What if you are addicted to...

...not eating. I try to watch my calorie intake, I try not to eat a lot. I constantly feel as though I need to lose more weight. I know I don't, but then again I still feel like I do. I want to be "SUPER THIN". Why is that. I want to get as thin as possiable without making me unhealthy. There are other things as well, but I am not comphy with posting out in the open. If there would be someone that could email me so I can talk to someone. Erin

Hi Erin, I have a friend that was in treatment for eating disorders with me. She is anorexic and bulimic at this time. When I told her I was having this surgery, she told me she had it done at U of Penn years ago. She had been overweight and now is the other extreme with her eating and thinking. I guess my concern for you would be if you became underweight and if your doctors told you to gain some weight. Make sure if you find yourself being told by your doctors that you are losing too much weight you get help. You have too much going for you, especially with your upcoming wedding, to get caught up in eating disordered behaviors. I care about you. hugs, Trish from PA

Erin, As I researched WLS and it's hopes & complications, the one thing that my husband & I agreed on (and after 25 yrs. it's a biggy if we agree about anything!) was that I would have trouble eating enough. Sure enough, it is the biggest battle that I fight on a daily basis. Even when I was "heavy=fat", I'd have 2 cups of coffee in the morning and then I would eat nothing until dinner time; when I ate dinner, I ate as if I were a fully grown man, not a good thing when you're only 5'2"! I didn't exersize and became home bound due to health problems and depression. I've now lost 115 lbs. since '04 and have a life again. I still have health issues w/my knees and went through a full knee replacement on 7/3/06 on my left knee. The surgeon accidentally broke my leg through the process of pounding in the bottom half of the artificial knee. Long story, short. All I do is rehab and it is a constant fight to keep depression & anger NOT be the front thoughts in my head. Please email me and I'll send you my phone numbers and we can talk about what a hell it is to "force" ourselves to eat. I can so relate. I actually lost weight over last holiday seasn because I ate more than I usually do. Please email me, perhaps we can help each other! Hugs, Susan

Hi Erin. This type of "addiction" is dangerous to anyone, but healthwise it's even more so to post WLS people. Do you have any options for seeing a therapist with experience in this area? It's really important. I applaud you for reaching out here. While I have no clue what it's like to have to force oneself to eat lol (quite the opposite here), I would be glad to "listen" via email, and to help you in finding some professional care if you would like. I do quite a bit of that kind of thing online, so I have a few contacts in various places that can sometimes be helpful. Sometimes it's just a matter of giving an idea about how to look for help that someone might not have thought of yet. Please stay safe, k? EN