EMOTIONAL CHANGE with being banded.

michelle9003 · January 19, 2008

Hi, I'm sch for feb 5th. So i'm preparing as much as I can, working out, trying to eat right for what is needed. Its tough though. lost a couple of pounds so far.. but anyway. i do see a couselor and she is wanting me to get ready for the emotionsl change so I do not use food as medication anymore. so I need a list so when i feel the " triggers" of stress and life I do not self medicate with food.

So what where the some of the emotional changes and when daily life gets tough how did and do you great gals handle it? Now that you've been banded.

she wants me come up with an emotional plan as well as the diet change so I fix and heal the inside and woohoo fix the outside.

I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE

THANKS:wink2:

MamaJava · January 19, 2008

Of course that makes sense! For many of us, we are overweight because food is an addiction. Much like a heroine addict or someone addicted to cigarettes. It's in the same class of addictions. One is not better than another...they are all the same in that they all engross a person physically AND emotionally. We become addicts for mental reasons, not physical ones.

I've been rather emotional since getting my band. I am entering an epiphany of sorts, where I can clearly see now where I went wrong in the past. I immediately turned to food (I always denied that I was an emotionally addicted eater). The reason I can see it so clearly now is that the first thing I do when I'm upset or confused or angry...is walk to the kitchen and begin pacing because there isn't much I can have anymore. Before, I would walk in there and build a huge pile of nachos, toss them in the oven and then soak my sorrows in glory as I ate the whole thing. Now that I'm medically and physically unable to do those things, I find myself almost lost...but please note that I said almost.

I'm only 2 weeks post-op and this is by far the greatest and most severe life-changing event I've ever gone through. Even more so than having my children! That's saying a lot. That proves to me and shows me that having this surgery was THE RIGHT decision for me. Otherwise, I would have eaten myself into an early grave.

Now I must find other things to turn to during moments of my emotional roller coaster. This is a long road for so many reasons. I have to change my whole way of thinking. I have to now learn to love myself more than food. I have to figure out another way to channel my emotional energy when the going gets tough. I can do it. I'd be so proud if I could one day call myself an exercise addict!

It's true. Find a counselor or therapist to help you get through it. I don't have one right now, because I really feel like I have a handle on things. I even stopped taking my antidepressants before my surgery. I wanted to feel every emotional moment of this journey and maybe there are days when I really should be taking my Zoloft still...but I'm glad I decided to drop them the way that I did. Not everybody is the same and not everybody is as nuts as I am to be able to say that they are GLAD they are riding this emotional roller coaster. I really am happy about it. It means things are on the move...things are changing...I'm changing inside and outside...even when the scale doesn't say so, it's okay, because I know better.

Best of luck...you are not alone.

michelle9003 · January 19, 2008

Yeah the the therapist started out as a little boost for marriage couseling and now that we are on the same track again she has been great for both of us. My husband will also go by himself. I'm so glad I found her. she just wants me to have the right tools for this next change... She gives me homwork and so thats what i'm doing is her home work. " come up with a emotional plan for the change in weightloss"

Kristin1031 · January 19, 2008

Krista that was so well put by you. You will be a huge success in your weightloss goal!!

I have been feeling the weightloss emotionalness that I was warned about preop. Yesterday I was very emotional and I really could not put my finger on the why. I can tell you that I have been eating the good things, and that I question before I eat something if it is MEALTIME 1st. I do not snack in between meals. This is a huge change for me. I used to snack all day long because I was a grazer, and I would eat something all the time at work during the day. We have comfort food at work, people are always bringing in goodies, and not the healthy kind either.

I was so nervous about this enviornment being around me each and every day before my surgery. But I have found the temptation is not even a little. I know these Krispy Kreme donuts are not even something I want anymore. I am on my way and I don't want anything to disrupt that.

I believe I am fastly becoming that exercise addict that the previous post was describing. I look forward to my workouts, and if I am feeling the stress of daily life then I want to go work out to relieve it.

My test will be forth coming this summer when my DH get deployed again to the middle east, two years ago that brought such emotional dispair that I litterally ate and gained 60 pounds.

I am more prepared this time around, and I will find physical things to do to relieve the anger and stress that I feel. With the support of my loving family and friends and all the newfound friends through LapBand!

I will succeed and reach my GOAL!! I am so determined.

summerbushnell · January 19, 2008

I recommend the book - The Beck Diet Soultion

The title is misleading - it is not a diet, it is a way of helping you change habits and deal with your emotions.

michelle9003 · January 19, 2008

Hey thanks, I'll head out today.. feels like 7.. dont want to leave the house though. I'm just trying to get my head and heart together as well as the body. thats what 2008 is about. i'll definalty check the book out.