Rough Patches

Here's Counselor Jenn's two cents on rough patches... Everyone has a personality that is as unique as a fingerprint. Each quality of our personality is like a two sided coin. Someone who is energetic can appear hyper. Someone with great leadership qualities can seem bossy. A social butterfly can light up a room or annoy everyone around them. A nurturer can become clingy...a kind person may become a co-dependant doormat... There is a good article in People magazine this week about people addiction swapping after WLS. Instead of eating, some people shop too much, too much sex and too much drinking. Most of us will not hit this low but there will be tough times. Whether we are on the beginning of our weight loss journey or far along on the path, we need to remember how and why we became obsese and why we choose to change. We also need to make our qualities work for us and fufill our needs in healthy ways. With that said, I'm at the beginning of my journey and I'm on my first rough patch. I miss Coca-Cola, I miss sourdough bread and I miss peanut butter... The honeymoon is over. I'm eating a little too much and moving too little overall this week. I'm getting hungry before my first fill next week. I'm so glad that our board is a safe place for our WLS buddies to share the highs and the lows!!!

Wow Jenn! That is soooooo well said! The two sided coin is all about our perspective! I try to find the "heads" rather than the "tails" in life but I'll admit to looking through dirty glasses at situations on occasion! I was downing myself pretty bad yesterday when I went shopping. It was a few hours of self bashing. This morning I was watching a commercial for the new Dove suntan lotion and there's a bunch of gals in their underwear all smiling. They each have nice bodies but they are not perfect! Good for them! and.....I thought; I could be in that commercial! It was one of those lightbulb moments when I realized that I can always find skinnier, younger, prettier but that I can fit in amongst some "normal; nice looking" folks too! Perspective!!!! And....as for the article in People! I thought it was very informative! I know friends who struggle with their new drinking addiction as a post-op. I'm glad that my addicton mostly involves chatting on on-line support sites! Huggggz! Joyce

Addiction swapping isn't just after WLS. I did it after losing 112lbs on Weigh****chers. When I realized that "The New Me" was not making me happy I reached out to try and find that happiness. It was a very dark road with suicidal thoughts,over exercising,starvation and bulimia. Lucky for me I have a very loving family who helped,listened and cried with me and guided me to get therapy. The 2 years of therapy help me see I am in charge of my own happiness not weightloss or my pass. It took about 10 years to gain most of the weight back mostly from spinal damage due to over exercising and bad food choices. I went back into therapy before I had my surgery and stayed with it for a year afterwards. My surgeon knew what I had been through and helped and supported me through it. I am very grateful for this forum and others like it. Thank you all for sharing yourselves with us. Phyllis P.

Being over 2 months out I can still relate to where you are in the process. I am also lap-band. First you have to know it gets a lot better after your first fill. Then all sorts of other food will open up for you. I tried to stay with, and still do, mainly protein in my diet. It just keeps me from being hungry so much better than anything else. I haven't really missed the breads, even though when they bring them to us in a restaurant It takes a lot to send them back! I just don't have room for too many carbs when I'm trying to get in all the protein. You do need to move around more. Look into Curves in your area. It's an easy, very moderate workout that only takes a half hour. I lost 13 inches there last month, and it was nothing strenuous. i haven't had to deal with any other addictions yet, I'm mainly trying to focus on how I can make each day healthier. I refuse to think I'm being deprived of anything, rather that I'm improving the quality of my life.