cyndib

When I hit my first stall, I switched from weighing to measuring and while the scale hadn't moved an ounce, I'd lost 5 inches. That helped me feel better about the scale.

Social situations changed for me when I reframed it as being about people, not food. I'm there to enjoy the conversation and the company. To gain comfort from the relationships. It helps me not obsess about what I can or can't eat or start rationalizing a bad choice. I was on my pre-op diet at a dinner party with some close friends, so I had to not eat anything but my salad and afterwards I went home and cried because it was the first time I simply enjoyed the company of the people in my life and I didn't think constantly about food. It was so amazing and also sad when I realized how much life I missed by thinking always about food. I can't say I'm "healed" but I'm able to catch the food obsession and remind myself it's not about the food. I'm an introvert so social situations can be stressful so sometimes I have to remind myself every few minutes, but it helps. I'm a teacher and not being able to drink alcohol in the summer is a lot harder than I expected. I didn't realize how much I use alcohol to relax over vacation. I haven't found a way to reframe that one. I feel the scale pain: my weight stays in the same two-pound range for weeks and then drops suddenly, then goes back up a couple pounds before starting the whole process again. It's super frustrating, but over the long run the weight loss does happen, eventually. Just not on my brain's schedule.

Hello! I had surgery 3/16/2018 and while the early recovery was rough, I've felt much better until recently. I have a nagging pain on my left side that is sharp when I breathe in deeply. Doctor had me cut back on workouts (that is where it started) and intensity and cut out raw veggies, but it's not getting better and not doing what I think I'm supposed to be doing (those damned "shoulds") makes me feel like I'm going to gain weight. My weight loss has been slow, in 3 week plateaus before it drops for a couple days and then plateaus again. In my pre-surgery life I was always trying to out exercise my bad diet, and even though my diet is so much better now, I still feel like nothing will happen if I don't workout intensely. I think my body just needs more time to adjust and heal, but my head wants it to be ready NOW. Anyone else with weird pains several months later?