OVER EATER AND WLS CAN I DO IT

WELL I AM AN OVER EATER. AND SOME DAYS I DO WELL SOMEDAYS NOT SO WELL. I AM WANTING THE RNY BUT DOES THE WANTING/FEELING EVER GO AWAY TO OVER EAT?  I AM SCARED THAT I WILL FAIL.  I KNOW THAT THIS IS A TOOL AND IT IS UP TO ME.... BUT IT IS SO HARD TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE WHEN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN THERE YET.  ANY WISDOM WELCOMED. MY CONSULT IS JUNE 24 AND ALL MY PREOP STUFF IS DONE JUST HARD TO HURRY UP AND WAIT.  JILL

It is hard and food is really an addiction.  More emotional than physical.  The surgery will help you to let you know when your body doesn't need or can't tolerate what you are putting in it.  I don't really have any wisdom to offer, but encouragement.  It does suck to wait, but it is well worth it and you will be happy that you went thru it.  Even if you don't "get to your goal"  the physical changes in you will be well worth it.  I'm not at my goal, but I am happy with how I am and where I have come from.  That is the most important. Sometimes the feeling to eat for the sake of the addiction doesn't go away, but you will have the tool that your body will tell you when you can't eat something.  And once you start eating to make that tool happy, you will start to learn the good things as well as the bad things to do.  Unfortunately for me food will always be a stuggle, but now I have the tool and the power to overcome that struggle....if that makes sense????

Jill, I think you'll find most of us are overeaters and/or emotional eaters.  The desire to eat went away for the first 3 months post-op and has been returning.  Now, I don't overeat simply because I am working really hard not to.  There are days when I graze all day long, but those days are few and instead of grazing on ice cream and brownies, I graze on sunflower seeds, beef jerky and SF pudding.  So, my food choices are better for me in the long run. If you really are concerned about it, talk to a therapist.  I'm not saying that to sound harsh or anything, it's just that sometimes there is an emotional reason and if you are able to get rid of that reason maybe that will help you feel more confident in your journey.  Also, posting on the board is a great way to learn the right things to do, get encouragement when you are tempted or discouraged. We're all human and none of us follows our plans absolutely perfectly all the time.  We are all learning and just trying to do the best we can. Good luck, Debi

Jill, I completely understand your fears.  I'm less than 2 weeks pre-op and I KNOW that I can do this, but sometimes I expect that I should follow every recommendation that's made perfectly and be able to cope with all of this without feeling a moment of weakness.  When I get stuck in that perfectionism I really struggle, but when I let go of it and just let myself make the best choices that I can most of the time and realize that if willpower alone resolved this disease that I wouldn't be in this position, then I feel much better.  I've stuck close by this board and talked with so many people that are farther than I am in this process and it seems that somehow  nearly everyone finds a way to really come through it better off than they were before.  I wish you the best of luck as you take the next steps in your journey.

Hi Jill, very legitimate concerns.  my personal feelings are that once you've lost a bunch of weight early on because of not being able to overeat, that you won't want to overeat because you've seen life on the thin side.  i am about 15 months out and am down 100 lbs.  i literally could eat just about anything i want, but i make alot of choices based on what is best for me, rather than just what i want.  i think it's worth it and i think you will also. al