How Trauma Past and Present Can Sabotage Your WLS Success: Trauma describes a person’s emotional reaction to a significantly threatening or devastating event. Although trauma reactions can be different for every person, they often involve feelings of shock, unpredictable or rapidly changing emotions, intrusive memories, difficulties with personal relationships, anxiety,
Almost a decade ago I did a series of interviews with weight loss surgery patients who were between one and two years post-op. It was one of the most rewarding, and educational experiences of my life. During the interviews, I asked people about their incentive for having surgery. Unequivocally, every
As I am sitting here writing this article, my first thought is WOW, how do your thoughts and emotions lead to eating? As a mental health professional, nearly 8 years post-op, this subject is hitting me hard. It is so all-encompassing. Just the words "thoughts" and "emotions" are huge. The
The social scene can be very different pre and post WLS. I didn’t think too much about the social impact of WLS prior to having surgery. I thought I might make more friends or people may like me more, but I didn’t think about how I would navigate social events.
Social support following weight loss surgery (WLS) is essential to ensure long-term success by helping patients maintain behavioral changes. Research indicates that individuals who attend in-person support groups even tend to lose more weight. Nowadays, many patients are looking for convenient access to online support groups. Easy, quick access is
How To Get & Stay Motivated! “I can follow a plan to a T in the beginning, but after a while, I just lose motivation.” Jane’s story was like so many others. For individuals I work with, it’s rarely a matter of lack of knowledge or ability to follow an
It is important as we're losing weight and sticking to the healthy habits of our weight loss surgery lifestyle that we have non-food ways to celebrate our milestones. Besides the rewards you feel as you're losing (or maintaining) your weight, rewarding your milestones reinforces your healthy habits and motivates you
There are so many things to say about having a food funeral before WLS. I hope with this article, we can move away from that term and ideology, and look at food differently. A Food Funeral is a Negative Outlook The term “food funeral” puts a negative outlook on the
Deciding to undergo WLS of any kind is a very personal decision and journey. Only you have lived in your body your whole life. Not even your friends and family may know what it’s like to wake up, feel tired easily, gasp for breath walking upstairs and feel uncomfortable watching
It is so interesting that I was asked to write an article on this subject matter. As a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, and a long-term post-op myself, people pleasing is one of my favorite subjects to support my clients to let go of. Personally, I have a good deal of
