Changing old habits
Hi,
I am not sure what your name is, but I feel that WLS is a tool and you have to
be willing to work with it or you can damage your self, for example get sick.
After having this surgery almost 2 weeks ago, my whole attitude has changed, I
care about what goes into my new stomach. Like I explained to my family before
the surgery I could not see the outcome of what I was doing to my self by over
eating and binging. After having this surgery I am more aware what the outcome
might be, I know if I dont follow the rules about WLS, I could hurt my self,
by stretching out my new stomach, I dont want that to happen so that is the
first thing I think about when I look at food or smell it. WLS is not for
everyone and you really have to be willing to change your life and the way
food fits in it after surgery. You have to be read mentally and physically and
you have to do it for the right reasons and only you know what those reasons
are. I want to wish you luck on your WLS journey and Good Luck, even though it
has only been a week and a half I am sure feeling great about my decision.
Michelle C.
OPEN RNY - July 23, 2003
318/???
I’ve been researching WLS and there’s something I don’t totally
understand. It seems like for the surgery to be as successful as
possible, you need to follow certain rules about eating (eg. minimize
snacking and empty calories, eat slowly and chew your food well) and
you also need to exercise. But if I’ve never been able in the past
to follow rules about eating or to stick with a regular exercise
program - how does that change after the surgery? Obviously it does
change for a lot of people - I’m just trying to understand how. For
those of you who have successfully changed old habits after the
surgery, how much of it was related to the physical change in the
size of your stomach and how much of it was psychological? I’m
interested to hear your thoughts…
May 31st, 2006 at 12:39 pm
I think that most everyone will tell you that WLS is not a cure but a
tool. A highly effective tool but a tool none the less.
The surgery gives you a head start - two, three, six months while you
body heals and you become accustomed
to the things you can and can’t do in regards to eating because of the
fact that you now have a stomach the size of your
thumb (depending on your choice of surgeries and your surgeon) So for
the first part you have a physical change that keeps
you form eating anywhere near what you are accustomed to. After that
you have to deal with the habitual/psychological
factors that got you to the point of contemplating WLS. It is up to
you. You can take advantage of the head start WLS
gives you and modify your life style or not. But the physical changes
in your body and the rapid weight loss you will
experience tend to make you want to continue the process. You will have
more energy as the weight comes off and
therefore can do more things and want to do more things just because you
can. It can be a very exilarating experience.
I personally found that the old habits started to rear their ugly heads
at about two and a half to three months post op and
I was scared to death that all the money I had had to pay to get it done
because I wasn’t covered by Canadian insurance
and the experience of the surgery itself would be lost if I let myself
succumb to the “head hunger” and old eating patterns.
So I took steps to help myself get past them - for me it was Hypnosis
and Acupuncture - things that I can now afford
because my grocery bill is so low.
I should say that I’m just 20 weeks/ 5 months post op. I was a real
couch potato - still am a bit but last month (the 4th mo)
I suddenly started to want to do more for my body (big shock to me
because I have hated exercise for exercise sake my
entire life) and I signed up for Pilates classes and now that Curves is
coming to town, I have joined there too. So having
from a similar place as you describe in terms of following rules I just
wanted to let you know that there is hope.
In the end though it does come down to you and how much you want this
to happen.
I’m sure there are others here on the list who have had more experience
and can add to what I’ve said or had different
experiences.
Good luck with your decision.
Wendy
Lap RNY 03/06/03
Dr Jill Enders
325/234/?145?
June 2nd, 2006 at 2:53 pm
Well in some ways your right…..it’s a way of changing things, a new way of
eating and such. But the huge difference between this and old way of dieting
and food plans is that you are truly only allowed to eat a minimal amount of
food at a time. If you just use common sense, and look at times at labels if
unsure of things, you’ll do fine. As I said in another post, for me what
changed is that I no longer live to eat. Thus get togethers and that still
consist of food but I don’t desire no longer to hang over the food and eat it
all. I eat now to substain life. Nothing special, no specific way, just my own
way. I think for me, it’s worked very successfully with having almost a 250 lb.
loss by my two year post-op anniversary. With the weight loss you’ll find out
you will have all this extra engery. In fact people often tell me that I drive
them nuts cause they were used to me sitting alot (really had to back then) but
now I’m all over the place, and I LOVE IT! As for me psychologically I think
it took awhile to truly believe this was the end of dieting and that these
pounds will stay off. After life being obese and all we go through the fear of
failure is extremely high for many of us. As for excercising…..I always hated
it and never followed a program for long. Now I start for the pleasure and it
gives me a boast of energy, strange I know but I get a boast out of movement
now….go figure. Hope this helps you out abit to understand from my
viewpoint.
paulette - EgleRose13@… (feel free to privately email me)
Dr. Newhoff, AZ WLS Fri. 7/20/01-7:30am Dr. Wiener Reconstructive PS
(panni) 5/19/03 Start wt.483 Present wt. 235 lbs. Total Loss: 248 lbs.
“When you can’t deal with the day, deal with the moment…Time is too short,
Life is so very precious, don’t waste it!”