I am happy with the results but the brain hunger is really messing with me........I even had a dream about a large Italian sandwich with the works🍔 ugh I want everything in sight it's awful......I conferred witha coworker who was also sleved but shes a year out already and I asked have she as able to eat "real" good she said about 3 months out😱😱 she did howver not to go into old bad habits cause you will find yourself eating throughout the day and the lbs will start to creep up......I just need to hold out atleats till thanksgiving but oooooh it's Hard!!!!!!
Actually it was a poorly worded statement to just say get an abortion. However, when I went through bariatric surgery 2 yrs ago my surgeon didn't mince words during the classes with the ladies. If you get pregnant within 18mons of having bariatric surgery the recommendation is to get an abortion. You risk the health of yourself and the baby any time before then. Being pregnant shortly after bariatric surgery can kill you! The question we all were asked was did we have our tubes tied/hysterectomy or we on a long term birth control such as depo or IUD, etc. If not, recommendations were made and they could work with our OB to discuss options. The personal questions were done during appointments. But the eye openers were during the meetings so they could be discussed openly.
A large percent of pre-op weight loss surgery candidates feel that once their waistline changes, so will their thinking, and their dead wrong.
Today, during one of my pre-op psych evaluations, I heard a woman say “I just feel like once I start losing weight and start feeling so much better about my self- I will stop doing all the destructive things that got me here. Don’t you think?”
My response was “no I don’t agree.” I went on to explain that hers was a common assumption, a dangerous “magic-bullet” fantasy about what weight loss surgery can do.
Here’s why: The part of our brain that is responsible for the thought : “wow I look so much better, I better not mess this up,” or “I feel better than I have ever felt in my life, I am a changed person,” is not the same part of the brain that wakes us up in the middle of the night and says: “go on, finish that 1/2 pint of Chunky Monkey in the freezer, there’s only a little bit left anyway, and I have been so good here lately.”
We are dealing with two very different brains; the frontal cortex and the reptilian mid brain. The frontal cortex is the most newly developed (relative to other parts of the brain) part of the brain. It is the component that separates us from animals. It gives us the ability to think about consequences, plan, and execute. It is the “higher” part of ourselves, that often says “why do I keep on doing the same things I keep saying I won’t do anymore?” Or “I feel so out of control. This _______ (eating, smoking, drinking, gambling, pick your poison) is a temporary solution that produces long term pain. I have to find a different way.”
Our reptilian midbrain is the Commodore 64 to our MAC; it is the palm pilot to our iPhone; the horse and buggy to our Prius; the Tommy Lee to our Oprah. Our midbrain is antique equipment, long ago evolved to keep us alive and hence the reason it is still with us today- it keeps us alive. Our midbrain contains the parts of the brain that make us recoil at the site of a snake or a spider in our peripheral vision. It is hardwired to not have to go through superfluous channels of the brain that might otherwise say “hmmm what is that crawling over there? How do I feel about that? Oh its just a spider, my aunt had a collection of spiders, maybe I should collect things, etc etc.” We just jump, and process later.
That very system has helped humans survive for thousands of years. There is an adaptive quality to a brain that proverbially acts and asks forgiveness later. That very old structure once kept us out of harm’s way when a pack of tigers were first seen galloping across a horizon, or when a rivaling tribe could be heard in the far off distance, threatening to pillage our territory.
Our midbrain is associated with learning and reward. Learning what makes us feel bad, what eats us (in the past that would be in a literal sense- like tigers, but presently it might be a mercurial supervisor or unending debt), and even more relevant to this article- what makes us feel good. When our brains come across something that makes us feel good (ex: sex, drugs, food), we are then flooded with an influx of the powerful neurotransmitter- dopamine. Just like not everyone that is exposed to drugs will develop an addiction, not everyone that eats a Nutella crepe will develop a food addiction.
Much of the research on obesity currently, postulates that food addiction, no dissimilar than alcohol or drug addiction- is a reward system dysfunction or dysregulation, born out of genetic predisposition. It’s almost as if some brains think “if one slice of pizza feels good, how would four slices of pizza taste?”
To break these two very different parts up in a different, more basic way; our frontal cortex is the voluntary, while our midbrain is the involuntary.
This very dangerous fantasy, many people carry into weight loss surgery is a myth that I try to dispel quickly. This type of “magic bullet’ thinking is the very thing that gets so many gastric bypass and sleeve patients into trouble years down the road. No one wants to look at triggers. No one wants to sit with a therapist and devise a strategic coping plan. We want a pill, a surgery, a 16 minute solution to a 40 year old problem.
This is not to say that weight loss surgery is not a solution, just that its only part of the solution.
Despite our best intentions, we are still in some ways animalistic, hedonically-driven to feed our most basic impulses. This is part and parcel of why recidivism is the rule not the exception when it comes to recovery from most addiction. So what does this mean? Are all weight loss surgery patients destined for disappointment and disenchantment when the WLS honeymoon ends? No. But the answer to long term change lies more in two-pronged approach to long term weight loss success; surgery + behavioral change.
Simply thinking ourself slim is a fantasy. Think about your specific triggers for eating. For some it is that golden hour when all the kids are in bed and Narcos is queued up on your Netflix. For others it is that 2-3pm mid day slump. For some - it is when they are alone, the only time they can eat with abandon free from others’ judgement or their own embarrassment.
Whatever your triggers- the key is to identify what need is being met in that moment and to find a non-food alternative to meet each particular need ( many people have multiple triggers for over eating). If it is because its “your time,” after the kids are in bed- maybe you invest in a foot massager, or cultivate a self care space with textures, aromatherapy, candles, and books. If your trigger is that mid day slump, maybe you develop a yoga routine easily done in the office to help re-energize you. If it is the secretive quality to the trigger of being alone and eating, maybe it is finding another thing that is just your own that no one knows (going to a movie in the middle of the day, getting an overly priced facial on your lunch hour, playing hooky with your kid one day, etc).
