Harder? How?
I am 2 weeks out from surgery--YIPEEEEE!! But I wonder is there anyone else out there that, prior to surgery felt the same way I do?? Yes, I am excited, Yes I am anxious, nervous and scared...but other than that I really am just going through the motions--I'm kinda numb in a way. I keep reading how this is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done, that this is only a tool, that (horror) I can gain it all back and more--but here are my thoughts--How in God's name can it be ANY harder than what I've been through. I mean I have dieted my entire life, watched what I've eaten, counted calories, carbs and points, I've exercised within an inch of my life, zumba, jazzercise, walking, bike riding--my joints hurt so bad because I did all of that to try and MAINTAIN a 190lb body!!! So tell me how can it be ANY harder than what I've been through already???
The real hard work with the sleeve is not the Diet and Exercise. The real struggle is the head work, the self reflection, and the self healing. The sleeve handles the biochemistry and restriction. The support groups, the behavoir modifications, the commitment to overcoming your compulsions; these are what makes the journey successfull in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years.
If it was just willpower and calorie counting - we would have been skinny to begin with.
Glad your first two weeks have gone well for you.
If it was just willpower and calorie counting - we would have been skinny to begin with.
Glad your first two weeks have gone well for you.
_____________________________________________________________________
160 lbs lost. Surgeons Goal Reached in 33 weeks. My Goal in 37 Weeks.
VSG: 11/2/2011; LBL+Thigh Lift+BL: 10/3/2012; Brach+Mastopexy: 7/22/2013
I try not to judge in terms of what I tried before to lose and after surgery. They are really apples and oranges.
Before surgery we tried diet and our main tool was will power. The sleeve takes the place of using will to stop you from overeating.
For our recovery from obesity to be successful, we have to use our will to work on ourselves. We have to have the strength to stop and say "Why am I doing this?", "Why do I feel the need to eat?", "whats the real reason I want to do this?". Then, hardest of all, we have to be honest with ourselves. We have to learn to feel our TRUE emotions and to deal wth them.
We have to start rebuilding our self images. We take a lot of **** and bear a lot of stigma from being overweight and obese, some blatant, some subtle. How are we going to overcome that and realize that fat is not who we are but what we were? How do you recover from a lifetime of that?
Those are the real struggles. The tools for long term success are not what you get from surgery, but what you get from the support groups and self reflection. Those are the tools that you have to commit to for life.
Before surgery we tried diet and our main tool was will power. The sleeve takes the place of using will to stop you from overeating.
For our recovery from obesity to be successful, we have to use our will to work on ourselves. We have to have the strength to stop and say "Why am I doing this?", "Why do I feel the need to eat?", "whats the real reason I want to do this?". Then, hardest of all, we have to be honest with ourselves. We have to learn to feel our TRUE emotions and to deal wth them.
We have to start rebuilding our self images. We take a lot of **** and bear a lot of stigma from being overweight and obese, some blatant, some subtle. How are we going to overcome that and realize that fat is not who we are but what we were? How do you recover from a lifetime of that?
Those are the real struggles. The tools for long term success are not what you get from surgery, but what you get from the support groups and self reflection. Those are the tools that you have to commit to for life.
_____________________________________________________________________
160 lbs lost. Surgeons Goal Reached in 33 weeks. My Goal in 37 Weeks.
VSG: 11/2/2011; LBL+Thigh Lift+BL: 10/3/2012; Brach+Mastopexy: 7/22/2013
I was scared, but I never kid myself that this was going to be harder than doing it without the benefit of surgery! Harder was cutting cals down to 800 a day with an intact stomach, and white knuckling down from 308lbs! Harder was trying to maintain a 150+lb loss.. Compared to my past, this was a breeze. Not to make light of any struggles along the way, as they are there.. but I was happy right out of surgery, never had an issue with the food progression, and felt free for once!
