To the newer folks...
I have been thinking a lot about all those folks further out than me who try to give back what they learned and help us get where they are. They don't always agree with each other, they can give different advice and all, but in general they have something I don't, which is 1, 2, 3 more years of successful sleeving than I have. They're further down this path than I am, and I bet they've learned a few things.
Usually, they are pretty gentle when they try to tell us what they've learned. And almost universally, they have our best interests at heart. Part of what we're supposed to be doing here is learning how to live differently with food. I don't know about you, but I can get very defensive about my food, convnced I know best, convinced I am smarter than all the rest of you all and can do it my way. Almost all the time, this is just my addictive thinking trying to keep me in the food.
I think every single one of us has something broken in the food department, or we wouldn't be considering having 85% of our stomachs removed. Maybe your brokeness can be fixed, maybe just some of it can be fixed, but something wasn't working for us or we wouldn't be here. At least, I know that's true for me.
Part of what I mean when I say "I'm not as smart as I think I am" is that I don't know what's best for other people (that's for sure!), but I also mean I just as likely don't know what's best for me, especially if it involves knowing more than my food plan.
I know more than my doctor, I know more than my nutritionist, I know more than my friends about my eating. But I do not know more than other people just as broken as I am, who've managed to make it a lot longer than I have living sanely with food, at a normal weight. I want to have the courage to see when I'm just listening to the monkey, I want to be willing to put down what stands between me and peace of mind around food.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, that if you're new, try to be open to hearing things you might not like and might even disagree with. Try to appreciate that it's advice based on experience, and delivered out of a place that has your best interests at heart (even if delivered a little sarcastically), and it is worthy of consideration if you want the same kind of success that these folks enjoy. They might know more than us. About this issue, at least. It's not the Army, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, no matter what anybody says. But I know I do better when I can set the defensiveness down and see that I need to learn something.
Lord, make me teachable...
:) Happy
53 yrs old, 5'6" HW: 293 ConsW: 273 SW: 263 CW: 206 
... Thank you, well said! 
Thank you Happy. I agree with the need for us to be open to new thoughts and ideas. Obviously what we've been doing is broken because it's brought us here. And how's that quote go? "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." I think that's Mark Twain.
Anyway, I'm here to learn. I look for posts from vets because they've been learning and living the life and know of what they speak.
Eventually I'll figure out what works for me, and I am pretty darn sure it'll be well seasoned with tips from my fellow SWMEs (Sleeve-ees With More Experience).
Just call me a perpetual student.
Anyway, I'm here to learn. I look for posts from vets because they've been learning and living the life and know of what they speak.
Eventually I'll figure out what works for me, and I am pretty darn sure it'll be well seasoned with tips from my fellow SWMEs (Sleeve-ees With More Experience).
Just call me a perpetual student.
5/27/14 - Extended abdominoplasty with hernia and diastasis recti repair
12/20/14 - Breast reduction/mastopexy with bra line back lift
... I would never have gotten to goal without reading and really absorbing and applying what those that went before me shared along the way. Not only did it sometimes save me from making the same mistakes, but it gave me some real-life strategies to get to success. The vets on here are invaluable to me. I came into this needing the most serious of medical interventions to help me get healthy, my ego had no place- it had screwed me up enough.
Even almost a year out of surgery and 200lbs later, i still have a lot to learn whether I like it or not. Well said!
www.sexyskinnybitch.wordpress.com - my journey to sexy skinny bitch status
11/16/12 - Got my Body by Sauceda - arms, Bl/BA, LBL, thigh lift.
HW 420/ SW 335 /CW 200 
85 lbs lost pre-op / 135 post op
~~~~Alison~~~~~
I agree!!! I'm a hard head too...but I try to listen. I want success and these people have it, I'd be stupid not to listen. My BMI was 62 when I started and being super morbidly obese is no joke. I never want that again.
HW: 351 Pre-op: 272 Current: 140.7 Goal:160 M1:14 M2:14 M3:11 M4:10 M5:10 M6:12 M7:8 M8:6 M9: 6 M10:7 M11: 6 M12: 4 M13: 5 M14:7 M15: 4 M16: 3 M17: 1 M18: 4
"Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it." - Gandhi
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