Michelle Vicari (@eggface) is the founder of the Weight Loss Surgery Twitter group and blogs delicious recipes at The World According to Eggface. Through sharing her story and passion, she’s grown a fantastic Twibe, it has increased by 30 members just in the week since we spoke.

Adam:

So you are the weight-loss-surgery Twibe woman, is that correct?

Michelle:

I am, yeah. This has been wonderful. I really enjoy this Twibes thing, keeps getting us all together in one place.

Adam:

Fantastic. I have to say, I know nothing about weight-loss surgery, and this seems like a fairly personal topic. So I’m interested to see how you guys have been using Twibes. You’ve got 259 members, I see. I’ve got it up on my screen.

Michelle:

I know! I’m excited! I thought to myself, “Oh, I’ll probably get about 25.” And I’m like, “Ah! There’s a lot of us out there!”
Well, I’ll just tell you a little bit about myself, and then I’ll kind of slide into it, I guess, and then you just hit me with whatever you want to hit me. I had weight-loss surgery. There’s a ton of different weight-loss surgeries. That’s kind of like a thing that people don’t know about. But there’s more than one or two. There’s a bunch of different types you can have. I had RNY gastric-bypass surgery. So they made a little pouch out of my stomach.

I was 295 pounds, 35 years old, and dying, basically, because I’m five-two and a BMI of like 50-something, carrying around another person. And I think in June of 2006, I had gone through a bunch of hoops with insurance and decided to go down to Mexico and have it done. So I have like a little side thing with medical tourism and stuff, too.

Anyway, I went down and I went from a size 28 to a size 4. I lost 158 pounds. And I got off all the medications I was on. I had sleep apnea. I had old people’s diseases. I mean, I had things that were going bad. So I decided–I used to go on a lot of different specific weight-loss-surgery forums around on the Internet, just to kind of get support and meet different people that have had it, too. Misery loves company on things and things like that.

I had my surgery 2006, and at first you really want to be very specific and learn a lot about your surgery. Now my life has gotten so great that I want to–I have tons of different interests. It’s not just that I had surgery. So I kind of love Twitter for that reason, because I can get on and I can have little blurbs of all my interests at once and not just weight-loss surgery. But then, the thing about Twitter is, until you know about these people on there, you’re following no one and no one’s following you.

Twibes was great because I started searching keywords and finding people, and then I thought, “I know all about these people, but they don’t know about each other.”

Adam:

Right.

Michelle:

So making a Twibe just made sense.

Adam:

So your Twitter account is Eggface, is that it?

Michelle:

Eggface. Yeah.

Adam:

What’s the story behind that?

Michelle:

When I was on those different websites before I had surgery, I didn’t want to put up my before picture. I was embarrassed. And so I found a happy egg face. It’s funny that it’s food. I mean, that just kind of goes to the addiction thing. Funny that it was food, but it was food. And it stuck.
I do weight-loss-surgery cooking. That’s kind of my thing.

Adam:

OK. Yeah, I clicked over to your blog, and I saw all this delicious-looking food. So yeah.

Michelle:

Yeah. You know what? People think you suffer after you have weight-loss surgery. And there’s really a handful of things you can’t have. It’s portion control that changes. And you can eat great food after surgery. A lot of people don’t have it because they’re afraid. I mean, we got fat because we love food. And so, I want to tell them, “There is life! There’s good eating afterwards!” So my blog kind of does that. My personal blog does that.
So anyway, I went on websites and I had the Eggface, and it stuck, because a website that I frequent had me come out and do some cooking demonstrations. And so I was in the lobby of a hotel and people were like, “Oh my gosh! It’s Eggface! It’s Eggface!” And it stuck. Yeah. So now I’m stuck with it.

Adam:

I see.

Michelle:

And it’s the longest website address, theworldaccordingtoeggface.com. It’s like, could I have come up with anything longer? I kind of did the website for my family and friends, because when you first start losing all the weight, people are like, “Oh, great,” and you get sick of talking about it all the time. So I was like, “Oh, just look at the website. That’ll give you the updates and new pictures and stuff.” So anyway, I did it for my family and friends. And then I put a little counter on my website, and I was like, “Wait, there’s like 1,000-some-odd people hitting a day.” And then it started rising, and I was like, “OK. This is not my family and friends.”

Adam:

Is it still a hobby at this point? I mean, not a hobby. It’s part of your life. But you’re not making money, or this hasn’t become a business in any way, has it?

Michelle:

You know what? I want to do a cookbook for weight-loss surgery, for post-ops. I would love to do that. Right now I’m just kind of throwing them out there for free and hoping that it’s good karma, and we’ll see what opportunities come out of it.

Adam:

That’s great. Cool. And so, \you mentioned, back on Twitter, that you were sort of looking for specific keywords. So did you have to do much to get the Twibe going? Or did you just throw it out there, and since you were already following people interested in this topic, they found you? Or how did that play out, exactly?

Michelle:

A little bit of both. A little bit of both. I mean I had already kind of found some people via keywords on Twitter, and so I was following a good number of people who had had weight-loss surgery or were thinking about it. Some of the people knew me already from my blog. And so when I put up one of those little Twitter bird things, like, “Follow me, I’m also on Twitter” thing on my website, they found me, and they were also on there. So it was a little bit of both.
Now, I’m kind of actively seeking out. I will type in “lap-band,” “gastric bypass,” things like that, just to kind of see who’s mentioned it. I don’t like to be hard-sell. I just follow them.

Adam:

Right, right.

