Time to introduce myself!

Hi everyone!  I have been stalking this board for over a month now but this is the first time I have posted anything.  I am scheduled for VSG this coming Monday the 24th!  I am a little nervous but mostly VERY excited.  I have been overweight most of my life and have tried literally every diet in the book.  After my third child was born I lost 100 lbs over 18 months but have gained it all back and then some.  I am not looking for an easy way out, but rather a tool that gives me a level playing field and a chance to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle with my family.

I am inspired by so many of your stories and would welcome any advice for a girl just 4 days away from surgery!

Welcome and congrats on your upcoming surgery!  I made a list of promises for myself pre-op, they might be of interest to you too.  

1. I will not panic if I stop losing weight for a few weeks. Instead, I will re-evaluate that my eating is on plan and wait until the stall has lasted 4 weeks before I start to panic.

2. I will not ask OH what I need to take to the hospital, I know these things. Lip balm and a pillow. And the pillow really just needs to be in the car for the trip home.  (I also took my iPhone and Kindle, plus their charging cables.  I didn't use the Kindle.  I wore a loose, comfy dress to the hospital and wore it back home.  I didn't need a robe or socks, those were all provided for me.) 

3. I will not lie when people ask me how I’ve lost the weight. I will either be honest and tell them “surgery, diet and exercise” or I will tell them “I’m not comfortable talking about this with you.” These are the options, lying by omission is not one of them.

4. If I fail, and I will fail, I will forgive myself and return immediately to plan. It’s okay to screw up, it’s not okay to beat myself up for it or let it become the start of a downward spiral.  (I'm not good at not beating myself up, but I try!)

5. If I don’t start losing sizes right away, I won’t freak out. Chances are the clothes I wear now are too small and tight, and I just deal with it. It might take awhile for my current clothes to fit correctly and that will happen before I can get into smaller sizes.  (It took me over 50 pounds to start losing sizes!)

6. I will own my mistakes. They’re mine and result of my own choices, no one is ever going to hold a gun to my head and make me eat crap, I control what goes into my own body.

7. I will not compare my weight loss to that of anyone else. I’m me.

8. I will do everything I can to find a therapist I can work with. This will help me out in the long run.

9. I will be hyper aware of potential addiction transfer issues and especially aware of getting too caught up in numbers as I already know I am want to do.

10. Extra skin is a fact of life, get the **** over it. If I really hate the way my body looks, I can save my pennies and nickels for plastic surgery once I’ve maintained for a year or two. People will still have sex with me if I have weird skin, and Under Armour sells compression gear. I will, however, have every issue with my skin documented.

11. I will be kind to myself. I will keep getting to my monthly massages, I will keep engaged in my hobbies, and I will spend time with my friends.

12. I already know that being a “hero” about medication is stupid so I’ll work on remembering that when the time comes. Pain keeps us from healing, it’s not noble.

13. I will only weigh myself once a week. I will not let myself get obsessed with the scale. See #9.  (I found TrendWeight.com and I weigh myself daily and it's awesome.  I now just see my daily weight as data, not something that makes or breaks me.) 

14. My stomach will probably gurgle after surgery, this is normal. Just don’t go to silent Meeting anytime soon.

15. I will not worry if people don’t comment on my weight loss. I will assume that they’re being polite and not commenting on another person’s body, which is what they should do.  

16. I will work to break the compulsions to “clean my plate” and to “not let food go to waste.” Sure, there are starving kids in Africa, but throwing away food will not change the situation.

17. There is nothing to be done for hair loss, assuming that I’m eating on plan. It will happen, or it won’t, but I will remember that it will grow back eventually. I will be a shavee with St. Baldricks six weeks post-op.

18. I understand that my hormones will be all messed up after surgery. I will do my best to remove myself from the company of others instead of taking my hormonal changes out on them.

19. I won’t weigh myself for the first two weeks post-op because I know that I’ll gain weight from all of the fluids and swelling that surgery entail. I’ll wait to weigh until I’m off liquids.  (I made it one week, lol.) 

20. I will not panic if I don’t feel restriction immediately post-op. Chances are restriction won’t kick in fully until I’m eating dense proteins and that will take 4-6 weeks on my plan.

  Great response, Gwen!  This should be hanging on EVERY newbie's refrigerator!

And title it "The WLS Creed" !  I need to re read this each morning :)

You said it, rocky. It was hanging on mine, and it's still in my computer files. Thanks, Gwen.

psychoticparrot

You're definitely welcome!

Thanks!  It definitely helped get me through those early days when anything could have made me panic :P

Fantastic, thank you so much Gwen!  Like you, I recognize that I have to work on the head stuff and give up years of obsession with weight, scales, etc in order to truly enjoy my new life!

You're welcome!  This process has been a ton of work all around, but it has also be so very worthwhile.  Even if I never lose another pound I'm in a significantly better place now than I used to be.  

Every time you post this Gwen, i re-read it, nod and mutter "yup" & "gotta remember that".  This list is gold.