Just the two of us??!!

Hi Marilyn; I really do appreciate the changes in my life that have come about since my surgery and I know that expecting all problems to magically disappear is total nonsense, but I still get in that frame of mind now and then. It just seems like there's a part of me that wants to fail and I really need to fight to keep him in the background. I just wish that I could banish the evil twin as Connie calls him!! Mike

Yup, I no what you mean about that evil Twin. Was at a WLS picnic this weekend (pot Luck) ate all kinds of sugury stuff, cookies, cupcakes just because i****here. You'd think I would of gotten sick, not a chance Just kept munchin out Actually lost the 4 lbs that I gained last week. So go figure!! Maybe I am trying too Hard, who knows?? Marilyn, the bearlady

Mike! You and Connie have such a way with words!! I thought I was the only one with the insane collision between unrealistic expectations and reality! Oh well, if all our problems were solved, life would be terribly boring! I really do need to beat my tendency to eat my way through stress though! Gaining weight is NOT a problem I want to battle. (But I am seeing some scary trends in my eating and on the scales...) We can do this if we just hang tough! Joy

Thanks Joy; It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's dealing with the unrealistic expectations. It doesn't cure the problem, but at least I feel that I'm not alone in this one. Like you, I still tend to eat my way through stressful times, but at least now, I realise what I'm doing and I'm trying to control the worst of the urges. I'm not always successful, but I'm working on it. Thanks for your support. Mike

Mike, Its interesting that we all talk about losing the wieght and things being normal then, because for most of us life has never been normal so we dont even know what normal is. We have this preconceived idea of what life will be like when we are normal, but then find out that it isnt what we thought. I have been pondering what life is like and now that I am in the maintanence phase of this battle and trying to figure out how a maintinaing person lives I am completely confused. Am I eating too much, not enough, exercise; too much, not enough. What should I do? If you have lived your whole life needing and wanting to lose weight how does one shift to the unchartered territory of not needing to lose? I got into this to get healthy; body, mind, and soul, but am finding that in the journey some things are getting more screwed up....like my head!!! Its a daily battle at either 335 or 150, but lets trod on together and we can figure this out!!! Janelle

You raise a very good question, Janelle.... How do you handle being "Normal"?? For that matter, what is normal?? I still look at myself as a fat guy, although I'm a lot closer to average than Morbidly obese these days. I'd like to lose a bit more weight, but I'm at a stage that I could live with if further weight loss doesn't happen. The question then becomes "How do we maintain" ??? It's all rather confusing and you put it very well....let's see if we can work it out as a group. Cheers!! Mike

Well, I'm perfectly happy to call you both FRIEND! Maureen

Well, Maureen, We hope that you realize that we would be in big trouble without your support. Thanks as always! Mike (and Mike)

Mike, I total agree with you about the unrealistic expectations. I'm sitting here trying to figure out when I will turn in to Angelina Joile, and have been since the surgery. Go figure. Leslie

Hi Leslie, Yes, these departures from reality are a drag.....especially when you consider the progress that we have made in the last 14 months. It seems like one of the consistent traits of people like us is a streak of perfectionism. If everything isn't just right.... then everything is all wrong!! We really need to lose this attitude and learn to like ourselves. I'm trying, but keeping "the other guy" at bay is tough. Mike