Amusing myself in a NON food way

I love shopping the thrift stores! Yes, Goodwill has jewelry and scarves too. I bet other do too. I can't wait until I can find actual clothes that fit there!

I also used to really enjoy dog walking in the woods. That's one reason I love Stella's photos - I want to get out there myself!

Re the drive thru - I've been struggling with that too, esp. if I am hungry of tired. For a while I saw stopping on the way home from work for a small fry the 1st time, then a large the next, etc et****il I had myself up to a pre-dinner meal. Not good. So now I'm adopting Jan's rule - my car is not allowed to go to a fast food place. Last night we had Sonic, but the guys fetched it and I had a salad with grilled chicken and didn't even forage in the bag or fries or onion rings!

This post is so great! I am trying to find that thing still even at a year out that will distract me from not eating. It is really hard. I am so happy for you to see you are thinking of things now.... That is truly the key to sucess.. Finding a great hobby you enjoy is going to make all the difference.
I wish someone had told me that prior to my surgery. I just thought with my extra time I would just exercise more... lol
I tried to do the knitting thing and I stink! So the journey goes on to find something . I have to say though I never really struggled with drugs, drinking or smoking before my WLS. But now....... I have never craved them more..... I have to work at it everyday not to go home and do one of those things...... I am truly an addict trying to find something to do with myself now that I can't eat as much... It sounds crazy becuase I would have never called myself that before because I am not going into rehab or anything but I work at my problem everyday...

Keep seaching something is out there for everyone! 

Hey, RubyEllen! My surgeon had me eat 3 Lean Cuisines per day to lose weight before surgery. No liquid diet pre-op. It's a little weird to have teriyaki chicken for breakfast, but at least it's protein, right?? And it worked.

I would also have two snacks a day, such as an apple with a tablespoon or two of peanut butter (yummy, crunchy and sweet snack!!) in the morning and a bag of Orville Redenbacher's 94% SmartPop microwave popcorn in the evening. I also made a huge effort to get my 64 ounces of non-caloric fluid in per day!! It's kind of a pain, but well worth it!

Lastly, you can decide to have a big salad in the evening for dinner or instead of the popcorn--half a bag of Very Veggie salad mix with 1/2 of a cucumber, a handful of grape tomatoes, 3 strips of pre-cooked bacon torn up and spread across the top, and 2 tablespoons of your favorite dressing. That's got about 250 calories in it--the same as the bag of popcorn and the apple/peanut butter treat. Plus, it takes longer to eat, makes you full, gives you a bit of fat to sate the appetite, it's a win/win!! Salad rules!

You can do it, RubyEllen!

You are too cute!  #3 is my favorite.  LOL

So glad you all didn't suggest a second psych consult. I was VERY proud to pass the first one. Did you have to remember 4 words and they did the interview for 45 minutes and then you had to repeat them back? Freaked me out, but the 4 words were robin, carrot, piano, and green (I'll remember them in my deathbed!) and it was easy to put this in a mental picture.

I have given this all a lot of thought and I do believe that I'm an addict of food. I dream about it, think about it, obsess about what I can have next. The most vivid memories I have of an event will not be the entertainment, what people are wearing, or the music, I'll remember the FOOD.

So....all this energy needs to go somewhere else. I'm trying a multidimensional assault on myself. I learned in nursing school that "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got." So, I want to change things up.

I mentioned aromatherapy. I want nice smells around. I am also trying to make my environment at work and at home a little less cluttered. I noticed that when I walk into a really nice clean place, it makes me feel relaxed. So I'm trying to make home and my office feel nice like that. I'm not going overboard, mind you. I am not, for instance, making my BED in the morning. Good grief!! I can't spend a lot of money on this or time, but I am trying to put stuff away better and have good containers for things. I'm studying things to see if they need to stay or if they can be put away or given away.

