julsofthenile

I know as many do, that keeping stuff out of the house is a great tactic. I get sick of some of my go-to snacks; i find that i wasn't eating so much deli meat or cheese as Snacks right now as in the past, but rather pretzel crisps with some kind of dip....but now i am sick of pretzel crisps... the deli meat will suffice better in terms of protein/lower carbs...so i will be back to buying/eating those. I keep plain dark chocolate in the house, as i never overeat that...but i cannot say the same for other treats/candies, etc. We all know what we have issues with, and you just need to keep it out of the house. I store lots of popsicles in my freezer instead of ice cream. When I buy ice cream which is a rarity, i only buy enough and instead of those great sales that would allow me to buy 3 half gallons, i no longer look at that as a good thing. I am saving my life by not eating it or buying it, so i can justify not getting something on sale anymore.
I track everything in my 3.5 x 5.5 moleskine book...its a great little book and fits in my purse, I track because too many times i forget what i have eaten 5 hrs later, and its way too easy to overeat that way. I track my Vitamins and bowel movements (lol) and exercise and food i eat all on one page a day. its convenient and i just ordered another little book as mine is almost used up....but i like it, as i can always look back and see where i went wrong, or if i have been eating enough veggies or consuming enough Water. I am not a good historian and i think many people aren't. Sometimes our own reality is not really accurate... i have noticed this and have made the commitment to track my stuff in an easy manner, because i benefit from doing it and actually like it. I think re-assessing each month is a good thing. I eat what i want if i truly want it, but what i want is different now. I do not like feeling out of control like i used to...so i really do what i need to do in order for that not to happen. I track, I resist, i don't buy, i buy other healthier options, i exercise, etc....i do what it takes...and i am successful 98% of the time. I am still in the losing mode, but it has slowed considerably and maybe a few too many imbibes over the holidays have contributed to my slower loss, but if i stick to my exercise schedule and all the other changes i've made, I feel confident that i will continue to be successful, perhaps right to my goal weight. In my house, we all love sweets so i make one thing a month to indulge in and i only make just enough. that way, i'm not mindlessly eating a box of Cookies. I did buy my hubby a box of girl scout Cookies, but my daughter got into them. glad it wasn't me! But you see, I was able to buy them, and not eat them. and that is a great feat my fellow bariatric surgery pals. Its a journey...I look at it in terms of there is no end here...i'm just taking everything day by day. I do not see a goal weight as a time when i can alter what i am doing now. I am completely satisfied with what i eat now and how i eat it, and i no longer look forward to a day where i will be "over" doing any of this.. as i did in the past when i was dieting.Life right now is how i like it, and there is no end goal anymore. I just do what i can to make the process successful for me on a daily basis- that will inevitably change from time to time but i am really satisfied with the here and now.

so eloquent.

