kfinity

Yesterday food as anything more than nutrition. The opportunity cost, the trade-off of having my stomach reduced in order to lose weight, is that I can no longer satisfy the void(s) in my life with food.
I should rejoice, yes? This is what I wanted so desperately, right? Now I finally have a tool to help me lose weight. So why should I even consider a loss of anything other than pounds??
For anyone who does not struggle with food addiction and over-eating, this is probably incomprehensible. But to anyone who can relate, to anyone considering taking the so-called easy way out (i.e., weight loss surgery), this is definitely something to consider.Mexico for weight loss surgery, and counseling was not offered.
Psst!!! I didn't really think I needed it anyway.
But now, as the days go by and I continue to heal and get back to living life, I find that the thing that used to provide a source of comfort/peace/familiarity/companionship is gone. I mentioned before that it's kind of like mourning the loss of something or someone, and it is so true! I find that now I have a lot of free time, because what I used to do just doesn't work anymore. I can't watch TV and really plug into it like I used to. I didn't know the food I was eating while watching TV was such a huge factor.
Don't get me wrong. I am so glad I had the surgery. I don't regret it at all, because with it I can change my life. But that doesn't change the fact that, without food, I feel a little lost. I'm out here on my own now. My old friend Food, is gone. And while that is most certainly what I wanted, I didn't consider the opportunity cost of not having that scapegoat.
So what do I do now?? I ask myself. Living a Redux Life is about more than lip service. Now that I don't have my food crutch to lean on, I have to stand on my own two feet. And that's...scary. I now have to face my life, rather than be numb to it.
And I want to! Yet at the same time, I don't want to...
The opportunity cost of having weight loss surgery is that if food has meaning in your life other than nutrition--and let's face it, if we only used food for nutrition we wouldn't be in this situation--then you MUST do the work of evaluating how you will navigate your world once you don't have that source of comfort.
What will you do when you are uneasy with your surroundings? Eat slider foods? Start consuming more alcohol? Or will you finally get your head and heart in the game and do the work to resolve your issues?
If you can answer those questions BEFORE surgery, then perhaps the opportunity cost won't be so high. And maybe this "tool" won't feel so much like a hammer, but more like a massage.

The point is not to actually reach that number, but to put into our minds that we need to chew our food more. As obese folk, a common issue is inhaling food. I have to believe the mechanical aspects of the stomach digestion process is somewhat affected by having 85% of the stomach removed. Chewing more is not only a habit of skinnier folk, but will aid in the digestion and therefore absorption of food.
Can't be a bad thing ... right?

Well, if we do, we can start a new topic. Sleeve-smackers...LOL!!!