Doing it on my own

Well, with surgery years away for me (Canada may have free health care but it comes with LONG wait times!) I am thinking more and more about taking matters into my own hands.  I have already taken one huge step and have been off pop and all carbonated beverages since Feb. 28/10.  It was hard and I still find myself craving a nice cold Diet Pepsi once in a while but I think I am over the worst of it.  I was wondering if there are any / many of you who have lost your weight without having WLS. 

Liz

Hi Liz,

Well you have plenty of time to lose weight on your own.  It is doable.  I wish you the best.  Have you seen the forum on here for non-surgical members.  It is very helpful also.  Welcome to over 50 BMI forum.  I post to several groups and forums.  I recommend you post to both forums.  This one and below one.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/non_postops/a,messageboard /

Another tool that I find very useful is myfitnesspal.com.  You can log your foods there and I want to encourage you to give it a try.  Send me your email address so I can send you an invite if you are interested.  You can do it!!  Patience, Perseverance and Positive. 

I am very active on OH.com and MFP.com and both have help me get back on track.

Hi Liz,  Where in Canada are you (just curious - I'm in NS!) I had a long wait too - so long that I just about gave up hope & started to lose it on my own too - as a matter of fact I lost 90lbs before surgery, (hubby lost about the same) but it took me just about 3 years to do... but I did it!  My hubby and I started walking - just what I could do without hurting myself at first - and now we do 6-10 km/day - that was huge for me...  We also started eating healthy - fruits, veggies, whole grains, skim milk - the usual - but we found ways to make our favorite things in a healthy way so we could stick to it - pizza with pita bread crust & tomato paste sauce with seasonings & whatever veggie toppings we wanted & light shreaded cheese - fish & chips is now lightly breaded & baked haddock with hand cut potatoes tossed in olive oil and baked - finding ways to cook food so that it was still appealing was a really big step in the right direction.  It takes time to figure out how to do it, but you can!  Make sure that your Dr. has your starting weight so that you will still qualify for wls if/when the time comes.  Wishing you all of the luck in the world whichever way you go!

Awesome!!!! Keep up the good work!!!  You really have what it takes to go all the way.  If you decide to do WLS still, this will help you to keep the weight off.  Not to say you can't do it on your own.  But I know ones who have still had the WLS after losing over 50 to 60 percent of their excess work. 

Thanks, Molly - I actually did finally get my surgery on July 13 of this year  :)

Great!!! Congrats!!!  Keep up the good work!

Molly - I PMed you my email address.  That website sounds interesting.

Angie - We are closer than you might think.  I am in Sackville, NB.  Where in NS are you?

I am close to Truro - we are close!  I have support groups at my house about once/month if you are ever interested in coming to one just let me know!  :)

How did you go about starting your support group?  The idea of one really interests me but Truro would be a bit far to travel.  Is it confidential?  Is your group supported by another group (like over eaters anonymous)?  I help run a breast cancer support group so I imagine the principles of running it are the same but how do you recruit members?

There is nothing formal about our group at all - I posted that I would hold a meeting at my house and those who wanted to come & talk to others in the same boat were welcome.  I have had two meetings so far and have gotten a great deal out of talking to others who have had wls (or want to have it) it really does help to see you're not alone!    :)