant of thier plight at least internally. For those that were actually trying to do something about it I had nothing but encouragement and sympathy to offer them. But for the others who continued to eat the same thing over and over agian expecting to magically get thin one day I just couldn't stand being around them.

Cleary this is a huge issue. The mental changes that happen when one loses a large amount of wieght are extrodianary. You literally become a different person, you almost have to be. You appearence is tied to your character whether you want it to be or not. And that's not even accounting for the changes in what you like to actually do on a day to day basis once you become more active.

Ves

I agree completely. I've lost ~110lbs over the past 2-2.5 years and though *outwardly* i don't think it's changed my behavior too much, i know my *inner* filter has changed dramatically.

The relationship of ego in all of this is important to note, as well, I think. When you become this new person, you can turn outward or turn inward. Many people gain mass amounts of confidence, and become/return to being outgoing individuals. This, if left unchecked, can lead to vanity -- reading that article made me kinda mad...'cuz that lady is so full of herself.

But gaining confidence can help w/o contributing to your ego/vanity. Your self-esteem and self-image can improve w/o acting like an ass or thinking you're the bee's knees for what you've done.

I think in all of this, it's important to not turn the mental game of weight loss into weight gain of the ego. You don't want to lose physical weight only to make your ego bloated!

That's so imteresting, they had those three women on the Today show this morning. They had really interesting stories, but it's frustrating to hear them talk about having the courage to go through with the procedure. I understand that it must be scary, but they said this morning, and the women acknowledged it, that 1 in 200 people who has the procedure dies. One of the women in that article had a sister who had the same procedure and did die. Courage, to me, is facing your weight problem in a way that does not put your family at risk of losing you, and 1 in 200 is terrible odds. I'm happy that those women fixed their weight problems and are leading active lives, but I wish that they'd put the same attention on what everyone here does... simple, active, common-sense lifestyles.

Very true. I was shocked by those stats too...seeing as GPB seems to be 'all the rage' these days...

That article is pretty cool. Makes you understand how some relatives/spouses get so panicy when they see you making changes. What if its not GB that makes you drop the weight but just diet and exercise. Is our relationship going to end now because of it?


While I am happy for folks who do the GB and get on with their lives - I do sometimes have the urge to say - "But you took the EASY way out"

I think my confidence is way beyond anythign I could have ever gained by getting GB - because I worked hard to get my fat under control.

That said, I do think some people too quickly turn into the fat-bigot we all once loathed. I've caught myself thinking sometimes "You're fat because you chose to be" when someone's giving me the 'it's so hard' speal. Its good that I'm conscious of it though and don't open my mouth. ;)

My motto on the subject these days: Give them feedback when they ask for it - 90% of them won't listen anyway - but if you help that 10% really change their lives then its worth it right?