Pondlife

The good news is that it does get easier to give up favorite foods, but in my case, it forced me to find other things that made me happy. I started with hot bubble baths. Then it was loom knitting. Then Water walking and swimming. I recently discovered that I enjoy classical music. And now I'm playing Pokemon Go. Who knew there was so much fun in the world? Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

@@Heidijenn I read your post an hour ago and have been trying to come up with something to say that doesn't sound mean or harsh, because I don't feel angry, just kind of sad. I'm no expert on WLS, and I'm only in my 6th post-op week, but I could never have done this if I didn't have a positive attitude about the procedure and the outcome.
In the endless classes and support group meetings my pathway required, I met so many people who could only focus on the food they wouldn't be able to eat. It blew my mind and continues to do so...we're all candidates for this surgery because we liked food more than we liked ourselves. It's hard to be completely honest with yourself, but I sat myself down and said "you are failing at life right now, sweetie, and someone is offering you a lifeline...are you going to refuse to grab that rope because eating 20 chicken wings at a sitting is more important that living a healthy, normal life?".
And THAT is the bottom line. Do chicken wings mean more than your well-being? If the answer is yes, then walk away and go to Buffalo Wild Wings and chow down. But think about this: are there people in your world who you care about? Your partner, your siblings, your children, whoever it is that are a meaningful part of your world...can you stand in front of THEM and say "I love chicken wings more than I love you"? My weight and my inability to fully participate in my family's life has already altered the lives of my husband and children, so when I was offered this opportunity, I DID put on my big girl panties, stopped loving chicken wings more than life, and I had the damned surgery.
My surgeon offered me AND my entire family a gift, but I was the only one who could accept it on behalf of all of us. So I decided that my family, my friends, my future grandchildren and I are more important that 20 chicken wings at a sitting. What are you going to choose?
I wish you much peace and hope you're able to come to a point where the idea of WLS isn't terrifying, but is empowering instead. Please stay around and let us know how this all goes for you.

Ok so here's another way to look at it....
Say you'd normally order an appetizer for $5 or an entree for $15 and get three meals from it when you take home the leftovers. (Just rounding because my math is horrible, bear with me).
So you normally pay $5 for a meal out. Let's say the buffet is $15 or even $20.
This is a friends birthday right? Consider the $10 or $15 "waste of money" a gift to her.
I just don't understand the need to get your money's worth in food. It's only $10. Pre op I'm sure most of us could have eaten $20 worth of fast food. Was that "getting our money's worth?" Nope it was getting us fat.

I'll just eat whatever and however much this time but next time I'll get serious. Funny how it's never next time for me it's always still that one last time.

I just want to say that I was happy to ride fair rides ( limited though or Ik I would never fit) with my 7 year old, however I had to squeeze myself in. My belly was the problem but I still enjoyed the time. Next month is my surgery and I can't Waite to be there for my 7 year old doing fun things. Like next year at the fair I'll be able to fit on all of the rides. feeling very positive
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I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

On the plus side at least you could genuinely say no. Because who the heck would have fat surgery? Your supervisor is a twit. You did the right thing laughing it off. People like that just like to see that they have caused discomfort with their comments. You take that away from them they've got nothing. Best of luck with you surgery, good luck avoiding idiots.

On the plus side at least you could genuinely say no. Because who the heck would have fat surgery? Your supervisor is a twit. You did the right thing laughing it off. People like that just like to see that they have caused discomfort with their comments. You take that away from them they've got nothing. Best of luck with you surgery, good luck avoiding idiots.

Looking at my journey over the past decade-plus, I can see the fallout from my terrible mentality of weight loss at any cost. But, really, at what cost? At the cost of my sanity? At the cost of my self-esteem? At the cost of my health?

People say you have nothing if you don’t have your health, and as I get older, that truth can no longer be ignored.


When I had my roux-n-y gastric bypass surgery in 2005, my goal was to lose weight. Specifically, I wanted to lose 225 pounds.

At just over five feet tall and 343 pounds, I was super morbidly obese. Those are the facts, but what is also true is that my weight has been the bane of my existence for my entire life. Or, at least, since I was about three years old, when I first realized that my weight fell on the less socially “acceptable” end of the spectrum.

So, yes, weight loss was the goal I set for myself, but what I see now is that all I really wanted was to slip into the spectrum of acceptability enjoyed by women who wear single digit jeans. It was about fitting in. It was about not standing out. It was about being “normal.”

At no point was it ever really about being healthy.

In the two years after my surgery, I dedicated my days to working out and eating as little as possible. Ultimately, I lost 201 pounds. It wasn’t the hoped for 225, but I was a size eight - victory, right?

Not exactly. Even at a size eight, I struggled with body acceptance. I still felt like a fish out of Water and worse, I couldn’t seem to sync up with the woman in the mirror. I had a new body, but I didn’t feel like “me” anymore.

