BariatricGirl

You have been through so much more than most of us. Bless your heart. If you found some hope, I've done my job. I would like to suggest another blog post for you. It's here. http://www.bariatricgirl.com/2014/02/super-dieters-share-their-six-weight-loss-tips/ Sugar is the most addictive substance known to man. Here's one of my graphics from my Bariatric Girl Facebook page. If this doesn't turn you around please let me know. You CAN do this! Here's another post about someone who turned around a 70 lb gain. http://www.bariatricgirl.com/2010/12/beating-regain-gina-getting-to-goal-9-years-later/ I hope this helps. Thanks again for your kind words.

Thank you so much!

I can't tell you how much this made my day! Thank you so much for the kind words. I think you wrote some very wise words there!

OH MY GOD!! I'm so so sorry I missed your message. Bless your heart. You've been through so much. You are very smart to have figured out that you are snacking. It is not easy to keep the weight off but just like the graphic I posted...."choose your hard" right? It's not so much about the protein as it is about eating good, healthy food and at the same time....find a way to get your body moving. I'd love to offer my blog as an additional resource. It's at www.bariatricgirl.com. I'd also like to send you a document that's still in the rough stages but still great information. It's a compilation of many of the answers I've given to people who have regained and I think it would be a big help. You can email me at yvonne@bariatricgirl.com and I'll be happy to send it to you. Again I'm so sorry I missed your message.....

I'm sorry I missed this! I'm so glad you took off those glasses and have found happiness again!

Hello VSGAnn2014, I totally understand what you are saying and I hope you find that balance. I want to share a post I did on my blog about this subject. You can find it here: http://www.bariatricgirl.com/2014/02/super-dieters-share-their-six-weight-loss-tips/ I should explain my thinking a bit better and I also want to repeat that IF you can find that balance by eating in moderation, I'm ecstatic! Being able to control the monster is so impressive to me and I've known a few that could. I tried to do that for 30 years and always failed. My mindset comes from corresponding with thousands of post-ops over the years so I feel it is important to share the wealth of their experience. The blog post also explains that if what you are doing doesn't work out, I'm offering another choice. I'm wishing you the very very best on your journey.

Babbs you made my day!!!

Thanks Sara! I use it really often and I often wonder if people understand what I'm saying. I'm so pleased you were able to relate!

I have changed the way I eat as well. I eat very boring things because I can no longer have "sex in a plate". (I hope that made sense) I have also recognized that because I cannot "eat just one" that it is easier to not eat any. I believe the reason it is hard for some people to eat like you do is because their addiction to food is severe and they haven't worked on the root issue. This is a great article about people who are abstainers (like me) and people who can eat moderately (they can eat just one). http://www.gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2013/01/want-to-be-free-from-french-fries-or-why-abstaining-may-be-easier-than-you-think/

So well said....I had gastric bypass over 14 years ago when there was no such thing as aftercare and support of any kind was almost non existent. Since I had surgery I have been volunteering in the WLS community full time and I've been in the trenches every single day. I personally believe that food addiction is one of the prime reasons for regain but many bariatric professionals don't even believe it exists. I am passionate about bringing food addiction into the discussion and I'll share one of my blog posts. It was only because I admitted my addiction that I was able to work on it and I'll be working on it the rest of my life. There is no shame...it is a disease. Here's that post. http://www.bariatricgirl.com/2013/12/now-this-clarifies-food-addiction/

Part of my new lease on life is having fun! We definitely need to remember to play. I can be really silly and this certainly proves it. I hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays to all!!

Thank you for your kind words. It is such an honor to be featured here. Special thanks to Bariatric Pal and Alex!

Great article....such a shame that some of the states that need it most (like Texas) are excluded. I am hopeful however because it IS getting better. Literally thanks to not being held hostage over preexisting conditions, my husband and I are able to get real insurance for the first time in 12 years because my gastric bypass made me a leper in the eyes of the insurance company. (we are self employed) Because I could get a well woman's exam they found something that would have killed me if left unchecked. I was also able to get a colonoscopy which was about ten years overdue especially since my mom lost her life to colon cancer. I think we are getting closer and like Susan said....contacting your representative really does help in most states. I'm a glass half full girl and I'm grateful for the progress made so far and looking forward to making more. Thanks Alex for a very informative article. I so hope that one day in the near future they will finally acknowledge food addiction so that thousands can possibly get the help they need.

I've done a few talks about this as well as a blog post and it originally started out as just three things but evolved into this graphic I created. If what you say passes all 5 of these...you're pretty safe. Is it true means that you know it for a fact...not that someone told you. Of course making sure it's kind and figuring out if it's really necessary will keep everyone happy. So much is lost in translation through text so many people are misunderstood. No one likes being told "you aren't doing it right". I feel like I have enough to do keeping my side of the street clean so there's no need to tell someone what they should be doing. As others have said....we fight people all day who think we are wrong. There should always be a safe place to fall where unconditional support is offered. We are stronger together. Thank you Alex for running such a classy place.

I just bawled my head off reading this.....You just want to crawl in a corner and die....doesn't matter what your co-worker said. It was you who felt this woman's pain and it was you who knew what she was feeling and it was you who cried for her.... One change at a time.....One changed feeling at a time.... Your right you know...A lot of people are exactly what the scarecrow said in the wizard of Oz: Scarecrow: "...some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?" Excellent comment!!!