I know as many do, that keeping stuff out of the house is a great tactic. I get sick of some of my go-to snacks; i find that i wasn't eating so much deli meat or cheese as Snacks right now as in the past, but rather pretzel crisps with some kind of dip....but now i am sick of pretzel crisps... the deli meat will suffice better in terms of protein/lower carbs...so i will be back to buying/eating those. I keep plain dark chocolate in the house, as i never overeat that...but i cannot say the same for other treats/candies, etc. We all know what we have issues with, and you just need to keep it out of the house. I store lots of popsicles in my freezer instead of ice cream. When I buy ice cream which is a rarity, i only buy enough and instead of those great sales that would allow me to buy 3 half gallons, i no longer look at that as a good thing. I am saving my life by not eating it or buying it, so i can justify not getting something on sale anymore.
I track everything in my 3.5 x 5.5 moleskine book...its a great little book and fits in my purse, I track because too many times i forget what i have eaten 5 hrs later, and its way too easy to overeat that way. I track my Vitamins and bowel movements (lol) and exercise and food i eat all on one page a day. its convenient and i just ordered another little book as mine is almost used up....but i like it, as i can always look back and see where i went wrong, or if i have been eating enough veggies or consuming enough Water. I am not a good historian and i think many people aren't. Sometimes our own reality is not really accurate... i have noticed this and have made the commitment to track my stuff in an easy manner, because i benefit from doing it and actually like it. I think re-assessing each month is a good thing. I eat what i want if i truly want it, but what i want is different now. I do not like feeling out of control like i used to...so i really do what i need to do in order for that not to happen. I track, I resist, i don't buy, i buy other healthier options, i exercise, etc....i do what it takes...and i am successful 98% of the time. I am still in the losing mode, but it has slowed considerably and maybe a few too many imbibes over the holidays have contributed to my slower loss, but if i stick to my exercise schedule and all the other changes i've made, I feel confident that i will continue to be successful, perhaps right to my goal weight. In my house, we all love sweets so i make one thing a month to indulge in and i only make just enough. that way, i'm not mindlessly eating a box of Cookies. I did buy my hubby a box of girl scout Cookies, but my daughter got into them. glad it wasn't me! But you see, I was able to buy them, and not eat them. and that is a great feat my fellow bariatric surgery pals. Its a journey...I look at it in terms of there is no end here...i'm just taking everything day by day. I do not see a goal weight as a time when i can alter what i am doing now. I am completely satisfied with what i eat now and how i eat it, and i no longer look forward to a day where i will be "over" doing any of this.. as i did in the past when i was dieting.Life right now is how i like it, and there is no end goal anymore. I just do what i can to make the process successful for me on a daily basis- that will inevitably change from time to time but i am really satisfied with the here and now.

If the key to weight loss success is self-esteem, and you’ve got none stashed in the pantry where you used to keep Cookies and potato chips, where do you go to find some?


HOW WE GOT HERE
In Part 1 of this article, I introduced the idea that positive self-esteem is the key to weight loss success. In Part 2, I’ll talk about why so many obese people have a negative self-esteem
Now let’s have a quick look at how we came to be such sorry specimens. Any psychologist or sociologist will tell you that some of the most troubling factors contributing to low or negative self-esteem (on the levels of individual people as well as the aggregate of citizens called American society) are a person’s physical appearance, weight, intelligence and peer pressure. Very often all four of those factors are tightly intertwined. In an elementary school cafeteria, Jane, an obese girl with a tray piled high with food winces at her classmates’ teasing. Unable to find a friendly place to eat her lunch, she sits down alone and cries at the sound of other kids’ voices: “Fatso!” One of the school bullies shoves Jane’s lunch onto the floor and laughs, “You didn’t need that food, Fatty!” Jane heads to the lavatory to cry in private. She hides in a stall and hears the popular girls chanting, “Fatty Fatty, two by four, can’t fit through the bathroom door!” I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that Jane’s name is actually spelled Jean, and that the school cafeteria scene above lives in my distant memory. Even when I don’t consciously think about that unhappy incident, it and many others like it formed my beliefs and feelings about myself a long, long time ago. Sometimes I feel that I’ll never get them all weeded out of me. In my case, that ancient stew of negative self-esteem flavored my life with some miserable symptoms: hypersensitivity to criticism, perfectionism, guilt, shame, irritability, a defensive attitude, a sense of defeat and insignificance, and a persistent, low-grade “fever” of dissatisfaction with myself, my life, and everybody else.
And yet, despite all that, at age 62 I can call myself a success, not just at weight management but at a host of other things. No, car repair is not one of those things, but on the whole I’m doing pretty well. I have my husband, my friends, and my own determination to thank for that. If I can turn myself around, you can do the same for you.
Low self-esteem is not something that gets fixed overnight, and having bariatric surgery is not the cure. Choosing surgery is a wonderful first step, but it’s not the end of the journey. So please, be kind to yourself! I’m not talking kind in the sense of indulgence but in the sense of a loving caretaker who understands that you’re weak and believes that one day you’ll be strong.
WHERE ARE WE GOING NEXT?
Psychologists say that self-esteem is linked to a sense of competence – the awareness that you have the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to accomplish a task. It’s unlikely that you’re going to start your weight loss journey with a strong sense of competence regarding weight loss. In fact, it’s quite likely that your self-esteem in that area is torn down and tattered from all the diet and weight battles you’ve fought and lost in the past. No matter how much information you’ve gained from your pre-op education, you don’t yet have a history of weight loss success to buoy you along.
So how do you even begin to feel good about your ability to make the lifestyle changes required for weight loss - make good food choices, control portions, take tiny bites, avoid grazing and so on? I’ll adapt the take tiny bites strategy to this effort. You tackle the weight loss project one tiny bite at a time. You repeat the effective actions of making good food choices, controlling portions, taking tiny bites and avoiding grazing over and over again until you’ve learned how to do it with less effort and more enjoyment. You seek and acquire the knowledge, skills and resources to help you succeed. You seek assistance from your surgeon, your support group, your family and friends. All this work may never become fun for you, but in my case, weight loss made it all worthwhile.
TODAY’S WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS FORECAST IS…
Does the importance of positive self-esteem mean that you’re doomed to failure if your self-esteem isn’t already strong on the day of your bariatric surgery? Certainly not. If you take on the challenge of a weight loss winner’s lifestyle one tiny bite at a time, your WLS journey can actually help you increase your overall self-esteem while decreasing your weight. Each step you take, each new behavior, each pound you lose, will prove to you how capable and worthy you truly are.
From time to time, you may have to ignore or silence the voice of self-doubt. I like the way my friend Lisa counsels self-doubters. She says, simply and firmly, “You can do this.” So when your inner Doubting Thomas (or Thomasina) whispers (or shouts), “Forget it! No way! Lost cause!” take a deep breath and tell her “I can do this. I will do this.” Eventually you’ll turn your eating behavior around, reach your weight loss goal, and finally feel proud of what you’ve accomplished.