And worse still, I didn’t feel healthy. Sure, I’d lost 200 pounds. By all the usual measures (and certainly by societal expectations), I was “cured,” but I felt sick. My energy was low, my sleep was all over the place, and I was incredibly frustrated by a diet that seemed barely sustainable for any length of time.

That diet piece was my fault, of course. So determined to lose the weight, I worked hard to hit my daily Protein goal, even if that meant I consumed hard boiled eggs three times a day and literally nothing else. For much of the past 11 years since my surgery, I’ve been riding a roller coaster. I’ve lost and gained weight over and over, the pendulum swinging back and forth and my emotions following. I have suffered serious Vitamin deficiencies and still struggle to disconnect guilt from the simple act of eating. In this state of mind, it’s been easy for me to sacrifice overall well being for short-term gain, or in my case, loss.

Despite the fact that I didn’t really feel that great, it still took a while to realize why. When weight loss was the goal, I needed only to focus on the aspects of my new life that supported it: protein, calorie counting, and obsessive exercise.

Health has been the missing piece all along.

Focusing on my health has required a total turnabout. It means that I’ve had to reevaluate my goals. I’d lived so much of my life with oversimplified ideals: thin equals good, fat equals bad. The reality is more complex, as it so often is.

Looking at my journey over the past decade-plus, I can see the fallout from my terrible mentality of weight loss at any cost. But, at what cost really? At the cost of my sanity? At the cost of my self-esteem? At the cost of my health?

People say you have nothing if you don’t have your health, and as I get older, that truth can no longer be ignored.

Today, I am 89 pounds heavier than my lowest post-op weight. Typing those words makes the old me cringe… I feel waves of embarrassment, shame, anger, frustration, and the ever useless guilt.

The new part of me, the one I am working to healthfully feed mind, body, and soul, feels hope. I feel hope because I remember the young woman that weighed 138 pounds, and I know that I was less healthy standing on that scale back then than I am today in my double digit jeans. This new woman I see in the mirror still wants to lose weight, but as a byproduct of a healthy life.

Health has become my personal mission. I wasted a lot of time hating myself to obesity and then hating myself thin. My plan now is to love myself healthy. To do all that I do in the pursuit of weight loss and health with kindness to the woman in the mirror, no matter how she looks.

If any of what I’ve written resonates, I hope you too can break free. My wish for you is that as you walk your own path, you keep your eyes trained on your health goals and not simply on the scale.

The biggest lie I told myself was that my compulsive eating was worth it, and that I really wasn't that big.

You deserve it.
I mean seriously I just over indulged myself all the time.
It didn't help I had a high stress job an expense account and attended a lot of company events at 5 star hotels and very expensive restaurants. Working in the Tech field we had free lunch every day at work, catered happy hour on Fridays with unlimited booze in the office, free vending machines. You name it. I had an endless buffet of free food for years. Also no one cares if you are a fat nerd, it adds to your legend.
I still deserve all the nice and exquisite things in the world but they don't have to be food based. There is a world full of shoes

It's a special event.
The problem was I was doing many "special events" particularly while traveling. For the people I was meeting with it was "a special event." They only had them two times a year, but I was have 70 or 80 of them a year.

Just incredible, well done to you!

Gosh I love these!!! So today is my 10 month post op surgiversary. I'm down 142 lbs so far and feel so much better. But these pics make rainbows and glitter shoot from my heart!!! Loving how I'm starting to look. My skin is an issue but it will not take my happiness from me. I've come a hell of a long way and I'm damn proud of myself. Please post all your pics, I love seeing all you beautiful people!!!!!

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One of the really cool things of being very limited in quantity, you can invest in quality. There was no way I was going to buy a "grass fed organic" steak at Whole Foods before WLS. Too expensive. But, when you are only eating 3-4 ounces...you know that changes things. A half a pound is now three meals. And that's what I am doing. Really great food, just less of it. I have not been back to New Orleans post surgery, but I am so looking forward to going back to Mother's (if you have never been, Google it, it's great).

at 4 months out I am able to pretty much eat anything - I have a small burger without the bun often.
tonight we are having nachos - I am going to have the seasoned meat, lettuce and some cheese and sour cream on top.
so yes! life looks a lot more normal 4 months out. small portions, but real food that I enjoy.

I love a good burger -- but without the bun. There may be some things that you just don't ever enjoy again. For me those things are any bread made with yeast and anything carbonated. But those are the only things! And I love my life as a slim, healthy person a lot more than I miss bread, that's for sure. Chances are very good that you'll enjoy the vast majority of your old favorites, but they won't matter so much to you. Does that make sense?

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.

I read somewhere that the only taste of success some people get is the bite they take out of you. Seems like your success is tasting pretty bitter in some ones mouth. Don't let this jealous person steal your groove. You earned it.