Emotional Since Lap Band?

Bergdorfblonde · March 1, 2008

Now that I am losing weight, I have become more emotional than before.

Before, I used to think of myself as a very level-headed person. I rarely cried. Never yelled. Never stuck up for myself and let people walk all over me. Now, I realize that I used to use food to stuff down my feelings.

I had my car towed the other day and the tow truck driver said it would cost $250. I took $250 out of the ATM. When he got near my house, he said he was going to charge me $350 and if I didn't pay up he was going to take my car to the pound. I started crying my eyes out. Not like it was such a huge deal. But I was feeling sad and taken advantage of so I let out my emotions with a good cry. He went back to his original $250 price and I felt so good because I let the sadness out.:huggie:

When people take advantage of my kindness, I used to just stuff my feelings down with pizza or Pasta or chocolate. Now, when I have people take advantage of me, I call them out on it. Not in a rude way, but just in a factual, non chalant kind of way. I stick up for myself now instead of being overly polite to mean people.:w00t:

I feel like I am confronting my feelings more than I was when I was overeating. I used food as a drug to supress my emotions. I ate when I was happy. Ate when I was sad or angry.

Now if I eat too much I feel sick so it is not giving me the comfort it used to. So I actually have to deal with my emotions rather then stuff them. I laugh out loud when I am happy, cry when I am sad, and stick up for myself when I need to. It actually feels great to feel things more instead of numbing myself with food instead.

TulipStar · March 1, 2008

it's good that you are letting your emotions out. Even after the band I continued to try to stuff mine down whether it be with food or just resistance to recognize I was having emotion.

There is a great workbook about this very topic that I have been reading. It's called "Don't diet, live it!" and it's amazing how spot on it is about why we stuff our feelings and how to fix it.

chocolate_snaps · March 1, 2008

OMG! I was a wreck for the following 2Months.

vessa · March 1, 2008

went through same thing...still am.

there are times i will flip and bitch at my husband for 1/2 hour about the dumbest thing, and I will have to stop myself and apoplogize, it blows his mind. he just laughs, getting used to it.

A few months ago, I turned the channel, and watched the last 5 minutes of Armaggedon and bawled my eyes out!

Marimaru · March 1, 2008

Evidently fat stores a lot of estrogen, which is released when we lose weight.

gkeyt · March 1, 2008

That's a great post, BB. It's so true that you have to deal with your emotions more when you can't avoid them by eating. Also with our bodies changing and reshaping, a lot of hormones are released from the fat (as mentioned above) and just the metabolic changes themselves make us kinda wonky. Then we also have to deal with WHY we were fat...and deal with people treating us differently as we get thinner. There are so many reasons for the emotions.

Thanks for the "food" for thought! :eek:

Bergdorfblonde · March 2, 2008

Thanks for telling me about the hormone thing mari and gkeyt! I had no idea about that. I just thought I was more emotional now cuz I wasn't using food to solve my problems anymore. I didn't know my bod was releasing hormones as I lose weight. That explains a lot and I am going to go to the bookstore and read up on it to find out more about the hormonal thing.

pilate74 · March 2, 2008

I have lost so much weight I go into low blood sugar very easy. You may have to check your sugar every now and then. I get (drunk!) when my blood sugar goes down. I am not a diabetic. I think some of the emotions happen because of the body changes from weight loss.

tlambright1986 · March 3, 2008

i feel the same way..and i was actually thinking about all of this tonight.. i dont know what it is..im in a bad mood all the time... then im happy for only a bit... hopefully this will get better... my mood anyways

Ang1982 · March 3, 2008

i feel the same way..and i was actually thinking about all of this tonight.. i dont know what it is..im in a bad mood all the time... then im happy for only a bit... hopefully this will get better... my mood anyways

Oh my gosh, I hear yah. I am in bandster hell which only makes it worse.. my poor fiance. I'm so grumpy and snarky and bitchy... YIKES