DuchessD

This is very good info, Alex. Thank you. I wanted to add a few things that people may want to consider. I am 12-yrs out from gastric bypass and I believe can speak to some of the long term effects on nutrition of the altered anatomy.
Several years ago, I cannot recall when, I developed celiac disease and then lactose intolerance, both with causal links to gastric bypass.
I also suffered Iron deficiency anemia about two years after I stopped taking iron supplements under the advice of a bariatric surgeon (not my surgeon). It took a very long time for me to begin feeling normal and an even longer time for my blood work to normalize.
More recently I was having very disruptive digestive issues which went on for 4-months or so and are yet to be diagnosed -- although I have received lots of theories -- but there is no doubt in my mind they are related to my gastric bypass. There were times that the pain was so bad that I nearly went to the ER or felt as though I would pass out. I should add that all of my nutritional labs were good, I even tested trace minerals, because I take a boatload of supplements.
What seemed to help were the following:
Two different digestive enzymes and an herbal hepacleanse from a naturopathic doctor as well as energy work/massage to release blockages. I also added Probiotics, zyflamend, powdered magnesium citrate that gets added to Water, psyllium husk that gets added to water, and super aloe in capsules. And I upped my consumption of mineral water (versus spring water). And lest I not forget that I added prayer and meditation -- the mind body spirit connection is real.
Finally the inflammation, bloating, upper abdominal PAIN, constipation, abdominal distention, lower bowel PAIN seem to be resolved.
I hopes this helps someone!

Kelly,



Thanks for your article. It is so true that we all have an inner beast. The first instinct is to give in to it, like we did before surgery, and we can’t really do that because the consequences are so severe and quick! The second instinct is to try to ignore the voice or pretend it doesn’t exist…but it does, and running from it will just lead to trouble.



As you say, the best thing is to recognize it. I love how you name it (“the beast”) so you can face it head-on. What a great strategy! When you recognize, define, and face your enemy, you can defeat it. You can strategize how not to give in to the voice. Thanks for the valuable lesson!

Self-sabotage may still live inside us, but it's not US.




We’re alive, and most of us want to stay that way. Fundamentally, underneath all of the noise and the preferences and the prejudices we just want to live as comfortably as possible for as long as possible. We want to be able to play in the world with the stuff we like and the people we love doing the things we want to be doing for as many years as we can. For most of us, this is our deepest truth. It makes sense that our fundamental drive, then, is to act in ways that keep us strong and healthy. It's this drive that inspired most of us to have - or explore the possibility of having - weight loss surgery.
Post-op, many of us realize that we still have something in us that wants to keep us from getting or staying strong and healthy. We still hear the voice of self-sabotage. When faced with the choice to follow through with or disregard a commitment we’ve made to ourselves and our health, it still chimes in with “Oh, screw it,” or “It’s not worth it,” or “Maybe later.” If you’re anything like me, it takes every chance it gets to slap me with “Exercise? Eating well? Who exactly do you think you’re kidding?”
Sabotaging efforts to take better care of ourselves has always worked against us, but after surgery, turning a blind eye to our nutrition plan, skimping on sleep, failing to take supplements, and / or not following our doctor's orders can have way more serious - and more immediately life-threatening, consequences.
The voice urging us to disregard our post-op commitments is not our voice, and the sooner we allow ourselves to recognize that voice as a separate entity, the better. I call my self-sabotaging voice the Beast, and when I remember that it’s the beat’s voice urging me to quit, or not even try, I can listen critically instead of just going with the flow, and doing (or not doing) whatever it suggests. Seeing the beast as separate from me gives me some space to remember my truth - I want to live, and live well - and to act accordingly, which means eating well, eating mindfully, and taking care of my body in every other way that I can.
One of my commitments is to work out every day, because it makes me feel breathless and alive and sexy and it ramps up my energy (I have two toddlers, and I can use all the energy I can get). After a long morning of working out my personal training clients, I’m tired, and the thought bubbles up that “I need a break.” I’ve been in this situation enough times to know that taking that “break” (which usually involves sitting, mindlessly snacking, and losing an hour to Facebook) will suck the life right out of me and set me up for a crappy, lethargic evening.
After years of practice, the moment this kind of self-sabotaging, undermining thought pops up, my radar goes off: “That thought isn’t coming from me.” I know it’s the Beast, and I know that listening to it will yield me the exact opposite of what I want most, which is to feel healthy and vibrant and fully engaged in my life.
And it’s that little mental shift that helps me walk into the gym, even after a long workday.
Odds are there’s a beast living in your head, too. I suggest giving it a name - you’re welcome to use the same one I do. When self-sabotaging and self-harming ideas bubble to the surface, practice labeling them with the name you’ve chosen. “I’m too tired to workout.” That’s probably your beast. “One cigarette won’t hurt.” Most definitely your beast. “Eh, it won't matter if I eat cake and soda while I'm on vacation - life is short!” It just may be short, or at least you may wish it were while you're in the midst of a horrible dumping episode. Surgery junk food after gastric bypass? Yup, you guessed it: Beast.
I work every day to disempower the beast in me and to give my clients the tools to disempower theirs. Today, my Beast tells me not to bother blogging because nothing I write will ever be good enough. It tells me not to bother giving people tools to end self-sabotage, like I’ll be doing in a free, live webinar on April 1 at 8:30 PM Eastern (CLICK HERE to claim your seat). It tells me I’m a fraud for trying to live a healthy life, nevermind trying to teach other people how to do it, too.
Because I default to self-harm and self sabotage, I need to keep my deep desires - to be comfortable in my body, to be available to my children, and to be a resource to women like me - front and center in my mind. When a thought comes up - to do or not to do something, anything - I ask myself “Is this in line with what I want most?” If it is, that’s me - that's my voice. When it’s not, that’s the beast.
Try it for yourself - you’ll be amazed how easy it is to figure out who’s talking.
Another way that I keep the beast from controlling me is to share the fact that it exists with you, so thanks for listening, and for joining me on April 1.
If you relate to my story, and you’re lugging around your own self-sabotaging demon, I empathize. I'm living proof that women like us can get a handle on self-sabotage, and live the lives we want: comfortable, strong, and free.
Please join me for "Of Course You Can: 3 Essential Strategies to End Self-Sabotage"
Details: FREE & LIVE, April 1, 2015 at 8:30 PM Eastern; webinar
To claim your seat, visit: http://webinarjam.net/webinar/go/14421/b8b8bcf46d

