emilygrace

This topic is fascinating to read, and has aligned with my experience, 12 years after WLS. It's only the past year that I've attempted to resolve my own childhood traumas and realized the link between avoiding my feelings and eating. I've not had one binge since I have been prioritizing my mental health this year.
Even reading some comments, you see how we see some foods are "bad" and some are "healthy" - the judgement shows what we learned as children (and fat people). We are seen as inherently lazy, greedy and bad if obese. I know I used my obesity to be invisible, to numb my feelings, to get that pleasure hit. I don't think I am physically addicted to food, but certainly psychologically I am. It was unintentional, but certainly deliberate.
Some tools I use now -
1. Journaling daily, but also when I particularly feel like eating something; asking myself why? What am I feeling? Or trying to not feel? Am i bored? Am I lonely? Am I sad?
2. Mindfulness: deliberate mindfulness, to ground myself in the here and now, and what I am actually feeling in the moment. Am I looking to the future and making myself anxious? Feeling sad about the past? Just breathe back to the now.
3. Mindful moving of my body. Riding my bicycle to work, taking a walk, yoga or dancing. It gives me time to think, and know that I am doing something for myself, and it makes me feel like today, I chose to take care of me.
4. Self care in general. Taking time to do things that make me feel good about myself. Setting boundaries for things that make me feel bad. It really helps put me in a mindset that eating healthfully is doing something FOR myself, rather than doing something TO myself.

- Do it, you will only regret not doing it sooner
- Do your research and be completely comfortable with your surgeon; make sure you ask what they will do and how they will manage complications
- Get up and move around as soon as you can postop. It helps move the gas out of your system. Use a heat pack for the shoulder blade pain from trapped gas.
- Don't worry about loose skin yet; deal with one step at a time.
- Go to a psychologist or therapist. The mental reasons you overeat to the point of obesity are not helped by surgery. You have the aid of no appetite initially to lose weight, but once that restriction eases over time, it's just you again, with all the same issues and problems. See someone. Consider what led you to get where you are/were. I was never a believer in "therapy" and thought it was rather useless and self-indulgent to sit and "whine" to someone about your problems. I misunderstood. It is unbelievably helpful to have a professional with whom you build a good relationship, to call you out on your BS and encourage you to feel your feelings instead of eating to suppress them (if that's what you do - it's what I do). Cannot recommend strongly enough, and think it should be mandatory for before and after WLS.

- Do it, you will only regret not doing it sooner
- Do your research and be completely comfortable with your surgeon; make sure you ask what they will do and how they will manage complications
- Get up and move around as soon as you can postop. It helps move the gas out of your system. Use a heat pack for the shoulder blade pain from trapped gas.
- Don't worry about loose skin yet; deal with one step at a time.
- Go to a psychologist or therapist. The mental reasons you overeat to the point of obesity are not helped by surgery. You have the aid of no appetite initially to lose weight, but once that restriction eases over time, it's just you again, with all the same issues and problems. See someone. Consider what led you to get where you are/were. I was never a believer in "therapy" and thought it was rather useless and self-indulgent to sit and "whine" to someone about your problems. I misunderstood. It is unbelievably helpful to have a professional with whom you build a good relationship, to call you out on your BS and encourage you to feel your feelings instead of eating to suppress them (if that's what you do - it's what I do). Cannot recommend strongly enough, and think it should be mandatory for before and after WLS.

This topic is fascinating to read, and has aligned with my experience, 12 years after WLS. It's only the past year that I've attempted to resolve my own childhood traumas and realized the link between avoiding my feelings and eating. I've not had one binge since I have been prioritizing my mental health this year.
Even reading some comments, you see how we see some foods are "bad" and some are "healthy" - the judgement shows what we learned as children (and fat people). We are seen as inherently lazy, greedy and bad if obese. I know I used my obesity to be invisible, to numb my feelings, to get that pleasure hit. I don't think I am physically addicted to food, but certainly psychologically I am. It was unintentional, but certainly deliberate.
Some tools I use now -
1. Journaling daily, but also when I particularly feel like eating something; asking myself why? What am I feeling? Or trying to not feel? Am i bored? Am I lonely? Am I sad?
2. Mindfulness: deliberate mindfulness, to ground myself in the here and now, and what I am actually feeling in the moment. Am I looking to the future and making myself anxious? Feeling sad about the past? Just breathe back to the now.
3. Mindful moving of my body. Riding my bicycle to work, taking a walk, yoga or dancing. It gives me time to think, and know that I am doing something for myself, and it makes me feel like today, I chose to take care of me.
4. Self care in general. Taking time to do things that make me feel good about myself. Setting boundaries for things that make me feel bad. It really helps put me in a mindset that eating healthfully is doing something FOR myself, rather than doing something TO myself.

