Please help...need reality check! Slipping up!

[GotProlactinoma 458]

We were sleeved the same week and you are doing wonderfully! Especially being low BMI like me. So even with you having slip ups, you're ahead.

Decide when you are most energetic at home and take that time to make yourself some food for the week. Meatballs, maybe. Freeze them in small amounts lies maybe 2 meatballs in a bag. Keep a lunch box in your car with enough meatballs for the day in it. Heat them in a micro or even leave them out for 30 mins to thaw and eat.

Be prepared with YOUR choice of Snacks. Put Epic meat Protein Bars in your car. You get the munchies, you turn to those spicy meat bars. I also got a pack of spicy peanuts (the only nut I can eat) or spicy pumpkin seeds, and portioned them out to maybe 10 nuts in a little ziplock each. Stuffed them into my car door pockets.

You so have this. I'm envious of your loss, so there! Hugs.

[trying4me 56]

Whenever I feel like food might take control I repeat "eat to live, not live to eat" several times. Then I remind myself that is not the last ______ (cake/candy/French fry), I can have some another day when I am healthy.

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

[sleevedshereen 524]

@GotProlactinoma wow thanks for that. I really need to be better about cooking and packing food rather then resorting to buying ready made food. I'm going through so much right now so I fee like most of the time, I have no will to do anything. I have just given up on everything and it breaks my heart. I don't want to feel this way. I want to shake my body and say WAKE UP DON"T GIVE UP WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST LETTING EVERYTHING AROUND YOU GO TO SH*T?? but I can't seem to snap out of this depressed zombie phase. I'm going to do what you said though. I think that will really help.

7 of those lbs I lost were from my cleanse the day before surgery so technically I've only lost 25 lbs since surgery so we're in the same boat boo xo lol

@trying4me I love that. I will start adopting that when I feel like i want to eat everything and anything.

[Sullie06 1,013]

On ‎9‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 3:26 PM, OutsideMatchInside said:

Just take it hour by hour. Don't worry about getting through the day, that can be overwhelming. Just worry about eating and drinking right for the next hour. Then just keep making it hour by hour.

Good luck OP, we are on your side.

This is exactly what I was going to say. 1 meal at a time needs to be your focus. Take time a really plan your meals, bring healthy Snacks and prepare food to take with you so you don't have the reason to go to the drive thru and despite how bad you want it remind yourself you don't need it.

We've all been there, heck we are all still there in one way or another but you can't beat yourself up and you can go back. You realize what's happening so put your hands on it and move forward. Take control of the future.

I swear by support groups, when I'm feeling like I'm slipping I go to the next group and sometimes I don't even speak. I just listen and realize I'm not alone. I would ask your doc/NUT if they know of any groups locally that you could attend. There is no shame in reaching out to people who know the struggle and can offer you support.

[chasingpolaris321 214]

I have no idea if this will be a helpful comment or not, but I have found that transferring my fixation on cravings to (for me) drinking as much tea and liquid as possible has really cut down on my desire to eat. I've made the tea thing sort of fun for myself by getting some nicer loose leaf teas and herbal blends, and a couple of fun tea gadgets (steepers and mugs). Obviously defeating cravings is really challenging but this has worked for me now and in the past and it certainly helps weight loss to focus on Fluid intake. I have to remind myself that the fat only has so many ways out of my body and the primary one is by peeing! Like others said, don't give up or be too hard on yourself. There's a reason we think of this process as a journey. Good luck!

[AmandaWho 158]

I had that problem too. Not as bad but I had it. It helps to meal prep and when you get those urges, eat something you already have made. When you do that, the urge and hunger will go away because you've gotten something in your stomach. And since it's a lot smaller, it takes less to do the trick. Be strong and eventually you will break the habit of running to a fast food place. You can do it. We all can. We just need a little help and a little support!

[AmandaWho 158]

I'm so ashamed of myself. Over the last week and a half I have been going through a lot of ****.
My emotional eating habit is terrible. I've been eating fast food and drinking soda. I'm sabotaging myself but the problem is I'm so f**king addicted to fast food and soda I keep saying "i'll give it up tomorrow" I've been saying that for a week and a half now.
I'm stressed, emotional, feeling a little depressed, my anxiety is through the roof and I can't stop myself from driving to a fast food drive thru on my lunch break or going to the food court at the mall on my lunch break or having a soda before dinner.
What the hell is wrong with me?? I'm struggling so bad. I know I can't eat as much as I used to but the fact that I'm falling into these old habits and can't get a hold of myself is terrifying.
I just needed to share this and reach out. I'm just struggling. I feel overwhelmed and can't handle anything so I just give up and eat...

Also, I sent you a PM

[LivingFree! 478]

What great support from BariatricPal members...

Please FIRST find your strength to let go of SHAME and guilt. You will be "practicing" your new WLS life over and over again, especially for your first year. And even after that--all that practice WILL NOT make perfect!!! Be kind and gentle to yourself. Learning new life-long eating and behavioral habits is a step-by-step process.

What helped for me was to write out a visual plan of the things/foods I needed to change (For instance, Yes, I was a fast food thriver too. So I decided I could still have fast food, but only twice a month. Now, at 6 years post-op, I have no desire for fast food. I prefer to nourish my body with fresh, real non-processed food). As my poor eating habits and poor choices changed, my thinking also changed. Now I think of food as medicine for my body. I'm pretty picky about what kind of occasional "junk" I will eat!

So:

• Self-love and self-respect plays a big part in WLS success.
• Pre-planning and preparing your food day (or week) keeps you committed to staying on track.
• Living in the "present" and not worrying about yesterday's or tomorrow's mistakes (cultivating mindfulness).
• WLS is so much more than just losing weight. Staying in touch with your bariatric team (MD, dietitian, therapist, exercise program) and in-person support groups all contribute to long-term success. Thinking this is easy and we can do this "alone" just does not prove true for many WLSers.

There are great articles on BariatricPal in the magazine section written by many WLS professionals. For me, educating myself by reading WLS books and articles and signing up for e-newsletters by bariatric professionals made a huge impact on my confidence for long-term permanent weight maintenance.

You have taken a huge positive step in your life, and you will learn to manage what works for YOU.