CraftyChristie

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I was having "buyers remorse" there for a while.

Tiff, as usual, you are spot-on in your comments. I am not spiritual in nature, but read a post over on OH today that snapped me back into reality.

I don't have to give up food. I can channel my love of cooking into finding ways to make healthy fare for my family (not that I don't now, I am a volume eater and a snacker).

I will admit though, I am still going to miss my glass of vino while cooking (that is my muse)!

Thanks again for the support everyone!

Hey hun. Have you seen the blog 'the world according to eggface'?? She had bypass I think, but she loves preparing foods and her blog is all these healthy and creative dishes she makes, what she eats, how she packs her lunch etc and I find it so helpful. (She has other things too.)

Looking at that might make you see ways you can channel your love of food and cooking after surgery. Also, maybe you would enjoy creating your OWN blog like this! A place to share food, recipes, photos and that would give you another way to channel your creative energy. I hope this helps.

Jerry, I posted about the same thing not too long ago. Before hubby and I even got our surgery dates, just knowing we had decided to do the surgery we started pigging out. It got better for a while but now that I know my surgery is in 6 days (May 20th) I'm doing it again. Everyone chimed in when I posted to say they went through this too. I talked to my aunt who had gastric bypass in 1999 and she went through that too. If it encourages you at all, she is still thin and has still kept off her weight, despite 'no self control' prior to surgery. Same with my friend Brandy, she told me she went through that too, and she has kept off more than 100 lbs for 7 years now.

I think we all go through this because if we had lots of self control, we wouldn't get to the point of needing surgery. I don't believe it means you won't be able to change!! If you are really feeling bad, maybe try eating really healthy for Breakfast and lunch and Snacks, and having 'goodbye' pig out meals at dinner (or whichever meal you want but you know what I mean.) It may not be the best, but at least you're not going all out for every single thing you eat. I think this is a lot like saying goodbye to a friend, it's familiar, it's what we know. You need to go through that grieving process. Believe in yourself, you will be able to change and this is just part of that process.

hey hun... don't know if this is necessarily true for you but for me when i experience heartburn, i get pain across my middle upper back. When your chest gets tight, so do your back muscles across from your chest because they are all connected. Sometimes you may feel the back pain without feeling it in your chest. I am not sure why yogurt would give you heartburn but this is my gut feeling because I've experienced it. Next time you get that pain, try an acid reducer pill, or chewable pepto tablets, or drink some milk (or all of the above) and it should go away pretty quickly. If in doubt ask your doctor!

Hi sweetie! I sure hope he will come around. It takes different amounts of time for people. Some are on board right away, and some might not be until later when they can see it's going to work and you are doing well. In the meantime you have all of us :tongue_smilie:

Congrats!!!! Mine is going to be the 20th so I'll be right there with ya!

Congratulations! There is something so perfect about it being the 1st of the month! A whole new beginning! Will be thinking of you.

Congratulations!! That's great news! There has definitely been an emotional roller coaster for me so far... I think its normal and we all go through it. Best wishes!

Thank you so much everybody!! Tomorrow I'll be running around to get Vitamins and Protein and everything else I want to have before surgery. I'm getting excited. AND my husband got approval from work so he can have his surgery 2 weeks after me!! He just has to call the coordinator back tomorrow and confirm his date for sure!

How's it going Rachel???

Wow today has been a whirlwind. Hubby and I had or consult with the surgeon... and since I'm self pay and had all of my appointments done, I got to schedule my surgery for a week from tomorrow!!! Holy cow I was not expecting that. I am really excited, but there's also a lot to do!

My preop diet is just basically one day of Clear liquids the day before surgery (yay!), but also going to try to do more Protein and less carbs for the next week in preparation just to help my body adjust.

I'm so excited that this is going to happen so soon! On Tuesday I have my pulmonary testing, my preadmission stuff at the hospital and my pre-op appointment with the surgeon,and then my surgery will be Thursday!

Seriously my head is spinning!:001_unsure:

I think everyone is different... but for me the scale has been a source of emotional rollercoaster-ing. So I am choosing not to weigh very often. In the first few weeks I am only going to weigh at my follow up appointments at 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks. After that hubby and I have talked about doing weigh ins, progress photos, and measurements once a month, either on the first so we can do it together, or on the monthly 'surgaversary' of our respective surgery dates.

I truly believe if you wait long enough between weigh-ins (a month or so), you will always have a loss of some sort to be happy about. If not, you can reevaluate some things I guess... but at least for me I think this is a good plan. I want to focus more on what I'm DOING (food, exercise), how I'm FEELING (less pain, more energy), and what clothes I am fitting into because I have boxes of smaller clothes in my garage. Those things are why I'm doing this - the number is not the reason I am doing this so why should it matter so much??!

With all that said, I think you have to know your SELF and find what works for YOU because we are all different.

Today is my last day to eat real food. I start my preop diet tomorrow. I am going to eat all of my favorite foods today! For Breakfast, I am having a piece of cheesecake and a mocha frap... for lunch, Mexican food, and for dinner I am going to a steakhouse! Don't lecture me... I know these are terrible choices, but I'm (thankfully) never gonna be able to eat like this again Happy Monday!

