I'm not normal, I'm a WLS patient
I have to share a tale with you, newbies and graduates alike. Weight Loss Surgery is not the answer to all your problems, it's a tool to use to get your life under control by learning how to eat properly. Learning about the right nutrition you need to get the fat off your body because of your prior eating life style. Think about your eating lifestyle prior to WLS....candy, sweets, high fat content, sugar....eating to take away the hurt, eating to celebrate family, eating to eat because it tastes good....whatever. WLS and the programs you try so hard to get approved for will teach you what is good for you, but YOU have to work the program to be successful. It just doesn't fall of if you sabotage yourself.
I think I'm talking to myself here, but you can listen too. I'm over three years out, I've met my surgeon's goal, but by no means am I even near the BMI for my age and height. The BMI wasn't the reason I had surgery...I wanted to live...my weight was going to kill me soon and I didn't want that. I had to learn from my past mistakes, I needed a new eating lifestyle. During my first 6 - 9 months, I didn't eat anything or put anything into my mouth that wasn't supposed to be there. If it wasn't protein or nutrition, it didn't go there! I never plateaued, I just kept losing. YAY!! It was fantastic!! I always felt that the steps taken to learn how to eat again where like the steps your mother taught you.....liquid, full liquid, soft, pureed, etc. Then it happened....like a child, I started to become independant....I started to push the boundaries. A little chocolate here, a little cake there, a little ice cream here, a little bread there. Yes, I was learning a new lifestyle..... No I wasn't......I was allowing my OLD lifestyle to get reintroduced to my life. Did I have surgery so that I can continue to eat the crap that got me fat in the first place?? Did I have the surgery, so that I can get thin and then get fat again??
Yes, I'm three years out, I continue to make mistakes and pay for them. I have a drink now and then, I eat bread and more carbs than protein and yes, I'm gaining weight. I need to get the fear of food back into me, like I did when I was in the first 6 - 9 months. But let me change the word fear to knowledge....I need to get the knowledge of food back in me. I need to know, yes I can eat chocolate, but do I need too?? Does that what my body needs, or is it something I want.
My body rules....it tells me if I've hosed up and it's not always pretty. Saturday, I didn't eat a good breakfast....a bagel and cream cheese and a Latte....then later in the afternoon, I had a hot dog and then a cappachino. I was walking around the far grounds and my legs started to cramp to the point where I couldn't walk. Scared the crap out of my date and started to scare me. Luckily, an event organizer was driving past me and took me to First Aid. My blood sugar was 201, my blood pressure was 143/93, and my legs were in extreme pain. In WLS terms, I was dehydrated and dumping, as far as the EMT was concerned, I needed to be rushed to the hospital. I refused and then started drinking bottle after bottle of water. My blood pressure dropped to normal, my blood sugar dropped to 93 (which they couldn't believe so two people tested me), and my leg cramps went away.
Yes, I thought I was a normal person who could eat what they wanted. My body told me differently.
So newbies....yes, you can eventually eat anything and everything you want, but do you really need to?? Are you having surgery so that you can go right back to your old eating habits? Please learn a new lifestyle and hold it dearly to your heart. Gaining the weight back by eating poorly will happen just as surely as having surgery helped you lose it. Learn your new lifestyle and eating habits and practice them every day. Eat things in moderation and make sure...protein first. Your body will thank you.
Signed, .....three years out, still learning the hard way.
I think I'm talking to myself here, but you can listen too. I'm over three years out, I've met my surgeon's goal, but by no means am I even near the BMI for my age and height. The BMI wasn't the reason I had surgery...I wanted to live...my weight was going to kill me soon and I didn't want that. I had to learn from my past mistakes, I needed a new eating lifestyle. During my first 6 - 9 months, I didn't eat anything or put anything into my mouth that wasn't supposed to be there. If it wasn't protein or nutrition, it didn't go there! I never plateaued, I just kept losing. YAY!! It was fantastic!! I always felt that the steps taken to learn how to eat again where like the steps your mother taught you.....liquid, full liquid, soft, pureed, etc. Then it happened....like a child, I started to become independant....I started to push the boundaries. A little chocolate here, a little cake there, a little ice cream here, a little bread there. Yes, I was learning a new lifestyle..... No I wasn't......I was allowing my OLD lifestyle to get reintroduced to my life. Did I have surgery so that I can continue to eat the crap that got me fat in the first place?? Did I have the surgery, so that I can get thin and then get fat again??
