Random Poll o' the Week: What are you afraid of?

 This is mostly for newer folks.

What are you most afraid of happenin when transition to long-term post-op life (or what some of us call maintenance). 

And I'm gonna be bossy here for a minute. Don't simply say "I am afraid I'll gain all my weight back..." Unpack that. Are you afraid you'll start getting hungry again? Will stop exercising? Won't be able to keep up with your exercise?

I ask because speaking out our fears can sometimes be therapeutic. Plus we have enough veterans on this board that we can speak to some fears you may have and tell you how we deal with those realities in OUR lives.

So...if you feel so inclined...

Personally, I'm afraid that I will get complacent. I'm worried that once the new wears off & I'm back to just being Alicia, mom, student/employee, whatever; that I will slowly backslide into old habits.

I know, with how I am, that I have to hold onto that fear & uncertainty to make sure it doesn't happen. If I ever get too comfortable & feel like I have the new lifestyle down pat; I will get ****y & that is when I will be able to mess up. For me ... the fear is a motivator.

See and knowing that about yourself is half the battle.

For me personally, I think a number of factors keep that from happening. I stay involved in the bariatric community. But then also I like the biochemical results of what I've achieved through weight loss. So when I stop exercising my mood plummets, I get tired and cranky and depressed. So I look at the exercise as my Prozac almost!

These days I think my mom is my motivator. She gave up on herself but she never gave up on me. So for me and for her, I will keep pushing!

You go girl!

I am afraid that if I don't devote my life to eating well and exercising I will gain it back.  My entire focus is on this lifestyle.  Currently I have the luxury of staying at home with my kids.  I am able to cook healthy foods and exercise 2 hours a day.  I want to go back to teaching school when my youngest is older.   When I go back to work I don't know how I will juggle eating well, exercising, and raising a family.  I think it will be easy for old habits to come back. 

I have struggled with this the last few months.  I don't know how you ladies do it that have a family, job and still find time to exercise. 

I always tell people to do things you can stick with. That's important to me. Even this summer with my girls gone I didn't sign on to do anything I couldn't fit into my schedule once they are back. 

For me, eating healthfully is just what I do now. It's not a focus. I just don't eat certain things. And I don't feed those things to my kids (I don't get the "it's not good enough for me but my kids can have it" mentality at all). So far as exercise, I am my own worst enemy there. I have the time, even though I am busy. The time is there. I don't take advantage of it sometimes. When I get into a funk or whatever.

Luckily this seems to go in cycles. I go through long stretches of being perfectly compliant then I have my bouts of non-compliance. To me the fact that I have non-compliance is not a failure but the fact that I keep getting back up and trying again is very much a success.

I am still afraid that I'll quit exercising. Part of the reason I do it every day is because I know what happens when I take one day off...it turns into 2...then 3...then weeks and months.

It's happened several times since surgery, and fortunately I've been able to pull myself out of the funk, but I wish I knew that I'd stick with it for the long haul. I've been trying to sign up for fun running events (i.e. Warrior Dash and Color Run) regularly because I do best when I have a firm goal in mind, but it's hard during the winter. The short days get me every time.

I've also been trying to find different things to do when running gets boring. The elliptical is nice because it's right downstairs and I can watch some TV and be a little bit distracted. My whole life I have wanted to be "athletic" but deep down the competitive spirit just isn't there. I swam competitively for 15 years and never felt the drive to beat people. I just swam my fastest and hoped for the best. I was always fat and I guess just got used to being one of the slowest.

Self-confidence isn't my strongest attribute, but my hope is that if I keep working on it I'll get to a place where I don't feel afraid. Fingers crossed!
:-)

 Well if self-confidence is not your strong suit, you fake it well, Neen. I get the vibe of confidence and contentment whenever I read your posts!

I'm afraid I'll lose my awesome boons (just saying), my boobs have always been a source of pride for me for some reason and I'm afraid if I lose them I will never fell pretty. I'm also horribly afraid of when I get pregnant. I'm afraid a pregnancy will ruin my "new" body. I know many people on here who only became morbidly obese after having a baby. It scares me so much I might have change my mind about kids... I'm afraid I will not lose enough weight also.

Most of all and what I see now is addiction transfer and that really terrifies me. I was previously addicted to food now I think about alcohol every single day (don't drink every day) and I also think about other drugs I've abused in the past. I can't shake it. I don't want to be an alcoholic or drug addict but it literally takes every ounce of will power I have to say no and walk away. I know I need to get a little therapy to help me though this.

Even though I went into this not intending to have any more kids, I am petrified of pregnancy for that very reason! There are certain scale numbers I NEVER want to see again.

As far as transfer addiction if you truly feel like you were addicted to food, you should seek out addiction recovery. Addiction is not specific to one manifestation. Once you stop practicing addiction in one way it usually tries to manifest in another. Treatment helps.