Recent Posts

Welcome Miss Redd!  It's so nice to see all the new members joining and so much positive energy in this forum! 

It feels good to know that many of us experience the same psychological aspects of life after weight loss surgery. I agree that more research needs to be completed and more programs need to be made available for the psychological side of life after major weight loss. I truly believe in therapy before, during and after weight loss surgery. 

I’ve been saying for the past few years that we need a comprehensive program that encompasses life before surgery (Something like OA, food addiction) and then life after surgery.  How do we continue to deal with those addictions through recovery and encompass the new physical being? How do we teach our minds to adjust to the new person, mentally, physically, spiritually? How do we view and accept our new bodies, embrace what we have accomplished and celebrate it? How do you let go of the old you, accept the new you and not dwell on the past, the old behaviors and the stinking thinking? We know the surgery was an operation on our stomach’s not our heads so how do we fix the head part???

I think this is a good place to share those feelings, have the ability to talk openly, bounce ideas off of each other and give the support that we all need! Those are also some deep seeded questions that may need to be addressed with a professional but for now here are some of my personal thoughts:

What if we approached our new lives after weight loss surgery like the transformation of a butterfly? Close your eyes and imagine walking out of your old cocoon into your new body and picture this brightly colored beautiful butterfly with its wings extended out as far as you can imagine and no physical barriers in the way. Now take a deep breath and say to yourself it’s time to fly out into the world with the wind in my hair, the freedom to go anywhere and do anything and be the person I want to be?

In the words of Miss Redd “Join life"! Why are we still in the garage? What is holding us back? It’s time to open the garage door, turn on the ignition and GO……

Thanks again to Yvonne for bringing back the positive energy, letting me join such a wonderful group of people and reminding me why I originally joined OH many moons ago!

Success!

and it didn't take that long... woo hoo ran downstairs found it and ran back up.... hey and I'm not even out of breath!!! woo hoo!

Ok - the title of the book is:

FEELING GOOD   The New Mood Therapy 

Author is: David D. Burns, MD.

He has included Dr. Beck's Depression Inventory a multiple choice questionairre to help a person to determine at what level of depression they may be experiencing. They range from normal ups & downs-
*mild mood disturbances
*Borderline clinical depression
*moderate Depression
*Severe
*Extreme Depression
each level is assigned a numeric value and any consistent number higher than 17 (borderline) it is recommended to seek professional help.

In another part of the book he talks about our AUTOMATIC responses to situations. Then shows how these are cognitively distorted and how we can teach ourselves to  have RATIONAL responses.

Even though this is an older book... It is excellent.

I highly recommend it.

Saara...
 I have to go dig through my books.... forgot the title of a book that helped me very much. Learned a number of techniques that I still try to apply in my daily life. It helps! 

look for my next post....   now if i can do something for my foggy brain.....

KATHY!  

YOU LOOK MARVELOUS!!!!  and once again we are at the SAME WEIGHT!  I've been breaking up my goal differently than you- but we seem to be on the same track!!!! 

Keep up the FANSTASTIC WORK!!!!


woo hoo to us  <------ these are PROTEIN shakes people!!!!

I loved what everyone said.  OK first, here's something I am giving to you so that you can give it away and beware, they will not want it!  Pretty soon you will not be the holder of this trophy anymore and when you give it away you will not be getting it back!!  EVER AGAIN!


Something I'll bet you'll be surprised about is the size of most of the people in Vegas.  Are you afraid of meeting new people that are related to your husband's business?  If you aren't then I want to share a small part of a blog post I did about what other people think about us.  First realize that people in Vegas will never see you again....at least not in the way they will see you this time right?  Think about this as the last hurrah!!  This is it! This is the last trip that you'll be worrying about this.  So with that being said I want you to read this:

If having others believing in you and your dream was a requirement for success, most of us would never accomplish anything. We need to base our decisions about what we want to do on our goals and desires, not the goals, desires, opinions and judgments of your parents, friends, spouse, children and co-workers. Quit worrying what other people think about you and follow your heart. Most of the time nobody’s thinking about you at all! They are too busy worrying about their own lives and if they are thinking about you at all, they are wondering what you are thinking about them! Think about it….all the time you are wasting worrying about what other people think about your ideas, your goals, your clothes, your hair, and your home could be better spent on thinking about and doing the things that will achieve your goals.

Now regarding clothes.  Accessories make the girl!!  Scarfs are great, costume jewelry is great.  Dress up the clothes you already have and it makes them look like new.  Carry yourself with pride because you ARE a beautiful unique person that has this thin person inside that is about to break out!  In no time you will look back on this Vegas trip and say SO WHAT!

One more thing....the people that truly care for you like my best friend for 30 something years.  She told me she sees me as "Yvonne".....not fat Yvonne or fat Yvonne.  If someone doesn't like you because of your size, cross them off your list.  They do not matter because why would you want to spend even a moment ....to let them rent space in your head when they can't see the beautiful unique person you are.   We see you! (even if you cut open frogs)  just kidding!!!  I hope  am able to express exactly what I'm trying to say.  I don't want you to feel any shame for who you are right now.  Give it a few months but just like when JEllen came in to the group...I loved her the moment she joined and now that she's almost skinny, she's still the same person...just smaller.  Does that make sense?  You go to Vegas and have a celebration for the life you are leaving behind and the one you are about to enter.  Don't regret it and have a blast OK?
Many hugs, Y