Weight loss surgery is a lot about yourself – you eat well, get active, and take your vitamins to lose weight and get healthy. Sometimes it even seems like you are alone or acting in a vacuum – that nobody notices what you do.

Still, you have a lot of influence over others. Realize it or not, you influence your children, coworkers, partner, parents, siblings, friends…everyone you know, practically, whether or not they notice it. They see your eating patterns, your dedication to achieving your goals, and your attitudes on a daily basis.

How do you set a good example for others? Do you make sure to stick to your plan so you can demonstrate the value of dedication? Do you face every challenge with a smile to show your positive attitude? Do you notice your effects on others, and does that affect your thoughts and actions?

Although I'm only about 9 weeks out I think the dedication to sticking to the change in my diet has been having an effect on my wife. We went through a bit of friction about 6 weeks in due to the length of time it was taking for me to eat my 1/2 cup of food. We had a talk and told her that was always part of my problem was plowing through a plate of food quicker than it was now taking me to eat 1/2 a cup.

The past few years have been back and forth with unsuccessful diets and this time I've been doing really well at making this work. I'm starting to see changer in her as well - taking more time to eat, avoiding some foods, etc. Naturally I miss some of the old junk foods, but I've been happy doing what I'm doing without them in my life. On the surface it doesn't seem like a big deal to me but I do think it's having an impact on my wife seeing that I'm getting by just fine without those things in my diet any longer.

I haven't told anyone what I was planning and at this point what I have done (4 days ago).

I wasn't sure that I would be approved by insurance, but this time around I am determined to lose the weight...for good.

Ao after my initial surgical consult early February, I started to cut back on things in my diet. I didn't really see a change. Prior to this I was not a huge junk food addict, I didn't drink soda with sugar and in the past year I have stopped drinking diet sodas. But no change...not even a little.

3 1/2 weeks ago (about 1 week prior to insurance approval), I eliminated All Processed sugar (meaning whole fruit was ok). I saw myself eating chips and pretzels instead...so I eliminated carbs (again carbs from fruits and veggies were ok). I purchased premier protein shakes and started to use them as meal replacement 2-3 times per day and had fish for dinner. This was the perfect Segway into my liquid diet and now post op I'm not going crazy for junk.

Several co workers and friends have asked me about the shake and what I was doing...and now they are using them to supplement meals and see a change. My son has eliminated sugar too. All on his own...although my other 2 kids won't -lol. He looks for fruits as a dessert (and although I'm not a big fan of sugar free processed stuff for kids) he has a SF ice pop when he other kids may have something more sugary. It's making my daughter think about her choices...she sees him doing it and is curious...but not there yet.

A main point of my choice is to be a better mother and role model for my kids. I want to do everything with them and don't want my health to hold me back. I want them to see that food is fuel, and not a source of pleasure I want to break the cycle that has been created through generations of our families culture and bad habits. One choice at a time.