Are we resilient in our weight loss journey? Do we know our weaknesses and strengths and fight the urges to give into our old ways? Do we still use food as a form of comfort, celebration, reward, socialization and escape from the feelings we are having at that moment, good or bad! Can we push our way through these deep rooted emotions and become healthy and happy?



Pushing Your Way Through


I have a few Hollyhocks in my garden that just grew there. I did not plant them. I did not take the time to make a place for them so that they would stand out as specimen plants. No tender loving care was bestowed on these flowers to help them become the plants I found stunning and beautiful with their rich outer color of burgundy with soft pink centers. What a delight to find these treasures in my garden. They found their way into my world without so much as a finger lifted on my part. Before this summer I saw Hollyhocks as a simple, common plant. To someone else it is possible that they are the gem of plants. Maybe a reminder of the good old days when things were simple and sweet. My grandmother grew hers around back of the old outhouse on her farm. That is how I remember them.
How did they come into my garden? The seed was most likely transferred in the breeze and made its way to me. Even though I did nothing to help them grow and take root in my garden, I have come to see that they now belong there. They did all the work and I now admire them for their resilience.
When referring to ecological resilience, it is the ability to return to its original state after being disturbed. You see, about nine or ten years ago I pulled every single Hollyhock out of my garden replacing them with other tall flowers. I had not seen any trace of them since. But now there are new ones. They were insistent and settled themselves in among the other plants and kept pushing until they stood tall and bloomed in all their glory.
Resilience has yet another meaning. It is the ability to make realistic plans , being capable of taking the necessary steps to follow through. A positive self-concept and confidence in ones strengths and abilities. Having communication and problem-solving skills. And the ability to manage strong impulses and feelings.
Are we resilient in our weight loss journey? Do we know our weaknesses and strengths and fight the urges to give into our old ways? Do we still use food as a form of comfort, celebration, reward, socialization and escape from the feelings we are having at that moment, good or bad! Can we push our way through these deep rooted emotions and become healthy and happy? Or are we easily stomped out and have little to no strength and will power when it gets difficult. Becoming overwhelmed by other things that can easily crowd out our conviction to reach our goals.
By retraining our brains, finding our trigger points and looking at food in a new light we can win this battle and become successful in our endeavor to feel better and healthier. Having real control. Finally putting dieting in the past and living each day a new. Learning more and more how we can win the war not just the battle of obesity.
The odds are against us, our past experiences of weight loss and regain have made us timorous about our future and our weight management. At those times maybe we were not ready or we denied ourselves food or it was a fad diet of some sort that we had to follow. Whatever it was. That is in the past! Now is the time to see a new and improved you with a brighter future of no weight related health issues. A busier and more fulfilled life ahead of us. If we really want it, it is there for the taking. Weight loss surgery is the tool that will give us the time we need to get help to fix why we became obese in the first place.
No one said it was going to be easy. No wait! Those who have not experienced what it takes mentally, emotionally and physically to be successful might not understand all of it and use the over used quote, ' you are taking the easy way out.' But no matter. It is about us forcing our way through the hard times, the painful times and yes even the good times.
Like the Hollyhocks in my garden that planted themselves there against all probability. We too can push our way through and plant ourselves in the garden of life with a new healthier us with a bright and colorful future ahead of us with the help of one of the weight loss surgeries that are available to us.