The rule of the brain is : what fires together, wires together. So over time- if you have paired 8pm, Narcos, and nachos- you have created a neurological super highway. The moment 8pm rolls around, you are likely already getting the chips ready and didn’t even realize the thought pathway that just occurred. The idea is to repair our triggers with alternative behaviors and over time “clip those wires” or create “toll roads” to our superhighways (aka neurosynaptic pruning), so that we no longer experience such strong urges and can call upon the higher structures of our frontal cortex to guide the way again.
When we are in the midst of addiction, it is important to understand that our frontal cortex is not at the wheel. It has been duck taped and tied to a chair in the basement by our hedonic midbrain who is used to getting what it wants when it wants it. The closer we come to accepting this principle, the closer we come to being more mindful of our midbrain’s powerful rationalizations and sick contracts and see them for just that. We are better able to dis-identify from the thought, knowing it is not coming from our best self, but from our most carnal self.
Think of that distant cousin that only shows up when they need something, the Uncle Eddy that tells you he’ll move the RV when he leaves next month, indifferent to how it makes you feel. Except in addiction- that distant cousin has taken over, pretending its you until you can no longer tell the difference.
References
http://brainspotting-switzerland.ch/4_artikel/Corrigan & Grand 2013 Med Hyp paper (proofs).pdf
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The one thing I have learned is that everyone has their own journey just hold tight keep working the program and the weight will come off. I just had an almost 2 week stall that I did not loose one single pound I thought the same things "what did I do?" "why is this not working" "Im hardly eating and staying my same weight" "what did I do wrong" IT WILL PICK UP just keep working the program GOOD LUCK <3
When I went to pureed and soft foods after my liquid diet it was way different there's no way I can keep eat more than 2 ounces of food in a sitting I was pretty scared when I was on liquid diet cuz I could drink so much and not feel full but now that there's actual food involved totally different
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I felt the same way after surgery. I am still convinced my sleeve is too big. I was starving the day after surgery. I am still hungry often and it is not f*cking head hunger. It is legitimate hunger. I thought this surgery was supposed to reduce ghrelin production? Oh well, still glad to be down 45 pounds in 8 weeks.
When you have a date, tell them. Not before. You only have to tell them that you have to have surgery and will be out from day x to day Y. You have no obligation to tell them what the surgery is. I didn't tell my office til I knew my surgery date. Because before then - it was hoped -- it wasn't planned.
I just received the phone call that I am meeting with the nurse tomorrow to discuss surgery dates. All tests and classes completed and the 1st part of my mission will be completed. I'm ready to go.
I am one year out (Surgiversary was Oct 3), and I saw a cool idea I was inspired by, so I saved all my jeans and took an image of them all. Biggest was size 20, smallest (current) size 4. Needless to say I should have taken stock in Old Navy!
Same here! I have what a wls blogger on Youtube calls "jacket-sleeve titties"... 6-mos post op & has gone from a 48-I to a $4.77 Daskin-Now sports bra from da Walmart yo...
Switch Drs. I went from first visit to surgery in 8 weeks.
I didn't have to play all these reindeer games with my program. A lot of these programs are just milking people for money.
Man I wish I was smart enough to save all my clothes from different size ranges. I've moved several times and every time I do, I purge old stuff. Blast!
I had a whole range of different size clothes from all the times I lost and gained weight. So as soon as my clothes started getting loose, I started trying on other sizes. I thought I'd be able to just wear a belt when my pants got too big, but I felt frumpy. I want to look as good as I feel, and it helps keep my mood upbeat to like what I'm wearing. Over the weekend, I cleaned out all my clothes that got too big since surgery and brought them to Good Will: 6 bags! I have gone from a size 3x to an XL, Size 22-24 to 16-18. I'm now on my last few items of clothing that I had packed away and will have to start shopping for things that fit.
I live in a very rural area and don't have a lot of big stores near me, but had to go to the city today and treated myself to a few shirts from Old Navy. Of course, the two shirts I liked the most weren't on sale, but I went ahead and got them anyway.
It only gets worse the farther out you are, too. I remember the first 50 pounds, I feel like I only dropped 1 size or so. I could still wear the same clothes. Now, every 10-15 pounds I feel like I go down a size...I keep sizing out of my cute new non-plus-size clothes. XD
I tried on clothes the week after surgery - I had to dress professionally for an event and nothing fit! Between the pre op diet (lost 40 pounds) and the effects of the surgery my entire work wardrobe hung off me. So off to goodwill I went and then to Walmart, and clearance racks at other stores. Now that I'm back to work I had to have professional clothes. I'm afraid of the future costs, but wouldn't change the surgery deciding ever. Best choice I made recently! I did hide the scale because it's not moving but clothing size I've gone from a 26 to 16W.
I bought an incentive dress, I hope to wear it by February on the cruise. (If not it will fit at some point along the way and it was only $20!!!)
I'm going to 'pet it' when my reserves get low.
You will be able to eat, that is a wls myth.
I enjoy a wide variety of foods, I am also not happy because I was not prepared for the realization that this was just a 6 month head start. My healing went too well. I wanted it to be hard, I wanted to be able to go all day without being hungry, I wanted to be disgusted by the sight of food, I wanted to be 9 month out and still only able to get 2oz. down. None of that happened for me, my long term success is now 100% related to my relationship with food.
That is what we all need to focus on before, and during the honeymoon phase.
Good luck on your surgery!
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