HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS???

I just wrote this for my support group tonight & thought I'd share this with all of you. Donna, some of this may seem familiar to you through an email I sent you, but it seems that at this point in our journey, we really need to remind ourselves from where we've come & let ourselves CELEBRATE. HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS?????? The word Success defined as Favorable or desired outcome can become very overwhelming to the post-op of weight loss surgery. This is something we tinker with pre-op stating..."I'll be happy when I can tie my shoes without feeling my heart beat in my head", or "The weight loss is just an added benefit, I'm really doing the surgery to become healthy and get off or reduce my medications". It's an entirely different ball game once the surgery is done. We enter into this surgery with such HIGH expectations. Not only by ourselves, by everyone around us as well. This can prove to start to hit us, mentally, when our weight loss begins to slow down. There's so much pressure put on us to give a goal weight, or people always asking "how much have you lost?" that we really start to focus on the numbers rather than how we feel and how far we've come. This is the point in our journey when we need to turn the tables from defining success to "CELEBRATING OUR SUCCESS"............ Let's rewind to this time last year.... I remember saying..."oh to be under 220 would make me so excited." I've now past that point & am now saying... "oh to be under 195 would make me so excited." To the pre-op, that may sound greedy, to the post op, it's second nature. A year ago, while pre-op, what do you think you would be saying to someone that is 8, 9 or 10 months post-op that is worried they haven't lost enough??? I know for me I would have told them to look how far they've come. They would have never made it to this point without the surgery. They are so fortunate to be SUCCESSFUL thus far. Etc...etc.... etc.... Rather than saying I've ONLY lost 4 lbs this month or I haven't lost anything this month, switch it up a little & say "When was the last time ever in my life I lost 93 lbs in less than a year", or to be able to shop in the regular size & not plus sized clothes. Yes, it is a struggle at times but Celebrating your Success feels so much better than beating yourself over a goal that you set that wasn't obtained.... Do I wish I was down 100 lbs by down??? OH YEAH.... Do I think I'm going to fail sometimes??? Definitely.... But, I quickly stop the negative thinking & change it to positive... Live for TODAY, follow your rules, exercise & most importantly CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS........... YOU DESERVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Tammy! Great job! You go girlfriend! Nancy

Tammy I wholeheartedly agree. I believe this is why the hospital did the Fashion Show..to celebrate our success..its not the surgery that makes us ..WE make the surgery successful! Plus this is something I've been saying all along, keep your eyes FOCUSED on your program and your outcome (weight) defines itself. Focus is very important, and more significant the further out we are. Sometimes you'd think we all have an Accounting degree the way we juggle numbers! Donna 325/228/145

Great post Tammy! This is something we all must remember. Celebrate our success! Thanks for posting this. I needed it today! Have a great day! Lori