Question:
5 weeks post-op, why don't I feel any different?

I am 5 weeks post-op and down 34 lbs from 213 to 179. I should feel great, but I don't. My body looks just as awful to me as it did before surgery.    — Kathy M. (posted on August 25, 2001)

August 25, 2001
Let me assure you Kathy you're not alone. If you've always been big, you will see yourself as that big person for a while, if not longer .... The surgery didn't do anything for your brain, just your belly. They took my gf off her depression meds when she went into the hospital. When she came out she had days where she was on top of the world, but for the most part, she wasn't. She kept seeing the "huge ugly disgusting" person she used to be and couldn't get passed it to see the person she as becoming. Once back on her depression meds, she was just peachy. So one of two things may be happening here, if you have a history of depression (or any other mental disorder) and have stopped taking your meds, maybe you should look back into it. Or just hang in there, your body is changing for the better, and soon when people start giving you more compliments, you should start feeling better. Remember this was major surgery after all.
   — Elizabeth D.

August 25, 2001
I haven't had the surgery yet, but I have, in the past, experienced relatively rapid wieght loss (55 lbs worth). I can tell you that there are a number of different factors involved in how we percieve our bodies; one of them, which sounds like what you might be going through, is that when we are losing weight we are so eager to see ourselves at our goal weight that literally nothing is fast enough for us; when I had lost 55 lbs, I had a hard time seeing that I was getting better-all I saw was that I still had lots of weight to lose. Being obese for long periods of time sometimes conditions us to subconsciously doubt the permanency of any significant weight-loss, as well. And also, when we see ourselves day-to-day, it's hard to see visible improvement from one day to the next. If you have photos from pre-op, I suggest taking new photos every month or even every few weeks so you can compare; that way you get to see, side-by-side, your progress from old weight to new weight. I would also suggest that you find other aspects that have changed in your life to use as a guage of your success; are clothes fitting better, getting looser? Do you feel less pain in joints or back? Has anyone noticed your weight loss and commented on it?
   — [Anonymous]