Ebdjab's question-please read!

Angie I would be happy to help you.  I did not read the other answers because I just can't handle any more negativity about surgery types.  First and most important....respect and nurture your surgery.  If you feel like you got second class surgery, you will have the results of a second class surgery.   I am nearly 9 years out, not a single complication and stayed at goal when I got there.  This is my list and make sure to check out this thread too about long term success.    http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4055095/Long-Term-Suc cess/

 "So Blessed" posted this list but it's basically the same as mine.

- weigh every day.
- do immediate damage control if my weight drifts 2 pounds above goal.
- record my weight on an Excel chart every Monday morning.
- eat protein first, mostly lean meats, cheese, beans, nuts and seeds.
- eat my meals from small dishes or condiment bowls - it's cute.
- don't eat unless/until I'm physically hungry and I stop eating the minute my pouch is full.
- carry my food to work in 1 cup sized Tupperware.
- keep WLS friendly food in my freezer and pantry.
- stopped eating out as much.
- avoid eating late at night
-eat breakfast every morning to avoid throwing your body into starvation mode.

Change your relationship with food and see it as fuel and not a sexual experience. Try to deal with your anxiety so you don't have to reach for food to self medicate.  Avoid behavior that get involved in guilt/blame/shame/judgment.  Learn about food addiction....learn about addiction.  Feel your feelings and don't try to numb pain with food or anything else for that matter.  The reason I put the second one in red is because if you do just that one thing, it will save you a lot of stress.  I also believe sugar is the devil.  If you are at goal and you want to eat sugar, so be it.  If you want to stop eating certain foods, then stop.  You will lose the craving if you stop eating them.  If you keep tasting little parts, you will keep the craving alive.  Would you suggest an alcoholic take a sip to get past the craving?  Decide that certain foods that are bad for you are poison because they will quickly return you to your prison of obesity.   And...when you do allow a regain, you begin to look at life through those regain glasses and everything looks awful.  FIGHT for your goal weight and putting a little effort in every day will save you tons of distress later.

Please feel free to ask me questions if I can help.  I've been doing this for a long time and have answered hundreds of emails, posts and PM's.  Believe in yourself and believe in your surgery.  You can do this and you are in the perfect place to start.  Don't put yourself in tempting situations.  If you hang around at the barbershop long enough, you WILL eventually get a haircut.  You've invested in your future so make that effort to treat your surgery as the miracle it is.  If you don't, it will not give you back what you need.  You can do it Angie.  Let me know if I can do anything for you.
hugs, Y

I know you said you had problems with sweets.  I did too but I had problems with everything.  I tried for years to give up Coke.  I decided to have my last Coke before surgery and now this thing that I just couldn’t quit is something that I don’t even miss.  I don’t even know what the big deal was because I don’t even remember what it tastes like.  Is it easy to stop?  Not so much at first but the longer you go without eating that stuff the easier it is to quit.  If you keep tasting it you will never be able to stop the cravings.  If you truly want to be thin….respect your surgery because when you just blow off your program, you are taking all the time and effort you invested and just throwing it away.  I know a lady that wished she had never started with bad habits.  She started eating sugar and then it got out of control so she ate more to dull the pain of the failure she was feeling.  It becomes a vicious cycle.  You stress and self medicate and then you eat to dull the pain and then you beat yourself up and then you start all over medicating the pain.  You have to decide whether you are in this to win.  The surgery is not a miracle fix….it is a tool to help you lose the excess weight but then you have to put some effort into your success.  Do not listen to those that say you can have a little of this or that so you don’t feel deprived.  Listen to the ones that are successful and have several years under their belt.  It amazes me what people repeat over and over until they believe it.  I call that WLS Speak.  Decide if you are in this for the long haul or are you going to abuse yourself and return to your old body.  I’m sorry if this sounds harsh but I get so many emails just like this and you have to make a commitment to a new lifestyle.  If you don’t you will return to where you were….maybe not all the way but enough to make your life miserable.  Save yourself now by making the good decision to stay away from crappy sugar stuff.  There are entire websites devoted to sugar addiction.  It is one of the most addictive substances known to man and not only does it have not redeeming qualitiies, it can cause depression and all kinds of stuff.  Please love yourself enough to stop eating that stuff or you might as well have never had the surgery.  You are responsible for what you put in your mouth.  Nobody said it would be a breeze but it’s way better than the chance you had without the surgery.  Can you imagine losing all that weight on your own?  You have a real chance for life now….don’t blow it by making bad choices.  It’s like a 5 year old that goes by the candy isle and says “mommy I want this and that".  Be the mommy that says no to your 5 year old inside.  Do whatever is absolutely necessary to accompli****  Keep it out of your house.  If you see it at a party, go the other way.  Do whatever you need to do because you are worth it OK?  Let me know if you have any questions.

Many blessings, Y