I Wish Someone Had Told Me This in My First Year after WLS!
Those of you who know me well, know that I am currently struggling with maintaining my 180 pound weight loss after 3.5 years of being post-op. Additionally, I would still like to lose an additional 20 pounds! Everyday is a struggle - some of which I am successful, and some of which I am not. I don't dump, and the "CARB MONSTER" is always present in my life, just lurking around the corner.
In any case, I found this article on another board on this site and wanted to share it with all of you . I think we all need to see how this matters in our success of our maintence . So many of us struggle with making that decision he talks about . You've been warned!
Just This Once Won't Hurt ? by Ken Miller
I've had the opportunity to closely watch the weight-loss journeys of hundreds of WLS patients during the last several years as I've studied those who are very successful and those who struggle.
Almost everyone has plateaus along the way. Some lose weight rapidly and consistently; they reach their goal weight quickly and are able to easily maintain their weight when they get there. Meanwhile others lose weight much more slowly and some never reach their goal weight. Most of those who lose slowly, with extended plateaus along the way, usually struggle much harder to maintain their weight once they reach their goal than those who lost weight quickly and consistently.
The number one factor that affects a WLS patient's rate of weight-loss and the ease with which they are able to maintain their weight after they reach their goal is the intake of refined carbohydrates.
When they start their journey everyone wants to know . . . "How fast will I lose weight?" "Do you think I can actually lose all this weight?" "Do you think I can do it in a year?" Those are difficult questions to answer because we can't predict, just by looking at them, which people will lose quickly and which ones will lose slowly.
The number one factor that affects a WLS patient's rate of weight-loss and the ease with which they are able to maintain their weight after they reach their goal is the intake of refined carbohydrates. Of course there are rare exceptions, but my observations clearly show these two facts:
Those WLS patients who say to themselves, "Just this once won't hurt anything . . . I'll go back to no carbs tomorrow," and eat refined carbohydrates struggle to reach their goal weight and then, if they do reach their goal, they have a much harder time maintaining their weight than those patients who don't.
Those WLS patients who eat only complex carbohydrates and who do not eat any refined carbohydrates lose weight rapidly and consistently and they have a much easier time maintaining their weight during the following years.
So, here's my advice to those who might be interested; Don't make the mistake of saying to yourself, "Just this once won't hurt anything." IT WILL. The consequences of that decision won't be immediately evident to you; it will take time before they show up. But, they WILL show up, and by the time they do, it will be too late to go back and "fix it".
Don't cheat yourself out of the final success that you can achieve and maintain for the rest of your life, by trading it for "Just this once . . ." The Carb Monster shows no mercy; not today, and not tomorrow, or next year.
I know that's very black and white advice. It's not sugar coated; it doesn't taste good, or feel good, and it might create fear in some WLS patients who have already cheated themselves. I hope so. The good news is that the sooner you banish the Carb Monster from your life, the easier the rest of the journey will be for you. I also hope it will scare every new patient enough that they'll use those initial few months following surgery to banish the Carb Monster forever. There will never be an easier time to do it. It only gets harder later.
I expect there will be those who want to express their opinion on this subject . . . both those who believe they are exceptions to what I've said, and those who are willing to take a couple of minutes out of their lives to warn other WLS patients about what happened to them when they said, "Just this once won't hurt . . ."
In any case, I found this article on another board on this site and wanted to share it with all of you . I think we all need to see how this matters in our success of our maintence . So many of us struggle with making that decision he talks about . You've been warned!
Just This Once Won't Hurt ? by Ken Miller
I've had the opportunity to closely watch the weight-loss journeys of hundreds of WLS patients during the last several years as I've studied those who are very successful and those who struggle.
Almost everyone has plateaus along the way. Some lose weight rapidly and consistently; they reach their goal weight quickly and are able to easily maintain their weight when they get there. Meanwhile others lose weight much more slowly and some never reach their goal weight. Most of those who lose slowly, with extended plateaus along the way, usually struggle much harder to maintain their weight once they reach their goal than those who lost weight quickly and consistently.
The number one factor that affects a WLS patient's rate of weight-loss and the ease with which they are able to maintain their weight after they reach their goal is the intake of refined carbohydrates.
When they start their journey everyone wants to know . . . "How fast will I lose weight?" "Do you think I can actually lose all this weight?" "Do you think I can do it in a year?" Those are difficult questions to answer because we can't predict, just by looking at them, which people will lose quickly and which ones will lose slowly.
The number one factor that affects a WLS patient's rate of weight-loss and the ease with which they are able to maintain their weight after they reach their goal is the intake of refined carbohydrates. Of course there are rare exceptions, but my observations clearly show these two facts:
Those WLS patients who say to themselves, "Just this once won't hurt anything . . . I'll go back to no carbs tomorrow," and eat refined carbohydrates struggle to reach their goal weight and then, if they do reach their goal, they have a much harder time maintaining their weight than those patients who don't.
Those WLS patients who eat only complex carbohydrates and who do not eat any refined carbohydrates lose weight rapidly and consistently and they have a much easier time maintaining their weight during the following years.
So, here's my advice to those who might be interested; Don't make the mistake of saying to yourself, "Just this once won't hurt anything." IT WILL. The consequences of that decision won't be immediately evident to you; it will take time before they show up. But, they WILL show up, and by the time they do, it will be too late to go back and "fix it".
Don't cheat yourself out of the final success that you can achieve and maintain for the rest of your life, by trading it for "Just this once . . ." The Carb Monster shows no mercy; not today, and not tomorrow, or next year.
I know that's very black and white advice. It's not sugar coated; it doesn't taste good, or feel good, and it might create fear in some WLS patients who have already cheated themselves. I hope so. The good news is that the sooner you banish the Carb Monster from your life, the easier the rest of the journey will be for you. I also hope it will scare every new patient enough that they'll use those initial few months following surgery to banish the Carb Monster forever. There will never be an easier time to do it. It only gets harder later.
I expect there will be those who want to express their opinion on this subject . . . both those who believe they are exceptions to what I've said, and those who are willing to take a couple of minutes out of their lives to warn other WLS patients about what happened to them when they said, "Just this once won't hurt . . ." 
i'll keep this posting in mind -- probably print it out later -- another famous word .. later --
thanks
roberta 
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