I know as many do, that keeping stuff out of the house is a great tactic. I get sick of some of my go-to snacks; i find that i wasn't eating so much deli meat or cheese as Snacks right now as in the past, but rather pretzel crisps with some kind of dip....but now i am sick of pretzel crisps... the deli meat will suffice better in terms of protein/lower carbs...so i will be back to buying/eating those. I keep plain dark chocolate in the house, as i never overeat that...but i cannot say the same for other treats/candies, etc. We all know what we have issues with, and you just need to keep it out of the house. I store lots of popsicles in my freezer instead of ice cream. When I buy ice cream which is a rarity, i only buy enough and instead of those great sales that would allow me to buy 3 half gallons, i no longer look at that as a good thing. I am saving my life by not eating it or buying it, so i can justify not getting something on sale anymore.
I track everything in my 3.5 x 5.5 moleskine book...its a great little book and fits in my purse, I track because too many times i forget what i have eaten 5 hrs later, and its way too easy to overeat that way. I track my Vitamins and bowel movements (lol) and exercise and food i eat all on one page a day. its convenient and i just ordered another little book as mine is almost used up....but i like it, as i can always look back and see where i went wrong, or if i have been eating enough veggies or consuming enough Water. I am not a good historian and i think many people aren't. Sometimes our own reality is not really accurate... i have noticed this and have made the commitment to track my stuff in an easy manner, because i benefit from doing it and actually like it. I think re-assessing each month is a good thing. I eat what i want if i truly want it, but what i want is different now. I do not like feeling out of control like i used to...so i really do what i need to do in order for that not to happen. I track, I resist, i don't buy, i buy other healthier options, i exercise, etc....i do what it takes...and i am successful 98% of the time. I am still in the losing mode, but it has slowed considerably and maybe a few too many imbibes over the holidays have contributed to my slower loss, but if i stick to my exercise schedule and all the other changes i've made, I feel confident that i will continue to be successful, perhaps right to my goal weight. In my house, we all love sweets so i make one thing a month to indulge in and i only make just enough. that way, i'm not mindlessly eating a box of Cookies. I did buy my hubby a box of girl scout Cookies, but my daughter got into them. glad it wasn't me! But you see, I was able to buy them, and not eat them. and that is a great feat my fellow bariatric surgery pals. Its a journey...I look at it in terms of there is no end here...i'm just taking everything day by day. I do not see a goal weight as a time when i can alter what i am doing now. I am completely satisfied with what i eat now and how i eat it, and i no longer look forward to a day where i will be "over" doing any of this.. as i did in the past when i was dieting.Life right now is how i like it, and there is no end goal anymore. I just do what i can to make the process successful for me on a daily basis- that will inevitably change from time to time but i am really satisfied with the here and now.

