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As I understand it, there is a certain amount of bounce back to be expected. Maybe it was 10 percent. I certainly don't want to fall back into self hatred because I lost 90 percent instead of 100 percent. I guess I am saying that for me personally I will set my goal at 100 percent but relax if I only eat meet 90 percent.
Also there is a therapy called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT. "Skinny Jeans" is a program designed by a woman who struggled with weight and who uses the technique of tapping (EFT) to help eliminate cravings.
Anyone can learn it and it is a body mind awareness training that goes beyond mental understanding and heals beyond conversation, when the time is right for you.
Google it to find out more,and there are videos about it on You Tube, or e-mail me off forum.

I don't know if anyone is still interested in my back and forth mental chatter about whether or not to have WSL, but thought I would check in anyway.
Three weeks ago I got to my pre-surgery goal weight and promptly decided against surgery -- for the time being. I felt like I was suffocating and locked in to so many rules and restrictions but of course without any of the dramatic weight loss either! On this side of surgery, I can only imagine the protocols but not the weight loss. I am sure it makes a big difference, yet cannot imagine it.
Yesterday I was in a discount store looking for clothing in size 2x or 3x. There were/was about 3 feet of clothing on the rack that was my size. It made me sad to see how restricted I am in my clothing selections. Even size 16 and 18 had more clothing available. I got tired of seeing the rolls of fat show through the dresses I tried on.
I spoke to my shrink who was frank when I asked him about WLS. He tries to discourage people because it is a surgery! I felt an odd sense of relief. I had someone's permission not to proceed -- at least for now. It surprised the heck out of me that I felt very depressed after I made the decision. I guess the thought of having a regular body size was providing me with some hope and putting a bit of lift in my step
After changing my mind 2 weeks ago, I still try to stick to the pre-op food plan in hopes to continuing to make progress. When I could cheat, I did. I gained back 2# of the hard fought pounds I had lost.
I have given myself a new deadline by which to decide. Originally, I wanted to hurry up and get it done this summer, but I am certainly not mentally prepared!
I decided I would do a low carb (not a no carb) food plan in the meantime. I decided that I would give it a go. My new goal: 1500 calories a day so that I can achieve a 12 pound weight loss by November 1st.
Come November I will re-evaluate things. I would still like to weight 150 in a year. I will be 62 in February so I cannot dilly dally indefinitely because surgery risk will increase. The good news is that, unlike 20 year olds getting surgery, I won't have to eat this way for the next 40 - 60 years! Twisted, yes.

I am back on track towards surgery. I found a leader facilitated support group where I feel safe and cared about. Most of my caution probably has to do with being a "good" student in school and always doing my HW.

I am kinda still waiting for my HS sweetheart :-D. and also to reach preop goal wt. I am 61.

Feel less pressure on my chest when I try to go to sleep at night
Eliminate some of the extra aches and pains I get in the morning when I first wake up
Buy a smaller car and save on gas
Not be ashamed to go to church and have people see me
Stop wondering if everybody has
noticed that I'm fat
Stop getting lectures from family that if I only exercisedI would feel better
Being able to wear shoes that are not double wide
Not Having to buy clothes online
Being able to move to my life make more grace and ease
Taking pride in who I am

Feel less pressure on my chest when I try to go to sleep at night
Eliminate some of the extra aches and pains I get in the morning when I first wake up
Buy a smaller car and save on gas
Not be ashamed to go to church and have people see me
Stop wondering if everybody has
noticed that I'm fat
Stop getting lectures from family that if I only exercisedI would feel better
Being able to wear shoes that are not double wide
Not Having to buy clothes online
Being able to move to my life make more grace and ease
Taking pride in who I am

Work out every day until surgery. Walk for at least 30 minutes at a moderate pace.
Lose 10-15 lbs or more on your own before surgery, even if it is not required by your program/surgeon.
Go on the clear, sugar-free, caffeine free liquid diet for at least 3 days leading into surgery, even if it is not required by your program/surgeon.
*If you haven't been working out steadily and haven't lost any weight before surgery, strongly consider the 14-day liver shrinking diet, which is basically two low-carb Protein Shakes and a low-carb dinner.< br /> Strive to follow pre and post-guidance to the letter. You will probably screw up a little somewhere, but don't we all?
Choose the right program/surgeon, if you have a choice. That means someone you are comfortable with and that you have researched to your satisfaction.
Reduce your stress. Don't worry. I was honestly not worried about the surgery itself, at all. I had my tonsils out last year -- that's a tough recovery as an adult. The surgery isn't what you should worry about, you're in, you're out and you're done. Worry about preparing for surgery so you can have a quick and successful recovery.

I do this constantly. The closer the funds get, the more I convince myself its not right for me. I seem to be focusing totally on all the negatives posted. However, we will see soon as I just recv'd my passport!