I'm trying not to watch as much tv. Being a couch "patootie" (my daughter coined this phrase in first grade when she was learning to spell) is what got me to 371 lbs. I've been requesting books from the public library online and they pull them for you and have them at the desk. I seldom read the whole book, but I've read books parts of books on meditation and diet and relaxation and stress. I usually feel better after a session of reading than I do with tv.

Anyway, it was cool to hear what you guys are doing too. Thanks for the suggestions for losing my final 12 lbs pre op. I appreciate that.

I haven't had the psych consult yet - four words though...maybe I should memorize yours now just in case.  ;)

I, too, am a food addict.  I think about my next meal or snack constantly.  I think about my weight constantly.  I, too, vividly remember FOOD.

One of my friends had WLS two years ago and has been pretty successful and her major advice to me is to get counseling after the surgery too - and I'm really taking that to heart b/c I think I'll need it...

XOXO

~ Laura

I remember the psych consult!! Yikes. The main thing they wanted to be sure of was that I had realistic expectations of the surgery, along with the possibility of regain if my eating habits reverted, and that I had no long-standing eating disorders. I was scared to "give up" food, but that's not what happens AT ALL.

The bottom line is, if I am REALLY honest with myself, is that I was scared to give up the protection and insulation that being fat represented to me. I was protected from the interest of men, and I could hide behind the persona of the "jolly, funny fat lady" that I did so well. Saying goodbye to that part of myself and embracing the new, healthier me was both frightening and LIBERATING!!

How cool that you got the weight off in spite of your fears and found new freedom. I married at 21, but I went to a convention before that and attracted some male attention. I was completely terrified. I didn't know how to handle it at all.I danced with a guy I didn't know, but then he wanted to buy me a drink. I was visibly shaking. 

Yes, lots of us are hiding for various reasons. Some of us hide so well that we almost become prisoners in our homes. We are so heavy that it's hard to move around. Bravo to those who can escape and become mobile again.

I can see how the drive thru deal could present a problem.  Don't take any $ if you go for a stress relieving drive.  When I weighed nearly 500# and could BARELY walk, I used to go for long all day drives I found in a book called "Country roads of Western NY", just to get out a little.  I missed hiking but couldn't.   No drive thru out  there in the middle of BF no where!  My temptation is less though because even at 487 lbs I have always been a vegetarian...a vegetarian food-a-holic.  Not too much veg drive thru.  My home is where the problems happened.  I wouuld go to the grocery at 4 am to get food to make stuff I shouldn't have been eating.  I couldn't stop for a while.  It never goes away.  I still want to.  Thank god for this equalizing tool and time to re evaluate things.

My advice for remembering the words is to make it into a picture in your mind. I had the robin with the carrot in his beak sitting in a piano and the whole picture was green. If she had given me verbs or adjectives or something less concrete, I think I would have forgotten the words and flunked the cognitive portion of my psych eval.

I was seeing a social worker every week for a few months and she REALLY helped me. She was kind and positive and she helped me feel as if MY opinion is as good as anyone else's. So I guess she helped my self esteem. She also worked on my relationships with people. I keep thinking that people will "magically" improve. Like certain close relatives are ALWAYS rude and selfish and unkind. Yet each time I'm with them I think they will be different this time. Of course, they are NOT, so I'm hurt all over again. My social worker made me realize how stupid this thinking is. She kept saying, "people are probably going to behave just like they've always behaved, so quite setting yourself up for disappointment.." This was a HUGE revelation to me.

My primary doc thinks I need to see the counselor when I have the surgery for a while as I will be missing the food big time and my husband is not a big support emotionally. I think she's right.
I hate to pay the money (I pay half with my insurance), but it will be worth it to get going well post op.

I think I need to avoid drive throughs (or leave the money at home as was suggested)  because I can go into one of those thinking "salad and black coffee" and the order comes out "double cheeseburger, fish sandwich, coffee, hot fudge sundae." At least I usually get the beverage right. Sigh....I used to order 2 drinks as I had 2 sandwiches so they would think I was taking half of it home to someone. As if the fast food workers of America CARE what I'm eating or not eating!!

You guys are GREAT.