Michelle:

And then I let them kind of go, “Hey, you also had it.” I put in my bio that I had it. It kind of opens up the conversation and gets them together.
And then, as I start to Tweet to them, other people, I try and link them up. Because I’m three years and a couple of months out. Totally different experience when you’re those first few months. You’re eating tablespoons of food, and you’ve got all this weird stuff going on, and your body’s changing. I’m basically just trying to maintain and do all the right things. And I changed my lifestyle, so I exercise, and I eat well and all that.

My thing is different than a newbie, so I try and hook up, “Hey, I just heard so-and-so’s having surgery this week. You might want to start talking to them.” I’ve always liked to host parties in real life. So Twibes was like I’m hosting a party.

Adam:

Right. Right.

Michelle:

And then, to kind of advertise it, I do what I call “pimp Tweets.”

Adam:

OK.

Michelle:

I do pimp Tweets. And like three times a day, I’ll go on and I’ll be like, “Have you had weight-loss surgery, blah blah blah,” and I send that out to my followers. And a couple of them re-Tweet, so that’s nice. I do it three times a day to try and not drive away all my friends that aren’t weight-loss-surgery people. But I figure, you know what? What’s that Dr. Seuss? “Those that matter don’t mind. Those that mind don’t matter.” Whatever.
That’s kind of what I do. It’s like, “If they care, whatever, they’ll follow me, block, whatever.”

Adam:

Right. I like that. Great. Well, is there anything, I suppose, either Twibes or Twitter, that I could be doing better with Twibes to help you out?

Michelle:

Oh my God. I’ve got one huge request.

Adam:

Great.

Michelle:

An add-all button. That’s my one thing.

Adam:

Add-all. Follow everybody.

Michelle:

Yeah. My one thing is about the followers. I always say like, “Hover over your picture and add these people.” But it’s like 200 and some-odd people to add. Not all of them get added. So it makes the experience less for everybody. I just want them to be able to click on all Twibe members, add. Then they can kind of weed, if they need to weed, and see people that either talk too much for them or whatever, don’t have similar interests, or curse more than they’d like, or whatever.

Adam:

Right.

Michelle:

That’s fine. But an add-all button would be very, very cool.
And then, obviously, just promotions, that you’re out there. I love the part at the top that says like “Hot now, ” at the top of the home page, where it lists the ones that are talking the most.

Adam:

Right.

Michelle:

I’ve risen a couple of times on that, which I love, because then people that are out there that are just hitting Twibes before they ever… Maybe they’re not even thinking about weight-loss surgery right now, but then they see it and they’re like, “Oh, let me check that out.” That’s always cool, promotion.

Adam:

Right.

Michelle:

That’s pretty much it. I just think it’s great. I love the new features that you’ve added, with the little pictures. That’s kind of neat.

Adam:

Cool. Cool.

Michelle:

It’s really awesome.

Adam:

What else is in this? Oh, yeah. What about other Twitter tools? How do you connect to Twitter, typically? Or do you have any other..?

Michelle:

I’m old-school. I’m like, my computer at home, and then I’ve got my laptop at Starbucks. Seriously, I’m not an iPod whatever, an iPhone person.

Adam:

Really?

Michelle:

I’m not a BlackBerry person. It seriously took me forever to get a cell phone. I was always like, “Nobody needs a cell phone! I don’t want to be found!” Only if like I was a doctor and somebody had a kidney transplant. I was totally anti-cell-phone. So I’m like the anti-computer person doing computer stuff now. But I think that’s a lot of my demographic, of people that would be in my Twibe. Middle-aged women. I’m 38. People that kind of just realize they need to change their life and stuff. I guess I’m probably in with all my people.

Adam:

Right. Well, and by its nature, this kind of community-building stuff requires more than just a phone, right? You’ve kind of got to be sitting there and replying to people. You can’t just be typing in at a coffee shop. So yeah, that makes sense.

Michelle:

Yeah. Exactly. That’s true. That’s true.

Adam:

OK. Any other questions for me?

Michelle:

No. I just want to thank you for what you’re doing. I think it’s a really creative thing that you came up, and I’m just loving it. I know the people that are in my tribe love it, too, because it really is. It’s a life-changing experience.
Weight-loss surgery, in itself, it’s just a tool. All it is is a kind of- at 295 pounds, people are like, “Why couldn’t you just diet and exercise?” It’s like, “Well, yeah, I did that.” And I lost hundreds of pounds over and over again, and kept gaining them back. This is a life change. I cannot eat that much now. And I’ve changed my life.

It’s not just that. I used to say to myself like, “Oh, when I lost all the weight, my life will be perfect!” It’s really not. There’s still those things that made you overeat. And we now have that support network, and it’s one of those things that you really do need. You need that person that gets it.

It’s a big mind thing. I look in the mirror and I’m not that fat girl anymore. I’m size four. I’ve never been a size four. I can’t even remember that. Maybe I was 12. I don’t know. And so, looking in the mirror now, that’s not my life.

And guys look at you differently, and people open doors differently. It’s a very different experience. When they have the celebrities that put on fat suits. It’s the opposite. I’ve put on my skinny suit, and it’s permanent. And I can’t get out of it, and I’m glad, but it is a different world, and so it’s nice to have people to connect with. And so Twibes is giving me that opportunity and others that opportunity. From our little niche of the world, I’m thankful and want to thank you for that.

Adam:

Wonderful. That makes me very happy. OK. Well, thank you very much for taking the time out to talk to me this morning.

Michelle:

Any time. Any time.

Adam:

Shoot me an email if there’s anything that crosses your mind. But I really appreciate it.

Michelle:

I will. Very, very cool. Thank you, Adam.

Adam:

All right. Have a good morning. Thanks.

Michelle:

You too. Bye-bye.

Adam:

Bye.