It is hard, but in different ways.. that's difficult to explain. We are hopping on the table willingly for a big operation, that takes some guts right there.. We are (hopefully) making this an entire lifestyle shift.. since we all know that "dieting" (a temporary mindset) fails in the long run. This is not over at goal.. it's only over when we kick it, so we need to make sure the changes we make are things we can live with, truly enjoy (not just tolerate till "someday") and do over and over again.
It is a commitment to track and measure for most of us. Since many of us are so good at underestimating what we intake on a daily basis.. or overestimating what we actually need. We may think we are good to only eat XYZ amount since the sleeve limits us (early out) and we may not have much hunger, until one day we can eat more.. and the hunger is back in some degree or another. Then what? Yep, tracking and measuring and likely cutting back. That isn't always easy, keeping that mindfulness long-term.. but mindlessness is what got me in the situation I was in that necessitated these drastic measures. Going back to trusting myself to eat "normally" and lose or maintain is like touching a hot stove and not learning the first time around.
Our dynamics with ourselves and food and other people around us need to change and they WILL change regardless of whether you take charge or not.. make sure you take charge and spin them in a good direction. The hard part I guess is.. these changes need to be made permanent.. and they need to be sustainable. Without that, old behaviors come back into play.. and the cycle starts over. That's the hard part.. making it stick.
It is hard, but in different ways.. that's difficult to explain. We are hopping on the table willingly for a big operation, that takes some guts right there.. We are (hopefully) making this an entire lifestyle shift.. since we all know that "dieting" (a temporary mindset) fails in the long run. This is not over at goal.. it's only over when we kick it, so we need to make sure the changes we make are things we can live with, truly enjoy (not just tolerate till "someday") and do over and over again.
It is a commitment to track and measure for most of us. Since many of us are so good at underestimating what we intake on a daily basis.. or overestimating what we actually need. We may think we are good to only eat XYZ amount since the sleeve limits us (early out) and we may not have much hunger, until one day we can eat more.. and the hunger is back in some degree or another. Then what? Yep, tracking and measuring and likely cutting back. That isn't always easy, keeping that mindfulness long-term.. but mindlessness is what got me in the situation I was in that necessitated these drastic measures. Going back to trusting myself to eat "normally" and lose or maintain is like touching a hot stove and not learning the first time around.
Our dynamics with ourselves and food and other people around us need to change and they WILL change regardless of whether you take charge or not.. make sure you take charge and spin them in a good direction. The hard part I guess is.. these changes need to be made permanent.. and they need to be sustainable. Without that, old behaviors come back into play.. and the cycle starts over. That's the hard part.. making it stick.
Yep, I call it a helping hand.. it's really big & strong early out.. then it starts letting your stand on our own strengths or weaknesses later..
You need to do the real work on the head, while for a while the sleeve kinda clears the slate and lets you really concentrate.. Don't make the changes early, chances are they aren't going to stick later as it does get harder, and I'm sure will get harder still the longer you get out from surgery. I get hungry now, fairly often.. I can eat more.. and I can eat often if I want. If I hadn't started battling the real stuff, and gave up on the idea that I could just be "normal".. I would have never gotten this far. What is normal anyway? We weren't normal as MO, and despite outward appearances, we are not like the rare naturally slim folks.. We require a tad more upkeep than some.. embrace it as the new normal and you will do great!
You need to do the real work on the head, while for a while the sleeve kinda clears the slate and lets you really concentrate.. Don't make the changes early, chances are they aren't going to stick later as it does get harder, and I'm sure will get harder still the longer you get out from surgery. I get hungry now, fairly often.. I can eat more.. and I can eat often if I want. If I hadn't started battling the real stuff, and gave up on the idea that I could just be "normal".. I would have never gotten this far. What is normal anyway? We weren't normal as MO, and despite outward appearances, we are not like the rare naturally slim folks.. We require a tad more upkeep than some.. embrace it as the new normal and you will do great!
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