Question:
How do you deal with getting the weight issues out of your head?

I am 3 1/2 years post. I would have thought by now the worrying would be gone. I started out at 285. I am 5'7" and 150 pounds (give or take 2). I consciously stay at that weight, it is no piece of cake to do so. How do other long term post-ops deal with the obsession, anxiety, or worry about food, weight, and regain? Is therapy the answer? A maintenence dose of Meridia to get food off the brain? Or is it antianxiety/depression medications? I am ready for a break from worrying about food. My weight has been a major issue for most of my 31 years, I can't seem to shake the "issues" surrounding it even thought I am now "thin". Thanks, Chris    — Chris L. (posted on April 23, 2003)

April 23, 2003
I am only 3+ months out and have had great success but the failure demons are always lurking. I do go to a post-op group therapy weekly that has been awesome. I don't think that just losing weight changes years of screwy thinking when it comes to food and our bodies. My surgeon, among others, has an interesting theory that many MO people have some degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I am in therapy to avoid taking meds but many post ops I know do take them with great success. OCD can create a lot of anxiety and depression. I would at least have a consult with a therapist well versed in WLS. Good Luck! If you can find a group I think it is even better than individual unless you feel that you have some serious issues to deal with. You would be surprised that it probably won't take years of therapy to get you feeling more comfortable. I also see a nutritionist weekly an that is just as helpful having someone telling me that I am doing it right each week. It also keeps me off the scale. (My issue :)!)
   — Carol S.

April 23, 2003
Chris, I am 13 months PO so I guess I am not LONG term but getting there :) Personally I had to sit down and tell myself this "When I went into this surgery I had spent nearly 30 years of my life battling fat. Diet after diet and failure after failure. This surgery was my last and greatest hope. I told myself when I went in this was not another diet, I had beaten myself up long enough. I am not going to fail, I am not going to think I am going to fail, and I am not going to let myself fail." When I finally stopped letting my brain think of this surgery as another diet plan, and started thinking of it as a new lease on life the major obsession stopped. HOWEVER, I do not think any of us will ever totally get over it. We spent years being beaten down by ourselves and others, no one would expect any other "abuse" sufferer to just "get over it". Love yourself for now, if tomorrow you gain, then the day after you loose :) Also, I only hit the scale now if my clothes feel uncomfortable. Weight is not everything, as long as my clothes fit...woohoo **13 mth PO, -200lbs, crt wgt 120lbs**
   — smedley200

April 24, 2003
Chris, Great question, hopefully some more post-ops farther out then both you and I will pop on in on this question, I too have problems with the food demons, it's an everyday battle, I've been doing good so far, how-ever everyone has there weak days. Mine is usually 1 day a week, I guess in the end it'll even out.......... Chris, a thing you might want to check into, I was prescribed Wellbutrin, and it's helped somewhat, when I take it regularly, I find myself not hungry at all..... I was using it from the mild depression that I went threw 2 times, after both the Open RYN and then the Lap Gallbaldder ,seems everytime I'm put under, after a couple of months, I'm put into a depression mode..... Hope it helps. Post op 11 months down 128 pounds
   — tannedtigress

April 24, 2003
Chris, congrats on maintaining your weight for more than 3 years, that gives inspiration to those of us behind you. I am 14 months out and worry constantly that I will not be able to maintain my weight loss. I am still 7 pounds from goal and considering plastics, but I weigh myself every day and make adjustments if the scale goes up, which it does on occasion. I feel anxious unless I weigh myself daily, almost as if I am afraid that this journey will end, and the scale will start going the other way, because, after all, I have never kept the weight off before! It's understandable that we would worry though, after all, like you with your 31 years, we all have long histories of having failed. I think a healthy dose of worry about food and regain is OK, however, if it becomes obsessive then perhaps therapy would help. How bout a support group? Have you also been over to yahoo groups-OSSG Graduates to see how the long term post-ops handle it there?
   — Cindy R.