Yes, I'm three years out, I continue to make mistakes and pay for them. I have a drink now and then, I eat bread and more carbs than protein and yes, I'm gaining weight. I need to get the fear of food back into me, like I did when I was in the first 6 - 9 months. But let me change the word fear to knowledge....I need to get the knowledge of food back in me. I need to know, yes I can eat chocolate, but do I need too?? Does that what my body needs, or is it something I want.
My body rules....it tells me if I've hosed up and it's not always pretty. Saturday, I didn't eat a good breakfast....a bagel and cream cheese and a Latte....then later in the afternoon, I had a hot dog and then a cappachino. I was walking around the far grounds and my legs started to cramp to the point where I couldn't walk. Scared the crap out of my date and started to scare me. Luckily, an event organizer was driving past me and took me to First Aid. My blood sugar was 201, my blood pressure was 143/93, and my legs were in extreme pain. In WLS terms, I was dehydrated and dumping, as far as the EMT was concerned, I needed to be rushed to the hospital. I refused and then started drinking bottle after bottle of water. My blood pressure dropped to normal, my blood sugar dropped to 93 (which they couldn't believe so two people tested me), and my leg cramps went away.
Yes, I thought I was a normal person who could eat what they wanted. My body told me differently.
So newbies....yes, you can eventually eat anything and everything you want, but do you really need to?? Are you having surgery so that you can go right back to your old eating habits? Please learn a new lifestyle and hold it dearly to your heart. Gaining the weight back by eating poorly will happen just as surely as having surgery helped you lose it. Learn your new lifestyle and eating habits and practice them every day. Eat things in moderation and make sure...protein first. Your body will thank you.
Signed, .....three years out, still learning the hard way.
Highest: 349
Lowest: 175
Surgeon's Goal: 189
My Goal: A healtier happier me!!
2014 update...regained but haven't lost faith.
Very well-said Edi! I am starting to get into that place where I notice my old habits come into play... AKA... NO GOOD HABITS.... just MINDLESS EATING. It's going to be a rough road.... but I know it'll be almost an ever-going battle for me... and I have my boxing gloves ready.
Well put Edi!
At almost 5 years out, I've gained and re lost, and have had a surgical revision. This CANNOT be just another diet, or it WILL BE! I did not go through all this work to get in my own way. My lesson is that I need to rely on family, friends, and my support groups! As a caretaker, it is second nature for me to take care of others to the exclusion of myself. My other lesson is to stay aware and make adjustments in my food and activity as life changes rather than using it as an excuse for NOT doing what I KNOW I NEED TO DO!
Matata 2
Pre-op 320/Current 152/Goal 132
Pre-op 320/Current 152/Goal 132 
Edi-
Thank you for the very good reminders. I'm so sorry you had to go through that episode on the fair grounds. It is sometimes hard to get it through the heads of medical personnel that we know our bodies.
I will take waht you said to heart and keep on working my program. Change is never easy, but then again is anything worth doing easy?
Stay true to yourself!
Reenie
Thank you for the very good reminders. I'm so sorry you had to go through that episode on the fair grounds. It is sometimes hard to get it through the heads of medical personnel that we know our bodies.
I will take waht you said to heart and keep on working my program. Change is never easy, but then again is anything worth doing easy?
Stay true to yourself!
Reenie
Edi,
Thanks for the GREAT post! You are so right - this is a tool that we can use, but if we don't follow the "rules" we will not be successful.
What a great reminder to all of us post-surgery people and a wonderful bit of advice for the newbies & soon-to-be-losers!
Thanks!
Laurie
309/295/154.6/150 = Highest/Surgery Date/Current/Goal
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