Dealing with food issues pre-surgery

[KimA-GA 540]

Greetings!
I just had my first surgical consult and am working my way toward an October 2022 surgery. I want this to truly be a success, so before a knife touches me I want to get in a better place in my own head and face some of the things which got me to this state of super morbid obesity.

Over the past few months I have worked hard to work on my issues with food. I have issues with emotional and binge eating, eating too much fast food, too much processed food and too much sugar.

I have used a lot of techniques. Always shifting to try to beat take care of me. Some things I have done include mental health journaling, making no foods “bad” or off limits, practicing mindfulness and self forgiveness, using pre-packaged/portioned grab and go foods (nuts and cheese snack packs, lunchables, apples and Peanut Butter etc), slowly reducing my fast food dependence.

it has been rewarding so far to tackle those issues. I have lost 50 lbs so far. Sept 2021 I was 452 lbs, in pain and miserable in my own body. I now am 398, in and less discomfort. I am looking forward to being in the right mindset for surgery so that I can ultimately achieve all of my goals and change my life.

What is your experiences with dealing with food issues both before and after surgery??

[Sleeve_Me_Alone 654]

That is amazing!! You are absolutely on the right track - the mental and emotional pieces require FAR more work than the physical. And, as wonderful as WLS is, it is just a tool and do the internal work needed to be successful. I did a lot of similar work, and I chose to get therapy. For me, my anxiety, depression, and past trauma play a HUGE role in my disordered eating and I knew that I could do much of the work on my own to establish good habits but I would need support getting to the root of some of it. If you're not already, I strongly suggest getting into counseling of some kind. We can all use all the tools we can get!

[ShoppGirl 3,410]

Good for you for taking this approach. You will be in a great place when you officially start your journey. Congratulations on the weight loss.

[KimA-GA 540]

53 minutes ago, Sleeve_Me_Alone said:

That is amazing!! You are absolutely on the right track - the mental and emotional pieces require FAR more work than the physical. And, as wonderful as WLS is, it is just a tool and do the internal work needed to be successful. I did a lot of similar work, and I chose to get therapy. For me, my anxiety, depression, and past trauma play a HUGE role in my disordered eating and I knew that I could do much of the work on my own to establish good habits but I would need support getting to the root of some of it. If you're not already, I strongly suggest getting into counseling of some kind. We can all use all the tools we can get!

Thank you! I have done lots of therapy over the years but not doing it formally at present. Honesty I am using the tools I learned from it but didn’t help me at the time. I wasn’t ready before. I was trying to survive some very difficult circumstances for me. I am finally out of the survival mode and trying to implement changes to actually live… guess life begins after 40!

[Sleeve_Me_Alone 654]

@KimA-GA yep, I totally get it. I had the tools, I just wasn't ready to really use them until suddenly I was. It sounds like you are in a great headspace and on the right track! Best of luck, we will be here cheering you on!