Advice to Pre-Ops

Great post....I agree there are much more happy, positive posts, than ones addressing the problems and struggles...and we all need to be aware of both sides of the surgery. And it is good to come on here and stay on track....I have been on here more lately for the same exact reason as you....since I was slipping into some junk food trends that were scary. And people need to know that you can eat and drink around the surgery, if you choose to do so. 

To wantmylife: before surgery, I was thinking the same thing...if it is just a tool, maybe I can get by without surgery and just use another tool...if i had to exercise and diet, if that was all this was, I'd done that so many times before with success...I was a pro dieter...the real problem was gaining it all back and then some once I got bored with the diet and went back to my old way of eating....

The thing is...this is not just like another diet....and for me, it has been way easier...it did not take the incredible amount of willpower to stay on small amounts of food...I did not have to go to bed hungry every night while losing weight...I did not have to be lightheaded, cranky, and dizzy from starving all day....the removal of the ghrelin is the difference for me....I don't get that starving feeling constantly. And when I do have a bit of hunger, the beast is easily satisfied with 2-4 oz of food....I also don't think about food constantly anymore...I don't think about all the things I want to eat or start thinking about my next meal while eating a meal....there really was a significant change in my body chemistry from the surgery that has made my post op life manageable...

With that said...there are struggles....and surgery is not the "easy way out".. once I got further out post op...I realized it is possible to gain weight, if I kept up with my junk food habit and that it was easy to eat more calories than I thought with slider foods....I also realized I needed to exercise more and not get lazy again....there's struggles with getting water & protein intake in....emotional and hormonal ups & downs....relationship changes & adjustments....disappointments and frustrations....life is not just wonderful & rosy because of WLS....and surprisingly my self esteem has not jumped like I thought it would.....losing hair is worse experience than I read about....face getting gaunt and old like was not expected....lose, crepey skin is never fun to have....and just losing so much weight and still not being happy with my apperance is a tough pill to swallow....so yes, you are right to wonder about the struggles that occur, depsite all the positive things we experience too. I do believe that if I stay to the right foods, that it is possible to get to goal weight and stay there....that was not a belief I had before due to my previous dieting history...there were plenty of times, that I ate right and exercised like a fiend, with no reward on the scale for my efforts...my body was resistant to losing the weight and it got harder and harder to lose....now I believe the surgery has shocked my body and re-set it, got the weight off quickly, and now it is up to me to fuel it correctly and maintain a lifestyle of a thinner person....

Good luck! And keep reading and researching......

You're lucky you're one of the many that have had good experiences and an "easier" time with surgery than with diets. I agree that I am not hungry all the time. Actually, I'm never hungry. Usually I get this stomach pain that feels like nausea from acid build up and it goes away with water. But I always think about food and I'm not sure that will ever go away for me. Regardless, it is great to be without the dizzying, distracting feelings of hunger. It's amazing to actually feel SATISFIED with food. I've never felt that way before. Although there are slider foods which, once you identify them, you should try to avoid them as well. I forgot to mention that too. Thank you for sharing some of your struggles too. It's really comforting to hear that I'm not alone. Deep down, I knew I couldn't have been alone but sometimes it really felt that way! Good luck and I hope you continue to have such success, despite the hardships!

Good advice Chelsea. Glad you are back on track. I give you a lot of credit for taking charge of this issue while you are still so young. You are changing the rest of your life. It must not be easy to make a change so big and go to college and deal with that social scene at the same time. I feel like managing to eat right and exercise enough is like a full time job. Good luck to you and try to fit in a few minutes on the board when you feel like you are struggling. Don't compare your loss to others, just do the best you can do for you. Some days it's just an hour at a time. I had to stare down the candy display at the cash register yesterday and spent the drive home forcing myself not to hit a drive through fast food lunch, but I made it home without stopping and got through the rest of the day without jumping off the back of that wagon. You are doing this! We all have the same journey, but we need to make some adjustments to make it fit our life. You are by no means a failure!

Thank you! It really is difficult to plan my days with the added stress of college. I think that adds to my food addiction. I truly believe if I didn't HAVE to think about food so much, I wouldn't think about junk food nearly as often. Maybe once I have a more consistent, day-to-day lifestyle, I will have fewer urges to eat poorly. It is also nice to hear that I'm not the only one that has to stare down candy aisles and run past fast food restaurants. Thank you for the reminders to not compare myself to others. It's so hard but I know I have to just focus on how I'm doing. It's my body, not anyone elses! Congrats to you and good luck on your journey! May we all stay on the wagon together, this is the one example of a good bandwagon to jump on!

Chelsea,
Just wanted to let you know how *brave* I think you are for doing this while in college. I went to a small school, where pretty well everyone lived on campus, and everyone ate at the "all you can eat" cafeteria 3 meals a day. It was there that I can trace back, yes a ton of great times, but also a start of my bad relationship with food. I was kept in check when I was home, but once I was away from my folks, I found myself wanting to try all of these things that weren't necessarily in my home growing up.

With all the stress of school, I can only imagine how hard this has been, and wanted to let you know how courageous and inspiring you've been (to this 38 year old!)

All the best on your journey!

Thank you so much! You brought up such a good point about the dining halls. Everyone wonders where the freshman 15 sneaks up on people. For most people, they are raised in a household where their parents cook for them and do most of the grocery shopping. When you are suddenly thrown into an environment that allows you to have this freedom, also the freedom with alcohol, drugs, sex, etc... it is like a shock! You just want to do everything you've never done before. At the dining hall last year, before my surgery, my friends and I would go get two or three plates of food, talking and eating until we were too full to do anything else. I can't even comprehend how we were able to eat that much now. It's crazy! I'm so glad that I decided to put an end to all that.

Again, thank you for your praises! Congratulations on your weight loss and good luck to you in the future!