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As many of you know, I love the 'Beck Diet Solution' and giving ourselves credit where credit is due is one of the exercises that appears in the book.

Dieters need to give themselves credit for every positive diet and exercise-related behaviors they do.  For instance, every time they stop eating before they’re overfull (Day 18), get back on track after straying (Day 20), eat slowly and mindfully (Day 5), or do any kind of exercise (Day 9), they need to say something to themselves, such as “Great,” or “Good, I did it.” Many people who have struggled with their weight are hard on themselves and overly self-critical.  By consciously recognizing the dozens of things they do right each day, dieters build up their self-confidence and awareness that they’re strong and in control.

It's important to recognize and articulate the things we are doing well. Sometimes, I think it even makes it easier to do the things we know that we need to do to keep us on track as we make our way to our healthiest selves.

I'd like to have everyone tell some things they did in the past week that they deserve credit for.

So... come on, tell us what you've done this week that you deserve credit for. Did you go for walk? Did you log your intake? Did you take your supplements? Did you ....

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to the group. I think that more of us than you might imagine can understand your struggles. Please know that if/when you have the gastric bypass you will not be 'doomed' to 2 ounce meals for the rest of your life. Actually, you start out with very small 2 ounce meals, but now that I'm over a year and a half out, I eat a serving about the size of a lean cuisine. To be honest, now, people who do not know I had the gastric bypass don't notice that I don't eat very much at a sitting. I do eat 5 or 6 times a day. Not grazing, but 3 meals, with 2 or 3 snacks that are protien packed.

You will be arming yourself with a powerful tool to help you strip off your excess weight AND to help you keep that weight off. You will also need to do some behavior modification work, we all do. I have used a therapist to help identify and manage my food/behavior issues... they are more involved than I would have imagined. I also have used and still do use a series of books written by Dr. Judith Beck, called the 'Beck Diet Solution.' It's not a diet, but a way to learn to think thin. It takes time and practice, but you have time and can practice... I'm still working on it.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you as you make this incredible, life-changing journey.

Wishing you all the best,

Hi, I am Tonya West. I joined this group shortly after my surgery. I had the realize band placed on February 26th, 2009, so I am not quite three weeks post-op.

I am married to my husband, Brian, who has been a firefighter for almost 20 years, but switched his position to fire/arson investigator ,  fire inspections about 2 years ago. The 24 hour shifts were getting to him, so he is now an 8-fiver. I have two children, Katelyn, age 10 and in the fifth grade, and Caroline, age 4, in preschool. I am an emergency room physician, and have been in practice for 13 years. Wow, time flies!!!

I did not even begin to have a problem with my weight until my first year in medical school. I gained 15 pounds the first semester. I joined weigh****chers, and immediately tried to reach my "ideal weight" of 110.  I had always weighed around 125-130, wearing a size 6-8. I got down to 119, with bones and ribs sticking out everywhere, looking anorexic, and wearing a size 4. I have a large amount of muscle for a female, so trying to get down so low was really unrealistic. I have always had very large arm muscles and calve muscles, and have been asked often if I was a weight lifter...nope, just born that way.

After the first weight loss, I kept it off for three years, but slowly started putting it back on. I reached 165 during my residency. I joined Jenny Craig, and got back down to 135, but by the end of my residency, I was back up to 175. At about the weight, I became pregnant, and got up to 245. I actually lost all of that on my own with diet and exercise, and got back down to 130. It was about a two year process. Then, in 2001, I faced several life changing experiences at once. I faced divorce from an abusive spouse who was stalking me (right before 9/11, which was another stressor), and decided to move to NC from the midwest . Needless to say, rural NC is much different from Chicagoland, so there was the culture shock of rural eastern NC, as well as the stress of moving to a new job, not knowing many people, and moving here with my 3 year old daughter...don't ask why I didn't move back home to Texas, where my family was...guess I wasn't thinking straight...On the day I was packing to move to NC, I was contacted my the Edney Gladney Home, known as the Edna Gladney Home for Unwed mothers when I was adopted from it in 1965, saying that my sister wanted to meet me. So, shortly after getting to NC, I met my sister, brother and  mother. Unfortunately, my father and two brothers were already deceased.
With all of the stresses, I started eating delicious eastern NC barbecue, and stopped getting on my treadmill. I had actually been running 6 miles a day on my days off, and 3 -4 miles on days I worked....but that all gradually stopped, and I crept up to 175 lbs. Then, I met my wonderful husband Brian. We dated 3 months and were married, and pregnant almost immediately. I literally gained 12 pounds a month on some months of my pregnancy. I really didn't feel as if I was overeating, but in retropect I was. It wasn't the amount, it was the substance of what I was eating...sometimes whoppers, sometimes pie, whatever I wanted.  I weighed 245 pounds once again...the exact weight I was when I had Katelyn. I dropped down to about 210 after the babies birth. I completed a 60 mile walk for breast cancer, called the Breast Cancer 3 day in October 2006. I was very proud of myself, as many people of normal weight were not able to complete the whole walk. I trained for the walk, sometimes walking 10-15 miles in preparation. I trained for 6 months. Still, in all the walking, I only got down to 198. The weight gradually crept back on again...I have tried many different diets since Caroline was born, and never really succeeded on any of them. So, I began considering the lap band. I was too scared of the RNY and didn't think I was "big" enough for it...so, now here I am 3 weeks post op, almost from the realize band.

Am I having second thoughts? Sort of...I have only lost 6 pounds. This is discouraging to me. I was told repeatedly that I would not lose weight that fast with the lap band, but it is still discouraging. I lost those 6 pounds in the first week, and have not lost any more since. Does anyone have any encouragement? My first fill will be at 5 weeks post op. I am also so hungry sometimes that I get a headache that is not relieved with motrin or tylenol.

I also struggle with finding time for exercise. I work 12 hour shifts, which mean I leave the house at 630am, and don't get bac****il usually 800pm. I work Fri, Sat, Sunday. On my days "off", I am taking care of my children, Mon-Thurs...I get them up at 630am. We go to school, and preschool. I have time at home in 1 1/2 -2 hour segments during the day. After school,there is gymnastics and dance and tai kwon do, as well as homework. I find myself in my spare moments trying to pay bills, buy groceries, prepare dinner, etc, etc...I know that getting up early would be my best time to exercise, but the older I get, the more tired I get...LOL. In the past, I could get up at 430 in the morning, ahead of the family , to get my exercise in....Now, I hit the snooze over and over again....I do love to exercise, and usually get addicted to it when I start doing it....but finding the time...I am sure this is a common struggle . Does anyone have any ideas other than getting up early?? I guess I may have to bite the bullet and get up early.

Well, I guess this was more than an introduction. Sorry to be so wordy. I am glad to be here on this journey, and I am looking forward to giving and receivng suppport!

Hi Kat,

Congratulations on the weight lost. I'm sure that your liver will recover and you will end up much healthier than you have been in decades.

Wishing you all the best,

I am 10days post op and have been whining and depressed about not eating and hurting, w much abd swelling.  About 3 days ago the hunger is more manageble and I saw my doctor today...32lb lost....sooooo happy. I am off all diabetic meds since day after surgery. I also found out the liver bx show my fatty liver has fibrous scarring...meaning I was on my way to non alchoholic chirrosis..BAD..fatty liver is #1 cause of non alchoholic cirrhosis.  Now since found early and I am on my way to losing weight and low fat eating...my liver can regenerate and become healthy again.