Changes that are needed to be successful

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

I just rejoined the page yesterday. I read through many forums which are great! I wanted to add one to see if it can inspire me to be more successful in my preop and postop weight loss. As we all know the journey is hard just to decide to go through the process .for the surgery in the first place. What have you thought or started doing to help your life change to lose weight and keep it off? They say it takes 21 days to rewire the mind to break a habit. Today I am started with not eating after 8pm.

[Elizabeth21 174]

Welcome to the journey. It will be work, but it is worth it. I think the key to maintaining is portion size and minimal carbs. Exercise is also key and strength training to keep the metabolism up.

Finally, I never pay any attention to my actual weight. I base it off how my clothes are fitting. For example, during the lockdown some things became a little more snug. So I upped my exercise and really watched the carbs. Things have improved.

Good luck with your journey!

[NovaLuna 708]

I had to do a six month monitored weight loss for my insurance and even though I actually didn't have to diet I chose to start early to prepare myself. The first month I cut my portion sizes and stopped eating seconds. The second month I cut out soda. Third month I cut out rice. Fourth I cut out Pasta. Fifth I cut out bread, potatoes, bean, etc. And sixth, seventh, and eighth month I just maintained that diet (they were scheduled out so it took them two extra months to schedule my surgery). I lost 64 pounds before my surgery. It's been almost five months since my surgery and I've lost an additional 70 pounds in that time. Bad habits are hard to break so trying to break those habits early on will only help you. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

Elizabeth21 thank you for that. I saw myself starting to obsess more as the process became closer and closer to my date. I weighed myself every day and the disappointment in gaining was devasting at times, even when I knew I did nothing to lose. Right now I am eating my first cauliflower steak. It is very good. I feel I need to be more in plan mode for my meals and exercise needs encouragement as well so thank you.

NovaLuna I CANT WAIT TO FEEL THAT LOOSER CLOTHING.This is the heaviest I have been in my life. I am trying to mobility issues and depression from a dog mauling two years ago. Actually I have therapy in ten minutes .thank you again

[New&Improved 1,780]

8 hours ago, INEEDABUDDY said:

I just rejoined the page yesterday. I read through many forums which are great! I wanted to add one to see if it can inspire me to be more successful in my preop and postop weight loss. As we all know the journey is hard just to decide to go through the process .for the surgery in the first place. What have you thought or started doing to help your life change to lose weight and keep it off? They say it takes 21 days to rewire the mind to break a habit. Today I am started with not eating after 8pm.

Well personally for me I believe it is largely a mental thing to be successful you have to be 150% into the new way of life, new way of thinking... you have to be ready to completely change and fight all the temptations..

You need to be doing as much research as possible before choosing your surgery.. I spent months learning about all the different procedures before choosing the bypass..

The not eating after 8PM really depends on when you go to sleep...

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

so I did t do so well with not eating after 8.Today is a new day .......

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

sleep maybe an hour later ....so will try a shake instead of food after 8

[summerset 5,225]

On 6/15/2020 at 3:51 PM, INEEDABUDDY said:

What have you thought or started doing to help your life change to lose weight and keep it off?

I think the most important thing was to ditch the black and white mentality so I could starting making changes that I could keep up with even during hard or stressful times. Nothing unrealistic like "going to the gym for 3 hours 6 day a week" or "never eating food x again".

Getting rid of as much diet mentality as possible. books about "normal eating" or "intuitive eating" helped tremendously with that, also when it comes to the issue of emotional eating and self-compassion.

[loridee11 508]

For me, it was about changing WHAT I eat. Yes, Portion Control is important, but my challenge was always what, not how much. I used to eat tons of carbs, high fat, and sugar. I made a commitment to focus on lean Protein sources and vegetables. I still eat some carbs and fat, but I've cut way back on sugar, processed carbs and bad fat.

[PollyEster 228]

I’m not sure that there are any one-size fits-all solutions in terms of changes to make outside of the basic top ten guidelines listed by every single WLS surgeon, manual, book, and website. Those top ten are a given, based upon the outcomes of hundreds of thousands of bariatric patients. Beyond following those basics, each person is going to discover, over time, an individual approach that’s based entirely upon their genetics, personality, and history – plus current relationship – with food and eating.

This is why I love what summerset said about abandoning a fixed mindset and embracing a growth mindset. Obesity is a lifelong disease that is treated, but not cured, by WLS, so there needs to be ongoing evaluation and readjustment in order to keep the disease in remission.

In practical terms, what this means to me is that to be successful for life, I’ll need to frequently evaluate what I’m doing to determine what’s working and what isn’t. Obviously I’ll need to continue doing the things that work, i.e. the bariatric top ten. But equally important is examining what’s not working, determining what all the contributing factors are, then evaluating my actions based on those factors and figuring out the adjustments needed in order to make the that shift so that the treatment continually evolves with the circumstances of my life at any given point in time.

So: ongoing frequent evaluations, then adapting, adjusting, and pivoting as necessary. What those changes and tweaks are will be different for everyone.

Edited June 18, 2020 by PollyEster

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

PollyEster......................................................................................................................................whew so on point ! I loved it so much I am sharing it today on a webnar that my surgeon is having. Whiel reading this I felt a pow to the worry of this procedure and life changes. Thank you !

loridee11 I am doing a vegetable per week I have never eating before. I realized I lived a lifetime of limited vegetable usage. I am learning to try and live and learn. Thank you all

[ChubRub 1,695]

My pre-op lifestyle changes were no more soda and no more eating fast food in the car. These 2 changes I plan to keep for life, as this is what put the pounds on to begin with.

Post-op, I'm just following my plan and increasing exercise. It obviously becomes easier to exercise more as I lose more weight. Due to Covid, I don't eat out anymore, but I know that when the restaurants reopen I'll be able to make good choices. And when I'm in maintenance, if I want a couple bites of dessert...no biggie!

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

ChubRub more good ideas that could be incorporated into one's life.Thanks for the ideas keep it coming.

Anyone parking their car further away to get in more steps?

[Elizabeth21 174]

Every thing adds up! (Good and bad, lol.) Just keep at it. Yes, living post WLS has been work, but, so was being obese. It has been totally worth it. I am now able to do things I never would have been able to do six years ago. You are worth it. Stick with it.

Good luck!

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

On 6/17/2020 at 11:26 PM, PollyEster said:

I’m not sure that there are any one-size fits-all solutions in terms of changes to make outside of the basic top ten guidelines listed by every single WLS surgeon, manual, book, and website. Those top ten are a given, based upon the outcomes of hundreds of thousands of bariatric patients. Beyond following those basics, each person is going to discover, over time, an individual approach that’s based entirely upon their genetics, personality, and history – plus current relationship – with food and eating.

This is why I love what summerset said about abandoning a fixed mindset and embracing a growth mindset. Obesity is a lifelong disease that is treated, but not cured, by WLS, so there needs to be ongoing evaluation and readjustment in order to keep the disease in remission.

In practical terms, what this means to me is that to be successful for life, I’ll need to frequently evaluate what I’m doing to determine what’s working and what isn’t. Obviously I’ll need to continue doing the things that work, i.e. the bariatric top ten. But equally important is examining what’s not working, determining what all the contributing factors are, then evaluating my actions based on those factors and figuring out the adjustments needed in order to make the that shift so that the treatment continually evolves with the circumstances of my life at any given point in time.

So: ongoing frequent evaluations, then adapting, adjusting, and pivoting as necessary. What those changes and tweaks are will be different for everyone.

Still the best thing I have read on this website.