What a beautiful story. And while I understand the liability stuff I would probably have had to get other employees to sit on me to not try to help. I mean I understand there are rules....I just tend to throw them out the window when someone is in distress. I'm grateful the fire department was so close. I didn't fall but my moment that was like that was when my mom died. She had been dying of cancer for a year and even though I was huge I got bigger that year because I gave up. For so long I had isolated and only went to work and one store and the morning of the funeral I realized that I would have to face tons of people who hadn't seen me in years. I wanted to crawl in a hole. I could see the looks on their faces....poor Yvonne...she was so pretty in college...look how she has let herself go. (I managed a couple of years in college to be anorexic but could never get it back) I couldn't have been more embarrassed and ashamed at the same time. On top of that I lost my mom and wanted to die. Your heart is so big and it was wonderful that you felt for that woman. Thank you for sharing.

I don't think pink dahlia meant to be judgmental...really more of making a point of how many times we see things where we wish we could share with people all the things that saved our own lives. One point in particular that you brought up that is very important and that's how many people in our community have been sexually or mentally abused. I think it is far more common than most think. That's exactly why we need so much support to heal those psychological wounds and some of them are passed down through dysfunctional families generation after generation. I actually decided to have my tubes tied at 31 because I wanted to stop the insanity that I believed was being passed on. When I see someone who is obese my heart breaks because I know that deep down inside there is a person who wants to escape that outside shell and they feel like most people won't give them a chance and unfortunately that's pretty much true.

For some people food is a drug and all food is legal. For me it seems like a perfect example of how much pull food can have and many people have also just given up. I've known a couple of people who had emphysema and were told if they didn't quit smoking they would die but kept smoking. For them life wasn't worth living without smoking and for some people life isn't worth living without food. I like that your daughter is open about your Lap Band....there should be no shame involved.

Thank you...your kindness is very much appreciated.

Again...I am FASCINATED with human behavior and different cultures. You made me a laugh about the story of the French President....Yes I remember the flowery caftans and polyester everything. When the store Lane Bryant came into existence I was in heaven because they had normal clothes for larger women. At the end of my obese life I had switched over to men's 4x shirts and was told one time I should contact Omar the tent maker for clothes. (Nice huh?) Unbelievable story about the smoking!! I just can't believe a doctor would do that. I would imagine you probably have a larger amount of people who are home bound for fear of being scrutinized in public. Thank you for sharing.

Jamilyne I have said those exact words so many times!! When I would get the "just diet and exercise" comment thrown at me I also wanted to just scream "DON'T YOU THINK I HAVE A MIRROR??? DON'T YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED EVERY DIET KNOWN TO MAN? DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK I LIKE BEING LIKE THIS?". I remember going to a doctor once and he told me I was carrying the equivalent of a 12 year old boy on my shoulders. Alert the media! I not only tried every diet in existence (many more than once) but I did horrible, dangerous things to my body. I drove to a doctor that was 10 hours away who saw hundreds of women on Saturday. He put 6 at a time in an exam room and you paid cash. He handed you a prescription and you walked next door to his pharmacy and you got pills with no imprint on them. I found out later it was a diet drug (most likely amphetamine), lasix, thyroid meds etc. Of course if I had been told it was a thyroid med that could harm me but would make me lose weight....I didn't care! The only thing I had left to try was to shoot up meth and for about a minute I thought I'd at least die skinny. Even after being told I had a 400% chance of getting cancer over a normal person it couldn't have made me want to lose weight any more than I already did. I told them when I had gastric bypass that if they had told me I had to cut off a toe, I would have just never worn sandals again. I GET everything you said. I think if physicians approached it by saying something like "how can I help you get some of that weight off because I want you live" is much better than "you HAVE to lose weight" it would be received much better. Of course I have many more suggestions than that if I could wave a magic wand. I just wanted to let you know how much I could relate to your story and that you are a far braver person than me because I could never get a massage when I was obese....I didn't even leave the house except to go to work and Walmart where I could get food and clothes at the same time.

Thank you for seeing my heart. Many times I am not given a chance because of preconceived ideas....you obviously have a loving soul and that's beautiful.

Everyone has different ways of communicating. I could never say those words to someone even though I think several people thought I would when they read this post. Usually someone will mention something that may have happened over 13 years ago and I can say something like "I couldn't do that back then because I was nearly 300 pounds". At that point if they ask I say it like it's every day conversation "Oh I was really lucky...I had weight loss surgery and lost 130 pounds". Again if they ask more, I tell them more. If they don't ask it's always possible that I planted a seed. Congrats on those 118 pounds by the way!

Please know I only wanted to see if he was OK. He was really hurt badly. If I could have made contact with him I wouldn't have told him he should check out surgery. Only if it came up and he wanted to talk about it would I have even gone there. I don't want to be misunderstood...I have never ever suggested or pushed surgery on anyone. I have only shared my experience and usually it's just a statement brought into the conversation when I might get to mention that I used to weigh nearly 300 pounds... Once that's said... if they don't ask anything else...I'm done talking about it. What I was trying to convey in this article was that he was surprised I took time to help him and that broke my heart because I could tell he was a truly kind soul.

It's embarrassing enough thinking of someone approaching someone one on one but I can see how coming from the wife of your boss had to be awful. Good people picking a bad way for sure. I'm so glad they didn't turn you off to it so much that you didn't consider it. I'm actually working on a t-shirt and it's partly to educate the public in general. It's so weird that so many people will say "that stuff doesn't work" but the minute a celebrity loses a ton of weight they say "she had weight loss surgery!" They need to make up their mind.