Mindset

I'm a prison guard and was the first at my facility to get the surgery and there are 6 of us now.  We are our best support group but I have notice a few things.  The most important is Mindset.  I will follow the program and do what it takes to succed.  4 of us have the mindset and two don't.  You can see the difference.  We do as the Doctor says, we eat the way we are suppose to eat.  The other two, don't and they are gaining their weight back.  I truly believe without mindset, you can't succed.  I  have tried to help the two but I gave up on the one.  I can't stand watching him throw down on a box of little debbies, I get phsyically sick, the other is trying again.  I have a hard time, listening to people who can't do what the Doctor says or can't follow the program.  It was hard for me but I want to live for a long time.  I want to see my family grow old.  Is your mindset right to succed?  I tell everyone who ask me what is the most important thing before you get the surgery, I tell them, the mindset to succed.

  That is so very true , With out it most are doomed to repeat thier own history . As we all have heard it said ; those who dont learn from history are doomed to repeat it ( wellll ) 


 Just as long as you keep your MINDSET .Who knows maybe you can lead by example??

Good health and best wishes
Nick

I agree a 100 per cent. It is also about having a real support group too. Once you start down that slippery slope it is hard to recover.

Right on dasloaf!  It's called "working the WLS tool", "staying the course",  and "following the rules of WLS".  If one does not, they are flirting with disaster.  Not to knock anyone, but  I just don't  understand why someone would take all the risks involved with WLS and then not do everything in their power to make it a success for them.  We are told what the rules are prior to the surgery, given a psych test, and attend seminars about what we will have to do after the surgery to ensure success. It's not like we shouldn't understand how much of a lifestyle change is required before going through the surgery.

My motivation for staying on the program laid out for me is:

1) I want to live.
2) I want to be healthy.
3) I want to enjoy my life while I am alive.

If I have to eat a certain way and exercise in order to do that, then so be it.  It's definitely worth it to me - I have too much to live for not to do it!

Good post my man!

I couldn't agree more.  But, I'll be man enough to say that I've struggled.  I can remember in the weeks and days prior to surgery telling myself that I'd NEVER pick up another candy bar, sit on my @ss and not exercise, or drink a beer.  Well, I have, I do sometimes, and I did.  It's just as difficult now as it was before to do the right things and I should have know that before.  I've done well, I'm pretty much at my goal, and I feel good...but, I scared to death that I'll fall back into the old ways that got me to where I was before.  Congrats to you for doing so well, I wish you worked with me!  Maybe you could keep me straight! 

I speak at alot of WLS seminars.  I tell people... nobody is holding a gun to head to have surgery.  If you think you have another diet in you, go for it.  Until you can admit to yourself that your way of eating is wrong.  That if the answer was inside of you, you wouldn't be the size you are and until you are willing to surrender your will to somone else.... your dieticien and be brutally honest with yourself and them about how you eat, why you eat, what you eat, etc., you won't be able to fix it.  Most importantly, you have to be open to listenting to their feedback and trying their suggestions. 

Inside of the this process, I believe it is 30% what you eat (measuring your portions, planning healthy meals, not drinking while eating, etc.), 30% moving your body more and 40% attitude.  If you think about the 30% what you eat.  The surgery doesn't do your grocery shopping for you, it doesn't change what you brain thinks sounds tasty or savory and it won't order off a menu for you.  The surgery won't get you out of bed and on a treadmill or exercise bike either.  It also won't make you super excited about eating skinless chicken breasts or steamed vegetables.  However, we are the ones who ASKED for this surgery and wanted our lives back.  We were so desperate for some kind of intervention that we were willing to do anything to make it happen.  It always amazes me how desperate people seem until AFTER they get their surgery and then how complacent they get.  How they think they can just eat less of the same garbage and somehow they will lose all the weight they want.  Just like it amazes me how people complain about having to eat healthy foods after surgery. 

As for me, I am a new man.  I have a new lease on life and it couldn't be better!  I was tired of sitting on the sidelines watcing life go by.  I wanted to participate in the game of life and now I can.  Just because we lose our weight or have the surgury doesn't mean we change.  Just like there are dry drunks, there are plenty of thin angry people out there.  We can choose to be happy and healthy.  I make the most with the foods I can eat.  I don't sit around whining about the ones I can't.  Life is about more than a donut.  Lord knows I've eaten enough donuts to feed a small village a few times over!  Now I want to do more than eat.  I want to LIVE.

Thanks for your post!

Amen Mick! 

I have not had my WLS yet, but I know that even when trying to change my eating habits, if I slide into something bad, it's all over.  I don't know what my body will be able to tolerate as far as what I can consume, but Little Debbie can't come past the door or that's it.  It's like a smoker who quits for a year and has one cigarette and that leads to two, then a pack and then a carton. 

I am also not going to go through all of this rearranging of my insides to put weight back on. 

So you stay on the right side of it, your success is proof enough, to yourself and to your coworkers.