Advice to the Necomers from the Old Timers

OMG, Rhonda is soooooo RIGHT, but don't tell her because she will get a big head!!!!

I would like to say...is follow the program it works....You have 18 months to really change your life style and if you do that it makes things a lot easier.  If you fall of track, don't worry about it, just go back to basics...

BTW, Welcome to the board it is a wonderful site and addicting...

Yes!  She is soooooo right, but if we do tell her and she gets a big head her hat won't fit and then she'll have to post a new avitar and we would be happy.  Where's the AVITAR Fairy????  Queen, Guru, whoever?

My advice to the newbies would be TAKE YOUR VITAMINS!!!  Not just when you think about it, but get into a routine.  I have a weeky sorter that has am and pm spots.  I fill that sucker up once a week and it sits right next to my stove.  I keep my bottles of vitamins in a little crate right there on the kitchen counter.  You keep your toaster and can openers on the counters, so why not your life sustaining vitamins????  You get in a habit of taking them daily at the same time and pretty soon if you miss them, you feel guilty and bad.  I put mine in a special little rubbermaid container and pack them in my lunch each day. 

And.............drink your water!  Find a brand of bottled water and buy it 3 or 4 cases at a time.  Or get a special glass/mug/ whatever and keep it full and with you at all times.  Make sure you have room in your purse for a bottle of water.

Keep these in mind and you'll do fine!

MoMo

OMG my hat is starting to get tight!  Crap  Alert Chris, I need a new hat!  WHen can I get it, CAn i have this one in Black?

As an old timer the one thing I cannot stress strong enough, is that once you are 3 or more years out, those pounds you said were GONE FOREVER during your first 18 months may not be gone forever.  You can eat almost anyway you want during that first 18 - 24 months and you will absolutely lose weight.  You may not lose as much as someone who follows their doctor's diet protocol, but you will lose weight.

However, if you do not seriously address the issues that made you a compulsive overeater and drove you to the decision to alter your body with surgery, then when the effects of the surgery wear off (and they do) all the cravings and issues are still there.

I went to a party not too long ago and there were probably about 15 WLS patients there.  All of us were at least 2 1/2 to 3 years or more post op and all but one had gained weight.  For some it was just 10 or 20 pounds.  For others it was alot more and a few it was almost all that was originally lost.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have pushed to have surgery so quickly.  Doctors and insurance companies should INSIST upon an intense education program before surgery and continued therapy/education after.  We are all wounded birds in some fashion.  What brought each of us to this point is anyone's guess.  The trick though is to find out what those injuries are before we go to such drastic measures as altering our insides. 

Many of us talk about having revisions.  We've gained weight and enough to put us at a BMI that would qualify for WLS.  Let me make this perfectly clear, if it didn't work the first time, what possibly makes you think it will work the second time.  It is not the physiology that has failed.  It is our mental attitude towards what we were getting into and more important what brought us to that point.

Now here I am over 5 years out from surgery with a 70 pound weight gain. Yes, I'm still down almost 150 pounds from my all time high, but so what.  I'm ashamed of myself.  I know I have the tool in my body that works if I work it.  But I mentally cannot bring myself to stay on course.  I eat badly, I eat around my RNY and I don't exercise.  My surgery did not fail me.  I failed me and I continue to do so because my mind won't let me succeed.

So, that is my advice.  The surgery is not going to conquer your war with obesity.  It will allow you to win a battle or two for awhile, but to win the war you must commit to changing mentally the person who looks back at you in the mirror.  If you don't do that, then you too will be eating those words "pounds gone forever".  Trust me, they are only gone if you work at making them gone.

Stephanie

 WELL SAID!

Well said Steph.  I was going to say just about the same thing.  It is easy to fall back into bad habits. 

I only wanted to add tha****ch out for cross addictions.  It is real easy to pick up one addiction when we no longer have food to turn to.  I am fighting a couple addictions right now.  It is tough but I just have to take it one day at a time.  I believe that we need therapy for at least a year or 2 post op to deal with the issues that made us turn to food and gain weight. 

One final note....support.  Get it here, from your doctors support group, friends or family.  Support is vital in this process.  We need to be accountable to someone.  It is easy to hide in the shadows but we need support.  When I started gaining weight, I was ashamed and stayed away from here.  I would lurk and read posts and see others who were at goal and I was no where near and getting further from it.  I realized, I need the support I get here.  I am working on losing those pounds that I gained but it is hard now.  But knowing that I am not alone helps. 

Good morning to OH California!  Good post!

My advice:  RNY surgery is NOT the easy way out.  You will have to exercise and choose to live a healthier life style.  In my case, I have to watch calories.   

I thought by having a small stomach will cut out all the bad foods....WRONG!  If I want, I can certainly EAT!

Good luck!

Being way new I really want to thank you all for taking the time to put these suggestions and experiences down for us to read and remember.  I took a long time finally coming to the decision to have this surgery and have set up a lot of support for myself outside of the surgery.  One of the things I keep thinking about is the reality that if nothing changes nothing changes.  My biggest challenge right now is excercise.  I suck at following through with it.  Today I am off to see my doctor for my 2 week post op visit.  My plan is to get permission to be able to go to the gym and start walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes 5 times a week to start.

When I was preop, I thought...."nah...I'm going to have a small stomach...there's no way I'm going to be able to eat much....Yeah! I don't have to exercise"...

I was so wrong....I'm glad you're thinking about exercising now.  You know what?  I had to learn to enjoy exercising and make it a hobby because it really takes a lot of time....20 minutes driving to the gym, exercise, then come home, then shower, etc.....But it's worth it and if you make it a routine, you'll be successful.  I have to schedule the gym around my personal life.  If I know I have an event to attend in the evening, I make all efforts to hit the gym in the morning....good luck!

HI

Being his wife...many thought that I would be just as successful...WRONG!!!!!!! Exercise and moving is the key...he works hard at going to the gym and he is done great with his surgery. Me....I HATE the gym but my advise to newbies is no matter the support you have around you..positive or negative..IT IS YOU that has to make the change and have the will-power and determination to do this for you and only you.  There is soooo much more than to have a little stomache to be successful....it is about making the right choices and exercising....It is HARD but at some point those pounds will creep back...BELIEVE me.  It is so sad to think that I have had this surgery and gave up on me....it becomes to easy to feel "Normal" again and be able to eat anything but of course smaller amounts but continue taking in the calories....so beware....the change has to come from within and truely understand why we eat the way we do.  I am just lucky that I have a great husband who doesnt give up on me and helps me make better choices even though I know I can be a brat when he asks me to change and make those better choices...Love you Gus...you are an amazing man! I thank God for you everyday!  You are MY HERO!