YOU MUST BE MILITANT to be above average

Thanks Ruggie!

I get a little frustrated sometimes when folks don't realize that you need to recognize and break the bad habits. I have certain foods that will be a no go for me entirely, others I can safely add in moderation but for the most part rather than waiting for the day I can bring back old favorites I'm working to build new, healthier favorites.

The other thing that has been incredibly important to me, as much so as changes in kinds of food has been finding other ways to self-comfort, other ways to celebrate and reward myself. A pedicure is worth 1000 calories of reward, and a few minutes alone with a scented candle and some music is as soothing as a bag of M&Ms. A long walk is also incredibly calming.

I'm not saying these are the answersfor everyone, just that if foodstays the answer, it's a slippery slope. But the exact anseersvary depending on the role food played in each person's life and the types of foods thegcould and couldn't control.

You thesis is dead on - the sleeve makes it possible to make the changes, but it won't make them for us.

I've spent most of my life dealing with my addictive relationship to food.  Surgery isn't going to solve it, but it has made it possible to be satisfied with less food, and harder to go on a real bender. 

Surgery isn't going to make me a normal eater.  Surgery is going to make it easier to eat less and weigh less, but I will always have to attend to the part of me that is screwed up around food. 

I don't know if I will lose 100% of my excess weight, but success for me will be a combination of weight loss and more peace around food by being satisfied with less.

Thank you, Ruggie.  This is a life-long issue for many of us, and success in any color means making life-long changes.

 I love you! You always say just what I am thinking. Between you and Jazzmom, I can keep my head on straight! 

Thank-you Ruggie for a great post! It's especially helpful for a noob like me to read posts like these. Feels like tough love :). I made the decision to get sleeved in October- not a whole lot of time to completely prepare myself mentally. I give my surgeon and PCP credit, they did warn me REPEATEDLY that life-long compliance is imperative to substantial sustained weight loss. I am more ready to do this than any other attempt I've made.

I am enslaved by food and it is an addiction and I hate it. I will always struggle with it, but the number one thing I have absorbed from the vets on this forum is to PLAN AHEAD at all times. Alot of you eat the same or similar meals each day, did you ever notice that? You have "emergency snacks" pre-made, and it seems like you have a map in your heads to navigate difficult times and different situations. PLANNING AHEAD is how I will be above average. Thanks to you vets fr teaching me that.

While I haven't followed the same plan as many of the successful vets here, I worked my ass off for nine months and loss 100% of my excess weight(125 lbs). I believe you figure out what works for you and do it....FAST!!! I saw too many people here who never reached goal and regretted wasting the first yeat. I knew I wasn't going to let that happen. Having this surgery is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I want zero regrets. Now that I'm in maintenance, I have to figure out my new "plan," but I plan on being as successful at keeping it off as I was in losing it.

Terrific viewpoint!

Awesome post, Ruggie. Thank you so much for sharing this very important message!

 Awesome, Ruggie.  And the next time someone complains about Frisco's approach, I'm just going to link to this post.  Different packaging on the message may appeal to different folks, but the message is still the same.  

And I love that you also posted what your weaknesses are.  We all have them, the key is to figure out how to work with them, and compensate in other ways.  Thanks for doing the work of posting this.

You're right about that - my message is the same as Frisco's (I do like to steal the good ideas!)  And it's also true that different personalities need to hear things differently.

I think that if we are disclosing our weaknesses to ourselves and others, it helps keep us honest and accountable, and ulitmately more successful.  When I was at my worst, over 300 pounds, I would refuse to think about everything I ate all day long much less tell another human about it.  That's one of a few reason's I love Elina's recent thread she posted about eating some holiday apple cake she made.