I'm a rules person. I decided there are ten days a year when I can eat whatever I want. If I start to crave something (usually something chocolate), I remind myself there will be an opportunity to indulge in that treat at a later date and this just helps me set aside the craving. I keep my trigger foods out of the house. If I get hungry and tempted between meals/snacks, I will drink a cup of tea or chew some gum. Mint gum always kills my appetite. If I go off the rails unexpectedly, I just dust myself off and get back on track.
These behaviors are not at all what I used to do in my obese life. If I slipped, I gave up and returned to bad habits because I felt like a failure and there was just no hope of succeeding. I try not to see things in such black and white terms anymore. As Scarlet said "tomorrow is another day". We can do this!

Well I am one week away and 8th day pre surgery diet. I have cheated with carrots and some fruit but still under 1000 cals each day and getting over 100 Protein and all my Water in. Lost about 10lbs. Ready ready ready.

I start my two day liquid diet tomorrow and surgery Friday!!!!!! I am soooooo ready! I already started my lifestyle change and I am very happy with it. I won't lie, there's always temptation. Then I think about why I'm doing this and overcome temptation. Good luck everyone! We are all doing this with goals in mind. Stay focus as you reach your goals. I am truly happy for everyone! Any pain nausea whatever issue we have, we will overcome. Stay positive!

It is your life. YOUR LIFE. to do as you choose. Don't let people push you around and make you feel bad. Remember: you are worthy of a great life! Some people mean well, and some don't...but stand up for yourself. simply say, "for me, its the right choice, perhaps for you it wouldn't be"....in the meantime just stay away from her. You have enough on your plate. She will eventually come around ( if just to be nosy), and if she can't be supportive then, just tell her you'd like her to be supportive, but if she can't, then you can't be friends.
if you do not stick up for yourself, then who will? besides me....and everyone else here....lol seriously...you can say it tactfully, but you don't need that kind of negativity on a regular basis. It then becomes HER problem.

I feel like I can't sleep cause I have to read anything and everything about the pending pre-op diet to the long term post-op experiences. I'm a lower BMI but have lost just as much of my "life" as I would at a higher one. I'm ready to get back to the life I was supposed to have, and start over. I'm nervous to be home with my kids all summer, cooking for them all day and not being able to eat any of it. I don't usually have a problem not eating it, but the "can't" makes the thought tougher.
My date is July 23rd. I'm a Canadian going to the WLF clinic in Tijuana. I'd love to hear or share any thoughts and experiences from all of you.

I'm nervous and scared, yet excited. Three weeks to go.

Oh gosh....i think most people are scared...and excited at the same time. But its a surgery like any other in the realm of surgeries....so that is good...and you WILL survive the surgery. That is probably the easiest part....but I haven't had mine yet...so I'm just guessing lol. But from what i have been reading, the work comes afterwards and for most people, there are a series of ups and downs and adjustments that are simply inevitable.
I can see myself being nervous and scared ( i already am) but like you, feel I HAVE to do it, WANT to do it and WILL do it in the end. I imagine that i will ask why i got myself into this....i imagine I will have some breakdowns with bouts of excitement and happiness in between. I imagine I will regret it from time to time many times in a day in the beginning ,as I adjust to something i cant turn back. ...then a slow adjustment, and as i see i'm losing, i will be more accepting that i made the right decision. I imagine snapping at people cuz i don't have my precious food to turn to anymore and i probably wont like it. It will be like a funeral for my old friend...i'll be mourning my old relationship with food. Change doesn't come easy and takes time.
I was worried when i had a breast reduction about 12 years ago...worried about the surgery for the most part....but after i came out of it, I was psyched even though i lost a few lbs on each breast...so it was a physical adjustment. I was operated on for about 3 hrs.
I'm a big baby...A really big baby, but i am not going to let it stop me. Fear is not a good enough excuse to not go through with it....as my fear wont stop....ill just be fearing how long i will live, or afraid that if i wait til i am older and revisit the surgery then, it will be more of a risk then, than it is now. Now is a good a time as any.
You are right to be afraid. You are entitled to it. But don't let it dictate your future. While likely much different, an incredible future awaits you!!!!!

