Have you found yourself asking "whose clothes are these?" when you are taking care of your very own "little clothes" since losing weight with gastric bypass? Men and women alike, after experiencing massive weight loss, enjoy a wonderment, a shock and awe, as they see their new clothes which appear to be so small. Can this really fit me? we ask. Or sometimes we simply state, "Oh, this will never fit me." We still see ourselves as large and morbidly obese.

I was telling some friends about a dress I will be wearing to a party, "My dress is so sexy - I am looking at it thinking can I really wear that thing? (as images of the Little Fat Girl wedged into a sausage casing fill my demented head). The dress is knee-length navy blue knit, one shoulder and very fitted - think Marilyn Monroe! I'm wearing red strappy 4" sandals and a red beaded handbag! I'm dying here! Can this be ME''?" I was giddy with excitement.

It's been over five years since I've lost my weight, yet I still cannot believe this dress will fit me. In many ways I hope the excitement and thrill never fades. On the other hand wouldn't it be nice to accept myself as I am now and quit picturing the Little Fat Girl when I see myself?

My friend and our frequent contributor Kim, wrote to me, "It is funny how we can't imagine ourselves in our clothing. I had shrunk a white T-shirt (it was a dry flat number and I accidentally tossed it in the dryer). It came out looking like a shirt for a 9-year-old. I figured that I'd put it on and wear a blouse over the top...sort of wear it like a cami. Was I surprised when it was actually big on me. It just floors me and I know that it will be a long time for me to finally realize what size I actually am."

Another friend is the mother of a WLS patient. After hearing about my dress Maxine responded, "I look forward to seeing my daughter in your shoes! And when she goes out for a gala event and pasta alfredo is an entree and she chooses the palate cleanser because she knows how good she looks and feels and what it took for her to become who she is. So much too look forward to Kaye!"

Yes, Maxine. So much to look forward to!

Kaye Bailey 2005 - All Rights Reserved

Kaye Bailey

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Ms. Bailey developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a teenager she found writing her feelings about obesity helped her cope in a world that is often cruel to overweight children and adults alike.

Ms. Bailey says she found out she was fat in kindergarten when another child told her she was fat. ?I didn?t even know what fat was but I could tell it was bad and I didn?t want to be fat. Until that day I had been unaware I was different. But there I was, a five-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor learning a new word that would define me.?

At age 33 she underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. For the first time in her life after multiple failed diet attempts she lost weight. She said the decision to have surgery took courage, nerve, and a little bit of plain old faith. But she learned surgery was the easy part. Dealing with newfound emotions, struggling with food choices and fighting to keep from regaining weight were unexpected bumps in the road following massive weight loss with surgery.

Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website LivingAfterWLS.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community. While weight loss surgery is publicly perceived as an easy fix to obesity Ms. Bailey maintains the struggles after surgery challenge the vigor of even the most dedicated individual. As WLS becomes more readily available patients are finding there is a lack of long-term aftercare and support from bariatric centers.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes as well as general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog. The path forward includes community forums, nutrition and fitness tracking tools.

Ms. Bailey makes her home on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains with her husband of eight years who has been her consort in life after WLS.