Hello from the Cap'n...
Afternoon folks...
I've been absent way too long and have finally reared my ugly mug once again. I plan on being more of a player in the time to come too. Here's something I posted yesterday on the main board, hoping to get through to some people who believe that once the surgery is complete, the rest is easy. As we all have come to find out, that just isn't the case. I am happy to report that I received.....NOT ONE flame on the subject (even though I was expecting a bunch) and lots of positive feedback. I hope that this is a sign of things to come. This tool we have been given is just that...a tool and we have to use it in the way it was intended. Not as a "get out of jail free" card or something.
Hope you all are doing well and will be on more this weekend. I work tonight and tomorrow night so I will be spending a majority of my time
-ing.
Be good ya nutts!!...Cap'n K-Man
Never say, "FOREVER"!!..Kind of long
Hello again my OH friends.... I just wanted to bring up something that I have believed in since I made the decision to have wls, over 4 years ago. The concept of "forever" that we hear mentioned so many times her on the various OH forums. One thing I have never said in letting all my friends know how I was doing was that I had lost "X" number of pounds..."forever". I wanted to believe that when the weight was lost, it would be forever, and that I would have the willpower, all the time to make that my reality. I do believe that a great deal of us have the willpower to make forever a reality. But for many of us, our reality involves a total revamping of how, what, when and why we eat the way and things we do. I say "many" of us because it also seems that there are those out there who have had wls that seem to have an easier time with their eating than others. That is not to say that they don't have to work just as hard, just that it seems to be a bit easier than for others. I am talking from my own personal experience here. Since I had wls in March of 2004, I had lost a total of 111 lbs. Down to 189 lbs. A year and a half later, I had gained 10 lbs back and knew that that was a normal occurence for most people. Being at 199 lbs is o.k. to me. I want to be at or below 200 lbs. I was eating more than a new post op and that I still couldn't eat most of the foods that got me to 300 lbs in the first place. Six months later....I started getting more and more brave. I was also working my shrunken butt off outside cutting wood, painting, and lots of other outside stuff. I knew that I was burning off a ton of calories and could "afford" to treat myself a bit. I carried it way too far when the temps started falling and my activity level came to a screaching halt. I was also dealing with some emotional issues that were triggers for me and my eating. I should have known better and in all honesty, I DID...I just chose not to address it!!.. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I had gained up to where I was 211 lbs.....NOT GOOD!!! I had made an appt. with a counselor to try and find out why I think about food ALL the time and what my triggers are. I know through my counseling there may be an OCD (Obsessive/Compulsive) component to my personality that I wasn't aware of that may have contributed to my problems with obesity since I was 5 years old. Since the first of the year, I have lost 10 of the 11 lbs that I had gained since my last appt. with my surgeon back in October. My goal now is to be at or below 200 PERMANENTLY!!! I am working very hard at it and know that if I don'****ch like I know I should forever, "FOREVER" will never come for me. I hope I am not freaking anyone out here, especially any of the newbies...I just want to give you what my experience has been and that you should always be on your toes and not to let your guard down. Don't b.s. yourself into thinking that it will never happen to you...BE DILIGENT and talk to one of us if you need help. I am so happy that I finally got the help I needed and am watching myself so much closer now. I am back to journaling my food intake and have almost TOTALLY cut out the things that got me to 300 lbs in the first place. I still do treat myself now, but very, very carefully. I NEVER want to go back to where I was and I hope and pray that none of you do either. We all work too hard to have that happen to us again. Keep up the GREAT work everybody and see ya 'round the board....Cap'n K-Man
Edyth Lewis's reply:
-ing.