Next year my Husband and I will celebrate our 20th year together, and to celebrate with all of our family and friends we have decided to have a Recommitment Ceremony. Yes, we are going to get Re-Married...


We are going to take our Vows again and freshen up on our agreement we took to one another two decades ago. Sometimes a “fresh start” rekindles those words spoken when they first occurred can remind us exactly what they meant to us.
But what about the Vows we took when we first took the plunge to seriously consider Weight Loss Surgery? Do you remember what you told yourself you would do way back when? Be truthful with yourself, are you still bound to these vows?
I remember mine, and the most distinct one for me was that I would NEVER go back to the old me. The obese me, the one who had no hope, who was miserable and feeling lost and scared of my own future. There were several others such as, I promise to work out and become fit for a stronger body. Even telling myself that no matter what, I would not let the scale dictate to me how amazing or awful a person I am. For the most part the scale often told me I was quite amazing (Ha!). I suppose maybe I did listen to the scale back then because it was fun to watch the weight melt away. During those times when the scale didn’t cooperate I used other means of measuring how well I was doing. I checked to see how my clothes were fitting; I kept a running measurement of every part of my body – even my neck and my wrist! Even a quarter inch loss in those areas made me feel better. Then there are the awesome side-by-side photos. Pictures don’t lie! They never did, and that’s probably why a lot of us hid from the cameras Pre-Op.
As the years go by Post-Op it really does become easier and easier to forget how we got to our goals and how we have maintained. It becomes easier to tell ourselves that indulging more and more is acceptable and before you know it the pounds creep back up. You will blink your eye and all of a sudden your clothes become tight and you notice a little comfortableness about yourself.
I personally have made a Re-commitment to myself not so long ago. I am 50 (and 1) Days into a No Sugar eating plan and I am back to regular routine workouts. Another agreement that I am re-committing to myself is that I will never again ignore the scale. Yes, it’s true I don’t allow the scale to make me feel bad about myself but it is a necessary tool to remind me that I need to make sure I don’t keep going up, or I will be like the mountain climber on The Price Is Right and yodel my way right off the chart cliff. Let’s just say my Re-commitment has done me well and I am more than on my way back to the champion I was a year or so ago. It feels good to take back the control and be reminded that my life depends on me keeping my promises. I needed this in order to take my future health serious.
Every day is Day 1, until you successfully make it to Day 2.
What were your most outstanding Vows that you recall? Are you still following them, or can you Re-commit to them? If you find yourself needing to Re-Commit, don’t wait! Take this moment to truly reflect on just how well you really are doing. Can you make some new commitments even?
This time write them all out on a piece of paper and make a contract with yourself to uphold the Vows of health and fitness with yourself, and sign it and date it. Read it aloud and if necessary show someone that you trust. Read it out to them and be upfront to them about what you are doing. Of course only you can ensure that you are upholding your end of the bargain to the healthy person inside.

Bander here. My appetite is dimmed and cravings really are gone. I'm eight months post op and down over 100 pounds with 53 to go. I eat delicious food but I don't crave like I used to. I'm not hungry between meals since I found my green zone but I do get nervous and agitated and jittery from stress and now I notice that instead of eating it away. I'm practicing self care in ways other than eating. It takes tons of practice. I stopped tv eating before surgery and never went back. So when I eat I eat. I think the dimmed appetite and lack of cravings is mostly from new habits and a properly filled band. Mostly new habits. I truly believe if I started eating sliders/more food regularly I would start craving them.

I find all of this very interesting. Our signals for hunger and cravings etc. come from the hormones produced by our organs and the food we eat. I can see how the GB and VSG change those by removing the glands that are associated with the production of those hormones and or bypassing them all together.
As a banded patient that does not happen and it's more of a physical response to eating that sets those signals off to release hormones to the brain. All in all it's the brain that is the control center...and the way our hormones are triggered the amounts and types of hormones and the way our body responds to them that affect what the brains response is going to be, which is probably why the affects of surgery are different for everyone.
That's just my 2c

I am only 3 weeks out but since surgery, have had very little appetite and no real temptation for anything "bad" I did smell bacon once, that set me in a stupor. BACONNNNN!
Dont really feel any hunger unless i went way past meal time.
Wanted to eat bad, (comfort food) to placate my rough day yesterday, but didnt. made me happy happy!