Repost: "Ever be able to Eat like a Normal Person Again?"

Hi, All! I saw something that Dx E posted on the main message board earlier this evening and have taken the liberty of reposting it here because I think it addresses very well the fears that some of us had before WLS. Debby I see this question a lot- "Will I ever be able to eat like a normal person?" This is one of those things that people Actually worry about A good deal. In fact, it's one of those things that people, Specifically, People who have not had Gastric Bypass Use to persuade others NOT to have WLS. Here's how some of this is "Manifest" "Just Diet and Exercise More....." "You'll be living on a Diet..." "A Diet with a Scar!" "You'll spend your life measuring out meals in ice-cube trays..." "Un-able even to chew gum for the rest of your life..." "Never being able to taste a beer again as long as you live?" "...A life of daily vomiting, you might as well be bulimic!" "After one year of loosing THEY all gain it back anyway...." "You'll never able to eat like a human again..." So, am I able to eat like a normal person? Yes! Am I able to eat like a 385lb man? Who is steadily gaining weight toward an early grave? NO! That's the Deal. I'm no longer a "Member in Good Standing" of the Clean Your Plate Club! When eating out, no cards, not even "doggy bags" anymore. I do what the other 179lb men do- I eat until I'm satisfied and stop. I make healthy food choices Rather than ones based on whether or not I find them -"Comforting." Because I'm not carrying that extra 200+ pounds I easily get exercise without too many hassles at all. Yep, I have the occasional Beer, Wine etc... I Chew Gum (while walking) Sugar? Well I eat a lot more of it than Aristotle, Plato, Jesus, etc.... In fact, More than most everyone prior to the mid 1600's When the massive Slavery in the West Made it something that the elite could have. Or the 1800's when it begins showing up In middle class European homes. Do I still Dump at 2+ years out. If I eat Too much Sugar, Yes. Does the threat of "dumping" over-shadow my life? No. For me, it just means a bout of Diarrhea, If I eat too much Sugar or overly rich foods. Strangely enough This is often the case of Non-WLS people as well. They just call it "Indigestion." Living on a Diet? Diet? For those who have not completely forgotten the definition, Yes! According to Webster- "The usual food and drink consumed by an organism (person or animal)." So that's it... "Usual!" For those who are Avoiding Gastric Bypass Or any WLS for that matter, Out of Anxiety that they will "Never be Normal," In My Humble Opinion, Nothing could be further than the truth! Best Wishes- Dx

Hi Debby, Thanks for the repost; I had not seen this before. You have greatly helped me today. I had just spent part of the weekend lamenting the fact that this new life is going to be very difficult. At one point, I even started wondering, am I in my right mind to allow my guts to be cut up and reconnected like a pretzel? I am now trying to lose 10-15 lbs. per Dr.'s orders, and I am doing pretty well. Then I started saying if I can lose it without the surgery, why not just go the distance and diet for the rest of my life, like my 86 year old mother, who has always been obese, and has repeatedly lost the same 20 lbs since I as a baby. This weekend, I was freaking out, every time my wife drank a cup of coffee, because I also wanted one. But, my reality is that I have never been able to tolerate black coffee - even when decaffinated. My coffee must be light, and sweet (3-5 tsp. sugar); and if it is Starbucks or some other premium brand, it almost needs to be a quarter cup of cream, and almost 10 sugars)... I know some of you must be really freaking out (I've heard the joke: "Why not have a little coffee with your cream and sugar?" But lately, I've just had to stop drinking coffee as I look towards getting a surgical date. And while I realize the inherent dangers with sugar, no matter what anyone says, the taste of Splenda, Sweet & Low, and other sugarless sweetners always leaves a gross aftertaste on my palate. So, I guess I can handle giving up on added sugars for a few years, and hopefully I will be able to enjoy some sugar in the future. The best thing in the world would be to just ask my Dentist to just pull my sweet tooth, so I won't have this problem. See you tonight at the Middlesex meeting. Ken P.

Hi, Ken! Will your wife be at the meeting with you? I know you said that she was going to try to rearrange her schedule to be able to join you for some of them. Whether or not she's there, will you be joining us for dinner after the meeting? Even if you decide to eat earlier and just have something to drink with us, come anyway. When I was a pre-op, I found it helpful to observe post-ops at a restaurant. It let me know that life could be "normal" after WLS. Not what I thought was normal before, but closer to what normal is for "regular" people. (As I typed that, I thought "Does that mean we're "irregular"? LOL) Obviously what I thought was normal before wasn't...or I wouldn't have at one time weighed 366 lbs. Debby