This topic is fascinating to read, and has aligned with my experience, 12 years after WLS. It's only the past year that I've attempted to resolve my own childhood traumas and realized the link between avoiding my feelings and eating. I've not had one binge since I have been prioritizing my mental health this year.
Even reading some comments, you see how we see some foods are "bad" and some are "healthy" - the judgement shows what we learned as children (and fat people). We are seen as inherently lazy, greedy and bad if obese. I know I used my obesity to be invisible, to numb my feelings, to get that pleasure hit. I don't think I am physically addicted to food, but certainly psychologically I am. It was unintentional, but certainly deliberate.
Some tools I use now -
1. Journaling daily, but also when I particularly feel like eating something; asking myself why? What am I feeling? Or trying to not feel? Am i bored? Am I lonely? Am I sad?
2. Mindfulness: deliberate mindfulness, to ground myself in the here and now, and what I am actually feeling in the moment. Am I looking to the future and making myself anxious? Feeling sad about the past? Just breathe back to the now.
3. Mindful moving of my body. Riding my bicycle to work, taking a walk, yoga or dancing. It gives me time to think, and know that I am doing something for myself, and it makes me feel like today, I chose to take care of me.
4. Self care in general. Taking time to do things that make me feel good about myself. Setting boundaries for things that make me feel bad. It really helps put me in a mindset that eating healthfully is doing something FOR myself, rather than doing something TO myself.

I hope your revision went well. I found the psychological aspect to be the absolute most important longterm. The restriction and appetite suppression wears off, but your traumas and maladaptive behaviors do not. I have always poo hooed therapy as a bunch of crap, but it was because I was not committed to it, or didn't have the right therapist. Once I found one with whom I had a great therapeutic relationship, I have laid it all out and finally been able to deal with my childhood issues (and I'm in my 40s). I highly recommend the book "The Body Keeps The Score" to explain physical issues and their relationship to mental issues. This has been transformational for me, and allowed me to eliminate binge eating and finally lose the weight I had regained after surgery. I am hopeful that I have found my solution.

I canceled my first surgery because of concerns I had with the program I was in and doubts I was having in general. I found another program and the psychologist (for the program) and I discussed my concerns I had and she assured me - that once I had clearance if I was still questioning if the surgery was the right choice I could take up to a year to decide on having it (based on their program and my insurance requirements). She also reassured me that if I didn’t want surgery she could work to refer me to the medically supervised weight loss program so I could continue to work on progress.

Knowing I have choices is helping me be less anxious. I always advocate for listening to your instincts. Get the answers/information you need to feel confident in the choice you are making. Talk with your therapist or the program psychologist… your PCP or specialist if you have a good relationship with them… nurse navigator in the program (or all of them if need be) to help set your mind at ease so you feel confident in what ever your decision is.

It's really not their decision or their body. Personally, I feel like if I don't get the skin removal etc. that I'll be perpetually wearing (or keeping around) the equivalent of my old, fat clothes like I'm just waiting for myself to fit into them again rather than throwing them out and committing to a more healthy lifestyle. I'll likely get my plastics around age 42.

I had to throw up several times postop, starting from a couple weeks out once I started on mushies etc. Some things just wouldn't stay down, like oatmeal - I think it must expand in your stomach because it felt fine going down, but half an hour later I felt it coming back up my throat and I would go and throw it up. There was no retching or "vomiting" exactly, just that it popped back up my throat. This happened multiple times in the 2-6 week postop period. I don't think I was eating too much or too fast.
Now I am 3 months out and it never happens anymore.

I'm not sure what you want us to say - clearly you're going to do whatever you want to do, if you won't even follow your doctor's directions.

I'm not sure what you want us to say - clearly you're going to do whatever you want to do, if you won't even follow your doctor's directions.