Oh gosh....i think most people are scared...and excited at the same time. But its a surgery like any other in the realm of surgeries....so that is good...and you WILL survive the surgery. That is probably the easiest part....but I haven't had mine yet...so I'm just guessing lol. But from what i have been reading, the work comes afterwards and for most people, there are a series of ups and downs and adjustments that are simply inevitable.
I can see myself being nervous and scared ( i already am) but like you, feel I HAVE to do it, WANT to do it and WILL do it in the end. I imagine that i will ask why i got myself into this....i imagine I will have some breakdowns with bouts of excitement and happiness in between. I imagine I will regret it from time to time many times in a day in the beginning ,as I adjust to something i cant turn back. ...then a slow adjustment, and as i see i'm losing, i will be more accepting that i made the right decision. I imagine snapping at people cuz i don't have my precious food to turn to anymore and i probably wont like it. It will be like a funeral for my old friend...i'll be mourning my old relationship with food. Change doesn't come easy and takes time.
I was worried when i had a breast reduction about 12 years ago...worried about the surgery for the most part....but after i came out of it, I was psyched even though i lost a few lbs on each breast...so it was a physical adjustment. I was operated on for about 3 hrs.
I'm a big baby...A really big baby, but i am not going to let it stop me. Fear is not a good enough excuse to not go through with it....as my fear wont stop....ill just be fearing how long i will live, or afraid that if i wait til i am older and revisit the surgery then, it will be more of a risk then, than it is now. Now is a good a time as any.
You are right to be afraid. You are entitled to it. But don't let it dictate your future. While likely much different, an incredible future awaits you!!!!!

Oh gosh....i think most people are scared...and excited at the same time. But its a surgery like any other in the realm of surgeries....so that is good...and you WILL survive the surgery. That is probably the easiest part....but I haven't had mine yet...so I'm just guessing lol. But from what i have been reading, the work comes afterwards and for most people, there are a series of ups and downs and adjustments that are simply inevitable.
I can see myself being nervous and scared ( i already am) but like you, feel I HAVE to do it, WANT to do it and WILL do it in the end. I imagine that i will ask why i got myself into this....i imagine I will have some breakdowns with bouts of excitement and happiness in between. I imagine I will regret it from time to time many times in a day in the beginning ,as I adjust to something i cant turn back. ...then a slow adjustment, and as i see i'm losing, i will be more accepting that i made the right decision. I imagine snapping at people cuz i don't have my precious food to turn to anymore and i probably wont like it. It will be like a funeral for my old friend...i'll be mourning my old relationship with food. Change doesn't come easy and takes time.
I was worried when i had a breast reduction about 12 years ago...worried about the surgery for the most part....but after i came out of it, I was psyched even though i lost a few lbs on each breast...so it was a physical adjustment. I was operated on for about 3 hrs.
I'm a big baby...A really big baby, but i am not going to let it stop me. Fear is not a good enough excuse to not go through with it....as my fear wont stop....ill just be fearing how long i will live, or afraid that if i wait til i am older and revisit the surgery then, it will be more of a risk then, than it is now. Now is a good a time as any.
You are right to be afraid. You are entitled to it. But don't let it dictate your future. While likely much different, an incredible future awaits you!!!!!