a WOW moment today- not in a good way

422 to 285! i don't know rhett, that's something to be very proud of. you don't get there by being destructive. you've lost almost as much as I weigh! seriously, you're taking the first step by admitting problems. that's what all of us do in here. then we ask for help or ask questions. post a topic and you'll see just how many of us are here for you. tell us why you think you might fail. if you have an addictive behavior i can suggest that you seek some professional help, come here, talk to your doctor or even go to AA or NA even if it's not what your addiction is it's all the 12 step program and they tell you how to work on it. you know they say do 90 meetings in 90 days. if it doesn't work, they give you your misery back. i'm not advocating these programs, i'm just throwing out suggestions because you've come so far it would kill me to see you undo your great work because you feel destined for failure. that's just not true. there's help out there. help that can identify your reasons to return to failure. get some help so you can stay on track. believe me, it was the hardest thing in the world for me to stop my pain pills and come here and admit i was hooked and needed your help. but i saw a detox specialist, listened to you guys and was so moved by the great advice and support, well, there's just no way i'll let you guys down. i know what i have to do and it isn't easy, it never is but you have to take the first step yourself and get some help. admit it's a big problem and find something that works for you. i know you can do it and we're here for you just like you've been here for me. you know, we don't do oprah in here but we can certainly be manly and serious enough to recognize when one of us hurting to point of destructive behavior and that's nothing to take lightly. please just promise me you'll think it over, that's all. good luck and email privately if you wish........fred

hey Thomas, you're only 7 weeks out. head hunger will play with you for a while so don't freak out. like Scott said, use this time to develop the new habits. before you know it, you'll stop thinking about food so much. it took me 7 months before my nerve endings healed in my pouch so i never got full and thought something was terribly wrong. however, you need to heal your head and pouch at the same time. it's normal to think about food all the time after surgery. just like you, my addiction became exercise. i've always done it but now it's my lifesaver. i say i have three addictions, drugs, food and exercise! so now it's just two but at least they're good ones.....lol. just keep coming here and maybe post a topic about your struggle or food questions. you'll get a lot of answers. as for the weight lifting, good man. please, start very slow with girly weights and don't go crazy, it's very easy to get a hernia or overdo it. and why get super sore so you can barely move? i took a long long time to come back to lifting and started with just stretching, then circuits, full body only 3 days a week. i did mostly cardio by walking and using the treadmill. only after i did about 3 months of that did i start ever so lightly to get back into split routines and lifting. i don't lift heavy because of my back pain but there's plenty of ways to lift and still get results without going heavy. i'm living proof. doing those one rep, what's the most i can lift benches are for lifters who can handle it. you can really tear yourself up by working out to failure or trying that one rep **** leave that to the experienced guys who like that stuff. Dave can help you with that. I just can't and won't do it because i'm older and don't want to tear myself up or ruin my joints. so Dave has a great beginners olympic work out filled with the basic compound moves. and that's what you start with when it's time. benches, military presses, curls, squats, close grip tricep presses and a few other basics. this will give you size and strength. email him for the outline but it's a good one. or like i said, do a full body circuit training routine for a few months first. i have never been sore starting out this way. good luck and email anytime if you want a routine or have questions.....Carbonblob

hey going mobile, thanks so much for this post. i apologize if i highjacked it in a few places. it's a subject very dear to me right now and i feel compelled to respond even though it's your post. it is a bit scary when i see al roker and carnie and rosanne and others getting big again. it's work once you lose. we have to diet just like everyone else and make the right food choices and stop when we're full. did you ever get the book, wls for dummies. i know it sounds stupid but there's actually some very good advice in that book and i recommend it highly. anyway, thanks for the great topic and i apologize once again if i went a little haywire with your post......Carbonblob

Wow, guys.  This is something that really bugs me, too.  Something that's always in the back of my mind. First off, I will say that, after my struggle to even have the surgery, I want to take people like that and shake them until thier teeth rattle. Case in point - an aquaintenance of my wife's and mine had the surgery probably a little over a year and a half ago.  I don't remember anymore.  All I remember was she saw the doctor about it, and got approved for it, and had the surgery all within a 2 month period.  I was turning green with envy at the speed she got approved and had the surgery. Within a few days of her getting home, she was "chewing" tacos so she could taste them, and not swallowing.   Yeah, and Clinton didn't inhale.  She was also bragging about eating "just the cheese off of a piece of pizza."  I dont understand how people can take this chance at a new life, and **** it away like it's last night's coffee.  It's like Scott said, (I think it was Scott, I'm too damn lazy to scroll back right now) this is a tool, not the final solution.  You have to use the tool to achieve the ultimate goal of new habits and a healthy life.   When I hear about people screwing it up like that, it just burns me.  Sure, we all have temptations, and we all make mistakes.  Suck it up and get on with making the right choices.  Chalk it up as a learning experience.  But to keep doing things - keep making the mistakes until it's just second nature to do those things - and it's just a case of dumb-assishness.  (Made up word, but it works.) I know I'm still working a bit on some of my bad habits.  I'm just barely six months out from the surgery, and still working on it.   My weight loss is going AMAZINGLY well, but I have to work on fixing the bad habits to keep it that way.   It is a struggle.  A big one.  And it's not easy.  But you can definitly do it.  Any of us can, we just gotta put our mind to it.   :thumbsup:  Good luck!

well said Dave, i've been watching your progress and the hoops you jumped through and how glad you were with the panni thing being removed. you're very well motivated and always had one of the best attitudes about the surgery. you certainly did your homework going in and made the commitment. you're the kind of guy who this guy should really talk to. good post.....Carbonblob

I thought I would add my 2 pesos on this one, as I also am very concerned about this issue. While the surgery can really help get your body straight, you still have your head to deal with. True changes in behavior are very rare and many people who do change will change back to their old behavior at some point in time. I'm not sure an addiction can ever be truly broken. Many people have success transferring their addiction to a healthier alternative. One must be careful, because addiction can be transferred to "not so healthy" behaviors as well, like booze or other self destructive behavior.  The good news is that we know about these situations and should prepare for them just like we do our surgery. As Yogi would say, 90 percent of this game is physical. The other half is mental. JP

I agree that you never really break an addiction. However, success is in the results -- learning to control the addiction, finding ways to manage it and get past the crucial moments of temptation. I've done this with smoklng. I haven't had a cigarette since my heart attack on New Year's Eve 2004. It's not that I don't want a smoke, but I've come up with a few methods to get past the situational cravings. I take deep Lamaze-type cleansing breaths. I tell myself that I won't smoke today, just today.  And I remember, as vividly as I can, what it felt like having a heart attack. I'm hoping that I can use the same techniques when I hit situations where, in the past, I've turned to food for reasons having nothing to do with real hunger. I can do this right or I can be dead in a few years.  As to Mr. Pastrami Sandwich -- If you go through the surgery without understanding that it's endgame time if you seriously screw up, and don't get help when you do screw up -- my sympathies are minimal.