Progress Pics:7 months

The 17th will be my six-month bandiversary. Yesterday (and today), I've had a "fat day"-- one of those days when I lost sight of my progress and have just felt really large. I decided to take a few full-body pics for comparison sake and then I drank a lot of red wine and decided, what the hell, I'm posting them on the Internet (eek!).

So here I am at 278. I was 15 lbs down from my high at this point, as a result of the 6-month diet. I lost another 14 lbs before my surgery on September 17th, 2010.

August 10th: The start of my unofficial pre-op diet

And here I am today, weighing in at 195. The jeans are designer and size 14-- the white pants are size 12. The shirts are both in size L.

March 15th, 2011- 2 days short of my 6-month bandiversary

I am continually amazed at the comparisons, and also about how quickly I (we?) lose sight of all of our progress. Today, I was looking at my upper stomach (that is really not a traditional muffin top in the jeans-- I just have one stomach right under my boobs that is there no matter how loose my pants are) and feeling really fat. But I look at the pictures and realize that's just crazy. Yes, I'm still obese, and according to the charts I will be for another 15 lbs). But I've come a long way.

And you know what? So have you. I've spent some time tonight on a message board with other September bandsters and so many of them are completely deflated at "only" losing 30-50 lbs. I understand there is a natural tendency to compare ourselves to others, and I also understand that I am one of the "lucky" ones when it comes to this comparison so I probably don't have a lot of cred in this department. But still! Losing 30-50 lbs in 6 months is awesome! It's great progress. It's better than a pound a week, and I can guarantee it's better than anyone would have done in the same time period without the band.

I have the feeling my losses will be slowing down soon. I'm just getting close enough to the overweight/not obese BMI that it's inevitable. And I'm going to try really hard to remind myself that this is not a race-- that I've come a long way-- and that though I have a ways to go, I will get there eventually.

So will you, my friends! We are in this together, and we can do this as long as we don't get in our own way by psyching ourselves out, needlessly.