I agree, the only person that can decide if this is the right decision, is yourself. It may not be the right time for you, and the right time may or may not come. When I had made the final decision...it was my health, not my mind, that had me backed into a corner! Although I was in the opposite corner of you! Surgery was my last ditch effort at losing weight, I had failed at all other attempts. If you are young enough, maybe you have a choice. It seems that at some point age and health leave you with NO choice. Vanity is not even in the equation.

I think that you are wise to consider this very carefully. It is a tremendous step. There are some bad things along with the good. As we hear over and over this is just a tool to help lose the weight. It is suppose to help us with the discipline we need. I don't think anyone wants to eat all that Protein, take all those vits., be on liquids for a month and mushies and then softs for that long either, but we have to do it if we decide to have the surgery. But I read over and over on here how many people have been successful and are so very happy they had the surgery. I am still one full liquid until tomorrow and I still wonder sometimes what have I done, but I have lost 22lbs since the 10th of July so it is working and I plan for it to continue. I wanted to back out going into the surgical suite, I just closed my eyes and gave it to God, and here I am. I hope you make the right decision for you.

This also happened to me as well. I wasn't sure I could do it when I had already paid half the money but then I realized why I took the decision in the first place and remembered how I didn't want to feel. I remembered that it is a pattern of mine to pull back every time somethings too good to be true in a way. I decided that if it was only fear that was stopping me I wan't going to let it.

High fructose corn Syrup is MUCH sweeter than sugar and that is no accident. It also creates more craving for more corn syrup. Of the 2 poisons, sugar is the lesser of evils. Read your ingredient labels before you feel weak. At least you will have a slight head start. The american public did not request that food manufacturers add large quantities of high fructose corn syrup to so many of our foods. And when I think of it this way I get angry enough to avoid corn syrup just on the principle of the thing. Remember back to when the tobacco industry conspired against the public saying cigarettes were not ADDICTING? I hope one day corn syrup will exposed as a way the public has been manipulated for food industry profit. Sorry for the soap box. I too am a sugar addict.
A private theory of mine is that if someone suffers from a candida yeast overgrowth, the yeast cry out to be fed sugar. And every other day I find myself back slipping back to sugar and feel temporary relief.
On other boards, I notice some people's cravings are lessened by taking L-Glutamine and Selenium.

**Not having to say I''m sorry when I try to squeeze past someone in a narrow aisle, and end up bumping into them
**shopping for bras online that have the size cup I wear
**Being able to sit up in in bed without having to rock my body up so I can hoist my legs over the edge to create ensure momentum to get out of the bed successfully.
**Keeping my floors clean because it's not a major aerobics exercise to bend over to pick up things
**after a blind date when I am told there's no chemistry,
NOT wondering if it's really because I am morbidly obese.
**Not having to describe myself on Match. Com as being "full figured."
**
** never having to shop in the Avenue or Lane Bryant. and being forced to buy polyester instead of silks and and rayon.
Being able to sit directly on the floor to meditate in satsang.
Throwing out my pair of $ 200 custom orthotics because my Feet no longer hurt.
**No longer having to order shoes in double wide.
Being strong enough to keep up on a 5 mile Sierra Club hike
And lastly, enjoy inhabiting my new body. and feeling proud of my hard work.

Quinoa for breakfast: cinnamon, cardamom, nuts or raisins with SF flavored syrups on top.

Protien pudding... Do you like pudding? Make a box of suger free fat free pudding with skim milk and add 2 scoops of protien powder when mixing it up. TONS of protien in a small amount of pudding. It's an easy way to get the protien in.

To NOT be smothered by my own boobs when lying down

I am happy for you that you have internalized listening to your body for true hunger clues coupled with incorporating good habits. You are amazing

Jay Robb Protein vanilla, strawberry and choco. I hear his other two flavors are also great.

I took a risk told a friend about my decision to get weight loss surgery. Before I could even finished she smiled and nodded and said she knew a friend who had it done. She said it changed her friends life and her friend looks fabulous.

My world has gotten smaller the heavier I've gotten so I stay indoors and restrict my activities. I am 61 with sleep apnea and that is the only medical illness I have related to my obesity. And I want it to stay that way. As I mentioned before on earlier boards, I want to be active in my golden years. I have been unemployed off and on for 3 years and think that my weight has something to do with that. So in summary I would say the following percentages:
Mobility, activity level: 30%
Employability: 40%
Pride/confidence: 30%.
Thank you for posing the question.

to me it would be like smoking a cigarette for me. The ONLY reason why I quit smoking was for this surgery. I enjoy smoking and when I saw someone else doing it I would get SOO jealous and my mod would totally change for the first few months. Now I am fine but it took those first few months of frustration to get over it. BTW. we had our fun ... years of eating fried food and sugar laden sweets. we knew that train ws going to have to end. GOOD LUCK