Sounds like an awesome last day. I haven't thought about that yet but I think Famous Dave's will be my last dinner :lol0: hehe

Girl I keep checking your blog for updates!!!

Also has this doc done more sleeves than the ones here in Denver?

This is great news Lisa! Can you tell me more about the Dr? We have our consult today but if for any reason we don't go with Dr Snyder, I will probably follow you! Also what is 36 fr and why is it important? Thanks babe.

I haven't read all the posts so forgive me if I repeat something but here is my 2 cents Did you catch the Biggest Loser this week? The contestants look back on videos of themselves in the beginning and it seems like it's not until that moment that they realize how far they've come. They've lost 100+ pounds and know they are different but until they really SEE it, it doesn't hit them. I think before photos - videos - meaurements - anything and everything is very important to the process so that you can accept mentally and emotionally that you have changed for the better and really SEE that.

I am planning to do some non-traditional before photos (in addition to the regular shots you see).. things like me behind the wheel of my car, me sitting in the kitchen table chair, me sitting in the bathtub... I don't know, whatever I can think of so that later on I can re-take those and see how much less space I take up in those situations and realize how much more comfortable things are for me. I'll have the regular front, side, back shots also but I think these other things will be more eye opening to compare.

Also as a side note not having anything to do with progress photos... I am over 300 lbs and I've never stopped taking my own photo or being in other people's pics. It's not because I think I look awesome LOL... it's just that I realized this IS my life, and it needs to be documented...and I also don't want to take away from other people's happiness who love me and want me in their photos. I'd say the number of photos of me has decreased some, but at least every month there are some. I'm really into photography too - AND scrapbooking - and to me documenting these things is just really important. I hope you can find it within yourself to change your mindset and become a part of your own life story again BEST WISHES and HUGS!

Wow, my consult is today so some of these are getting added to MY list of questions!

Tiffy - for #4 and #7... what do I WANT to hear from him? I don't know which size is best or which type of suture is preferred.

Karen - good luck! I will come back and chime in after my own consult today if I have good questions that come up and I'll add them

It may seem like there are a lot of hoops to jump through, but it's all for a reason - they want to make sure people who have surgery are willing to do what it takes... and they also need to know a lot about your health to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery and that they can get you through it. Just hang in there - it will all be worth it in the end! :drool:

Wishing you all the best! Can't wait to hear how you're doing in a day or two! :drool:

Wow am I glad I came upon this thread. I so identify with everything expressed here. The masking of my feelings and years of using food to quiet my yearnings...having this surgery I've been unmasked and now must face myself and the issues sort of head on. I think I'll check out that book too.

YES! If we don't face these things it will be very hard to maintain success. I hope you will like the book it truly changed me. Hugs.

Oh and also!! The authors have a website and some of the important aspects of the book are on there, if you want a preview of it to see if it resonates with you.

http://www.intuitiveeating.com/

The "10 Principles" is pretty much an outline and the whole book is based on that so give that a read, and there is a quiz you can take too.

Christie - can I ask which particular book you had? I've done a search and there are so many with more or less the same title.... I'd be interested to get hold of a copy.

Kathy

Hi Kathy! Sure thing. The one I read is called "Intuitive Eating : A Revolutionary Program that Works" by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I found this book so helpful I bought copies for my mom, best friend, and husband. It really helped me to change the way I look at things. Here is the link to where you can purchase it on Amazon. It's only $10.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/0312321236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273627469&sr=1-1]Intuitive Eating on Amazon[/ame]

How did your appointments go today?

Hey everyone and thank you so much for the feedback... it's nice to know others have experienced the same feelings! I got away for the weekend and really helped me calm down... but now my appointment is TOMORROW! So I am feeling nervous but luckily not quite as nervous as I was feeling before

Hi there. So my husband and I have our consult with the surgeon coming up on May 12th. It's getting close and suddenly I am feeling extremely nervous! I don't typically experience a lot of anxiety but I am right now. Just thinking about it has my heart rate elevated and my breathing quicker! I am not nervous about the surgery itself whatsoever. What's making me nervous is that this appointment is going to give me all the answers.. and what if I don't like them? We have been working hard to get our dr appointments, records, psych, etc done before this appointment and hoping that we can schedule our surgeries during this appointment. We are going to be self pay so we don't have to wait on insurance approval... so it should all go smoothly right??? But for some reason I'm scared that it won't. I'm scared they will say no to us having surgery, or it will be a huge delay, or SOMETHING will come up. For some reason I feel like I would just be crushed. This is so silly :-P

Just needed to vent I guess. Thank you in advance for any replies - just FYI going out of town for 3 days so please don't be offended that I won't reply for a while!

Welcome Edie! Thanks for sharing your story. I am the same way and I only weigh myself once in a while. After surgery I will weigh no more than once a week and I may even stick to only at doctor's appointments. The scale can easily affect how you view your progress and I plan to focus on what **I** am doing right, what I can improve upon, how I am feeling, etc without letting the # on the scale affect everything. I see too many people (including my former self!) obsess over every little action because of what the # on the scale says. I think it's fantastic that you are teaching this to your daughter, too!!!

Glad to hear you had such a speedy recovery - that gives the rest of us some hope that maybe it will be the same for us!