We all have those screaming doubts of "what the hell am I doing to myself?!" Do I really need it. Will it work for me. Etc etc.

Anyways, I had a mini epiphany the other day that really made this easier for me. I'm viewing it as the first 6-8 months being diet period.

It's no different from any other strict diet. A diet I *need* to be on, but haven't ever been successful with before.

I thought that after those months when I'm down to goal weight, my stomach is healed and I enter the maintaining period. I will be able to eat those foods I thought I'd never taste again, only in much smaller portions. And yes, there is some stuff I'm sure I will never tolerate again and I'm fine with that.

It just suddenly occurred to me that the first 6-8 months are kind of like the diet we all need, that we can't escape from, so that we will finally succeed!

Then as everything is adjusting and you learn your new life, you can begin to eat some of your old favorites in *small* portions while keeping up with your new way of eating.

Does this sound reasonable or am I a dreamer?

I like to think of it as a lifestyle change since I don't want to deprive myself of the foods that I like. Occasionally I get the urge for a piece of candy or cookie and I do have a half or one. In the past, I would be eating the half/whole package! I find that occasionally giving myself the "treats" hasn't harmed my weight loss and it definitely helps me get my mind off of it. Luckily I haven't had too many of those moments.

I think you have to think of it whichever way works best for you. Have you been sleeved yet? If you have, how far out are you? If not, good luck with the approval process. Have I covered all my basis?

I tend not to completely agree with your line of thinking. There has to be a pretty complete commitment to developing healthy eating habits for this surgery to be successful long term. You will see many people that are a year or more out telling you that they eat what ever they want, just smaller portions. But before that happens you have to really reconcile your relationship with food and eating. I don't see the surgery as a "diet" at all. There hasn't been hardly any foods that I can not eat, however I know how I got to point that I needed the surgery. I also know that it is very easy to eat around the sleeve and gain back the weight that I have worked so hard to lose. What I, and many others, have to adjust to is why we eat, and why we make the choices we do. That's difficult and the surgery alone will not solve that issue but it does go along way in helping use filter through that. I think if most of us were a few pounds, say 10-20 overweight, then your thinking is probably correct. However for those of us that were obese, morbidly obese and had other health related issues that were connected to our weight, it has to go much deeper. I have had not not only learn how to eat healthy, I have had to learn to deal with emotions and stress and all the triggers that sent me looking for snacks and food that got me to 260 pounds. What the surgery does, is like a slap on the back of the head. It wakes you up, to face what got you to be obese and gives you an opportunity to deal with those issues, before you get fully healed up and are able to slide back into those old habits. Just my point of view.....

It does sound reasonable, but I also hear what John is saying. I'm human. I know that, in life, I'll have good and bad days and days where I'll want something not nutritionally good for me. I also know that, as in the past, that I can do any diet for a period of time. I've embraced the notion that until I lose the weight I want to, I'm on a pretty strict diet. Hopefully the last diet I will ever be on. I hope to use this time, to really work on a new relationship with food, to finally conquer the issues that have plagued me in the past leading me to fail. I am chipping away at that total and want to use every minute of this honeymoon phase to get rid of every pound I can.

My sleeve is only a tool to aid me with portion control and less hunger (as long as it lasts!!) I know I still need to put the work in and knowing that this time things are different keeps me very motivated.

Best of luck to you!!!

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Hmmm....like a diet. No. I agree with John. I cannot look at this as another diet. A diet usually has an end. "Oh I've lost the weight I want, now I can relax and eat how I used to before" I can't do that. I've had to see this as a complete life change. That is not to say that I will never eat the foods I've given up later but for now I'm trying to get a hold on how I view food and how I got to this point and how to not let that happen again. Like John said, you can eat around the sleeve and gain weight back and I know that is a very real possibility after reaching goal. So for me, this first year is all about learning to change my relationship with food and not go back to the way I ate before. No, I will never be able to eat the portion size I did before surgery but I can start eating a bunch of crap again or get lazy with my food choices and I don't want to do that. I just think it's a bad idea looking at this surgery as another diet. It's a lifestyle change, one that will save my life! This is just my opinion, I'm not trying to be snarky!

Hmmm....like a diet. No. I agree with John. I cannot look at this as another diet. A diet usually has an end. "Oh I've lost the weight I want' date=' now I can relax and eat how I used to before" I can't do that. I've had to see this as a complete life change. That is not to say that I will never eat the foods I've given up later but for now I'm trying to get a hold on how I view food and how I got to this point and how to not let that happen again. Like John said, you can eat around the sleeve and gain weight back and I know that is a very real possibility after reaching goal. So for me, this first year is all about learning to change my relationship with food and not go back to the way I ate before. No, I will never be able to eat the portion size I did before surgery but I can start eating a bunch of crap again or get lazy with my food choices and I don't want to do that. I just think it's a bad idea looking at this surgery as another diet. It's a lifestyle change, one that will save my life! This is just my opinion, I'm not trying to be snarky! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

No I agree. Maybe "diet" was a bad choice of word. What I meant was that the extreme part of this journey is the first 6-8 months which are also the part where you drop the majority of your weight.

After that, it's not easy breezy but at least we can start to live slightly more normal lives. I do agree that it's a life change, not a diet.

I myself chose the sleeve because looking at things long term, i knew it would make me feel more like a normal person and at 14 months out that is pretty much true. I could probably eat anything I want to. I just choose not to. I did not take into consideration that I would not WANT to eat a lot of those foods any more. We have a saying at our support group: "NOTHING tastes as good as THIN FEELS!" This is certainly true for me. I believe that success doesn't come because you had surgery or because you exercise regularly or because of what you put in your mouth. Success comes from changing your mindset because Attitude Is Everything! What you believe about yourself and what you are capable of, makes everything else possible.