Be good ya nutts!!...Cap'n K-Man
Never say, "FOREVER"!!..Kind of long
Hello again my OH friends.... I just wanted to bring up something that I have believed in since I made the decision to have wls, over 4 years ago. The concept of "forever" that we hear mentioned so many times her on the various OH forums. One thing I have never said in letting all my friends know how I was doing was that I had lost "X" number of pounds..."forever". I wanted to believe that when the weight was lost, it would be forever, and that I would have the willpower, all the time to make that my reality. I do believe that a great deal of us have the willpower to make forever a reality. But for many of us, our reality involves a total revamping of how, what, when and why we eat the way and things we do. I say "many" of us because it also seems that there are those out there who have had wls that seem to have an easier time with their eating than others. That is not to say that they don't have to work just as hard, just that it seems to be a bit easier than for others. I am talking from my own personal experience here. Since I had wls in March of 2004, I had lost a total of 111 lbs. Down to 189 lbs. A year and a half later, I had gained 10 lbs back and knew that that was a normal occurence for most people. Being at 199 lbs is o.k. to me. I want to be at or below 200 lbs. I was eating more than a new post op and that I still couldn't eat most of the foods that got me to 300 lbs in the first place. Six months later....I started getting more and more brave. I was also working my shrunken butt off outside cutting wood, painting, and lots of other outside stuff. I knew that I was burning off a ton of calories and could "afford" to treat myself a bit. I carried it way too far when the temps started falling and my activity level came to a screaching halt. I was also dealing with some emotional issues that were triggers for me and my eating. I should have known better and in all honesty, I DID...I just chose not to address it!!.. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I had gained up to where I was 211 lbs.....NOT GOOD!!! I had made an appt. with a counselor to try and find out why I think about food ALL the time and what my triggers are. I know through my counseling there may be an OCD (Obsessive/Compulsive) component to my personality that I wasn't aware of that may have contributed to my problems with obesity since I was 5 years old. Since the first of the year, I have lost 10 of the 11 lbs that I had gained since my last appt. with my surgeon back in October. My goal now is to be at or below 200 PERMANENTLY!!! I am working very hard at it and know that if I don'****ch like I know I should forever, "FOREVER" will never come for me. I hope I am not freaking anyone out here, especially any of the newbies...I just want to give you what my experience has been and that you should always be on your toes and not to let your guard down. Don't b.s. yourself into thinking that it will never happen to you...BE DILIGENT and talk to one of us if you need help. I am so happy that I finally got the help I needed and am watching myself so much closer now. I am back to journaling my food intake and have almost TOTALLY cut out the things that got me to 300 lbs in the first place. I still do treat myself now, but very, very carefully. I NEVER want to go back to where I was and I hope and pray that none of you do either. We all work too hard to have that happen to us again. Keep up the GREAT work everybody and see ya 'round the board....Cap'n K-Man
Edyth Lewis's reply: 
Good to have you back Ken. You have been missed around here.
Thanks for the reminder. I talk to people all the time in my support group who have gained back 10-20-30 pounds, then suddenly they disappear from the support group. That says to me they will probably continue to gain the weight. I'll be honest to say in every case they admit they are not following the rules, eating lots of carbs, sweets, snacking, drinking with meals, etc.
My hope is that by following the rules I will be able to keep my weight down, but I'm very aware of the fact that I got fat for a reason and it could rear it's ugly head again in the future. I had my surgery in Jan 2004 and have been at goal for just over six months. Still struggling with the right amount of food to maintain but staying within 3-4 pounds of my lowest weight. 5 lb gain means I'm back on all protein until the gained weight is gone. I recognize for me that this will be a life long battle. I have to stay on my food/exercise program constantly to keep the weight off. My tool makes it possible to keep it off now though, I didn't have that valuable tool as a pre-op.
WLS function as an surgical intervention into obesity. For a while losing weight is as easy as falling off a log. During that respite, one has the opportunity to rearrange ones activities and create an new relationship with food. Failure to use that time wisely is the kiss of death to ones weight loss. Ain't nothing forever unless you make it that way.
Good to have you back in the hood!
Nowhere Man/PH/Jay
That's what I say to my friends, when they are surprised when I can actually eat more than a spoonful, and sometimes as much as them. And I tell them this because I want them to understand that this is a challenge, not the easy way out and not a guarantee. I tell them WLS was a 12 month reprieve to regroup, analyze, and change. After that all bets are off. I can screw up royally, or I can continue going the right way.
Michelle
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