Advice to Pre-Ops

Thanks, Dottie! You are right, I should have been running to OH instead of hiding. That is the whole reason I posted this. When people write on OH, they mostly glorify their surgery. It is hard to see all of the success and not feel like a complete and utter failure. When others say they've fallen off the wagon, they usually describe a day or two in which they've had a fig newton or a small dish of pasta when they promised themselves they'd avoid carbs. If that is what it means to "fall off the wagon", then I fell off and got run over by the wagon! I've had candy bars and carbs and alcohol. I have overeaten, so much so that I can't believe I didn't gain all of my weight back. I only hope I continue to lose at this point but I am thankful for the 42lbs that are now gone. I am on track now. But I wanted to make sure people knew that not everyone has an easy breezy time. The forums are full of NSVs, questions and words of wisdom and before and after pics... They are encouraging and so helpful but I was just not ready to deal with the idea of failing. But hopefully people will read this and realize they haven't failed and that it is a bump in the road. You can always come back. The people on OH and the many other resources are exactly how you do it. I know that now and I just want other people to understand this too.

Good luck with your surgery! Thank you for your encouragement and you obviously know where to come when it is your turn for the suggestions and encouragement! :)

Thank you, Chelsea, for posting this. As inspiring as it is to read all the wonderful positive messages of success, it is also helpful to get other perspectives that are honest without being all about scaring people away from WLS.

I have only been looking into this for less than 2 weeks (when I stumbled onto this board!) but I have been thinking that the reason VSG might work for me is that I have been able to do WW, South Beach, and other dietary weight loss plans in the past, but after a certain level of success (10-20 lbs.) I either get bored or over-confident or otherwise thrown off, then feel like a failure, then quit. Also, I always figure I can restart...(insert "tomorrow", "next week," "spring break" etc.) My thinking is that VSG would help because once the decision was made and the surgery done, there's no putting it off anymore, and the smaller stomach would be a constant reminder of what needs to be done, as well as a physical help in reducing portion sizes. Does it sound like I'm on the right track with that line of thinking?

Alcohol may be the biggest obstacle for me in the long run - I don't drink a lot, but when I go out with my friends every few weeks, it's usually a big part of things. In past weight loss efforts I have reduced my consumption by limiting myself to one or two drinks and by having wine spritzers or mixing rum with diet coke, but I know the carbonated bevs will be a no-no as well. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a way to redirect that habit.

Thanks again for the post.

It is so important to recognize those things. You can't restart with surgery! It's done and you've made the decision. The fact that you've had success with other diets at all is a great start! For me, I just blamed my "body's inability to shed the pounds" when it was really just the fact that I couldn't be honest with myself about food addiction. So if you've been able to lose and have that will power to stay on track, even if only for a little while, I think you will find that surgery will be great for you. So you have the right train of thought, just remember that it will physically help with portion size, but it is up to you to choose the right foods! If you maintain focus and really concentrate on protein and water, many people find they don't want other foods, especially once the weight loss is noticeable and people compliment them all the time!

The alcohol may be a little bit of a problem. It was for me because once I started drinking again, a little sooner than my doctors would have liked but I'd read on OH that people drank this early, it was kind of difficult for me to stop. Honestly, I think it mostly had to do with the tough time I'd been having. So going out on the weekends and binge drinking like I used to (hey, I'm in college!) was taking a big toll on my body. I was dehydrated and not losing weight. As soon as I cut out the alcohol, ate correctly, and got rehydrate, I started losing again. (But then the next weekend would come around and I'd do it all over again). I'm done with that now though, because my mind is clear. So if you find that alcohol is something you might turn to for emotional control, that might be something to seek more help about. If you think you might not be able to go out with friends and limit your drinking while they are all unrestricted, think about ways to avoid those situations. Same thing goes with food because there will be temptations all over the place. Your friends and family will be able to eat whatever they want but you really can't. So it's all about finding those distractions to keep you from making the wrong choices. If drinking isn't a problem though, I use crystal light with vodka. Or any sugar-free, diet juices will work I suppose. But obviously, no soda or beer (I hadn't actually thought of that one, but luckily I hate beer). And wine is high in sugar/calories so you may want to avoid that too.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions and good luck to you on your weight loss journey!

As a recovering food addict, I think a lot about how this experience would have been different if I'd done it before I'd understood this about myself. 

I had no complications and I feel pretty much completely normal physically, except I am satisfied with much less food.  I also feel pretty much the same mentally, which means I still have lots of issues with food.

I think surgery makes following a food plan easier, but I knew when I came to surgery that I needed to follow a food plan to have peace with food.  By food plan, I don't mean a "diet" that ends, that you can "cheat", but a mindful, accountable way of eating that helps me maintain a more normal body weight.

I am grateful that I was able to give up the recreational sugar a long time before surgery.  Surgery wouldn't help me handle those foods.

I'm glad you were able to understand your relationship with food before surgery. That's awesome and I wish I'd been honest with myself beforehand. But thank you for your response! I'm so happy to see that you can recover! Congratulations to you on your recovery and weight loss! Good luck and may you never return to the path of self-destruction by fork and knife! :)

Oh Chelsea, I didn't mean to give you the impression I was "recovered" just getting a little better.  That old addiction of mine is outside doing push-ups!  I anticipate food will be a struggle for the rest of my life.

I know it's a daily, constant struggle! I just meant that I'm glad to see that you were able to be successful in spite of this addiction! It doesn't have to control you forever!

Hahaha! Thank you so much for your post! It made me smile. As a food addict and Michael Jackson fanatic, I love your quote about saying no to moonwalking! That might be my new motto! And you're right, we must eat and drink to live but we don't live by eating and drinking. I have it the wrong way around. I was relying on food to keep me happy. It only made me less happy so I had to figure my way out of that never-ending cycle! But I will definitely look up this hormonal hell you talk about. I know that hormones are stored in fat but I just didn't anticipate this! haha! But good luck and thanks again!