One Week To Go - WLS Promises

I've been working on a list of promises to myself for the last few months and, now that I've only got ONE WEEK left until surgery, I figured it would be a good time to post it.  Here's my list, if you'd like to see it!  

WLS Promises

1. I will not panic if I stop losing weight for a few weeks.  Instead, I will re-evaluate that my eating is on plan and wait until the stall has lasted 4 weeks before I start to panic. 

2. I will not ask OH what I need to take to the hospital, I know these things.  Chapstick and a pillow.  And the pillow really just needs to be in the car for the trip home. 

3. I will not lie when people ask me how I’ve lost the weight.  I will either be honest and tell them “surgery, diet and exercise” or I will tell them “I’m not comfortable talking about this with you.”  These are the options, lying by omission is not one of them.

4. If I fail, and I will fail, I will forgive myself and return immediately to plan.  It’s okay to screw up, it’s not okay to beat myself up for it or let it become the start of a downward spiral. 

5. If I don’t start losing sizes right away, I won’t freak out.  Chances are the clothes I wear now are too small and tight, and I just deal with it. It might take awhile for my current clothes to fit correctly and that will happen before I can get into smaller sizes.

6. I will own my mistakes.  They’re mine and result of my own choices, no one is ever going to hold a gun to my head and make me eat crap, I control what goes into my own body. 

7. I will not compare my weight loss to that of anyone else.  I’m me.

8. I will do everything I can to find a therapist I can work with.  This will help me out in the long run. 

9. I will be hyper aware of potential addiction transfer issues and especially aware of getting too caught up in numbers as I already know I am want to do. 

10. Extra skin is a fact of life, get the **** over it. If I really hate the way my body looks, I can save my pennies and nickels for plastic surgery once I’ve maintained for a year or two.  People will still have sex with me if I have weird skin, and Under Armour sells compression gear. I will, however, have every issue with my skin documented. 

11. I will be kind to myself. I will keep getting to my monthly massages, I will keep engaged in my hobbies, and I will spend time with my friends.

12. I already know that being a “hero” about medication is stupid so I’ll work on remembering that when the time comes. Pain keeps us from healing, it’s not noble. 

13. I will only weigh myself once a week. I will not let myself get obsessed with the scale.  See #9.

14. My stomach will probably gurgle after surgery, this is normal.  Just don’t go to silent Meeting anytime soon. 

15. I will not worry if people don’t comment on my weight loss.  I will assume that they’re being polite and not commenting on another person’s body, which is what they should do. 

16. I will work to break the compulsions to “clean my plate” and to “not let food go to waste.”  Sure, there are starving kids in Africa, but throwing away food will not change the situation. 

17. There is nothing to be done for hair loss, assuming that I’m eating on plan.  It will happen, or it won’t, but I will remember that it will grow back eventually. I will be a shavee with St. Baldricks six weeks post-op.   

18. I understand that my hormones will be all messed up after surgery.  I will do my best to remove myself from the company of others instead of taking my hormonal changes out on them. 

19. I won’t weigh myself for the first two weeks post-op because I know that I’ll gain weight from all of the fluids and swelling that surgery entail.  I’ll wait to weigh until I’m off liquids. 

20. I will not panic if I don’t feel restriction immediately post-op.  Chances are restriction won’t kick in fully until I’m eating dense proteins and that will take 4-6 weeks on my plan. 

21. I will rock this sleeve and reach all of my goals, because I'm awesome.  Or else! ;)

this is an awesome post, looks like you've been doing your research!

Thanks!  I'm going to try really hard to make all of my research count for something :P

This is a pretty amazing compilation.  Kudos to you.

My pet peeve is people who freak out when they don't lose one pound per day forever post-op, then whine about it on OH.  If you're doing everything according to plan, THE WEIGHT WILL COME OFF.  Chill out.  

I wish you great success with your surgery.  Your mind is in the right place.  I'd have a hard time not weighing myself everyday (the OCD does not go away for me), but it reminds me to keep up the exercise and drink lots of water when the scale doesn't move.  I know I'm not eating anything I shouldn't, so the flatline is just my body in transition or most likely not enough fluids.  It's a daily struggle with the water.

Thank you very much!  

I agree - I've seen so many of those posts and I finally started thinking, "Okay, Gwen, don't fall into this trap.  If you're doing the right things, the surgery will do its job.  Just be patient and compliant."  

And I'm hoping that even if my weight doesn't change during "stalls," that my body fat will :)

Great post. Go in with a positive attitude, accept that there will be challenges, trust yourself to learn from your mistakes.

Mistakes are not meant to be reason for punishment but opportunities for a great lesson!

You will do great! 

Thanks!  I know that I have had, in the past, the tendency to let myself get derailed at the first sign of adversity - this time, I will not let anything derail me!  Even myself ;)

Right before I walked into the Weight Center for the first time I decided that I was going to do everything the opposite from what I had done before. I shut up and listened. I did what they told me to do, well since surgery I have lost 40lbs with a total of 55lbs. I eat right, I workout and look at the process with a positive perspective. It is your journey, make it great! 

That's definitely an important thing to keep telling myself.  I've never figured this out on my own - maybe it's time I should trust some experts.  

Congrats on your success :D

Good grief, Gwen - you are my frickin' hero!!    You got this dialed in already and are SO FAR ahead of the game!  Good luck with surgery