This is a "Special Day" on OH VSG

Please read the posts by Nikke and Elina !!!!!!

This is required reading !!!

For a long time now, but especially in the recent year the trends on this forum have taken a turn for the worst in my opinion.

It really is a direct reflection on surgeons, surgeries and plans. 

This forum can sometimes sounds like a "poor support group meeting" with some new/newer-ops that have such a strong opinion on whats up.

Here are two woman that come from two very different backgrounds, history, stats and programs sharing a similar informative message.

It's been a long time the morning read on OH has been this good !!!

Thanks Nikke and Elina !

frisco

I haven't noticed anything bad on the forum lately.  I'm not sure what you are referring too, and hopefully it is not me.  

It is great to see long term vets come on and post their wisdom -- super appreciated.  

I'm not sure what the slight bashing on new/newer-ops is needed or if it was intended.

I guess slight bashing is accurate but not the intention, I was hoping it would be received as support of Nikke's experience in her post.

frisco

Yes, two similar messages from two completely different journeys. An informative and thought provoking morning. 

Oh, and while I see the very rare exception - (and I mean very rare)- moderation is for normies. And we will never become normies.  That is not the goal of surgery. There. I've said it. 

I am going to the support group meeting today.  I can use the inspiration.  It helps me to see the new people and get grounded in where this all started.  On another note, I just bought new Michael Kors shoes and a few dresses for summer!!! Now I have to come up with a gentle way to break it to Allan.... :)

I loved both posts. In my support group I am the one who is honest. I say things nicely but with honesty. If there is ever a time for us to be honest with ourselves, the time is now! I am almost 4 mos out and I know that I am "mentally" in the honeymoon phase. I know that I need to and want to hear the good, bad and ugly about this process. Knowing that vets stumble in this process and evaluate the experience as a lesson is invaluable to me. I know that it could happen to all of us. I have gone to OA and I equate my food with alcohol. An alcoholic has to accept the fact that they can never have a drink. I see that there are certain foods that will not be able to pass my lips. If they do then I might as buckle up because it will be a rough ride! I am grateful for my "eating to plan" days. I know it could be one bite away! This process is hard. I refuse to whine about. So I can't eat bread. I can either feel sorry for myself or just remind myself that eating bread is a slippery slope that results in me landing in a full on binge.   

This can be the most amazing journey or it can be another surface level experience. I don't view this as a surface level thing. It is not about immediate gratification. True, I am working on loosing weight. I got that well organized and I am making great progress. After all I have done that tons of times. It feels good during the weight loss period. I realized that i was lousy at Maintaining my weight loss. That is what I needed to work on! I decided a few weeks ago to start focusing on my maintenance. It comes quickly and I want to be ready. I want to build a strong foundation of knowledge and the way to get that is through listening and being open to honesty. I look into myself when I read posting. I never think that "I would never do that! How could they eat that". I look at myself and think about how I could be that person and then think about how I would handle that situation. I look at my behavior and the thoughts that I say to myself! If I need to change something then I change it. I work on building a foundation where I dont have to always be immediately gratifying myself. I build my foundation stronger by listening to and learning from the experiences of others. We all make mistakes. When I do then I will expend my energy on learning from it and move on. I have spent enough years beating myself up! When a house is built they dig down deep to set a foundation. We have to do the same thing. We have to dig down deep. If the foundation is build on the surface then it can easily fall out from underneath you!  My foundation includes honesty, gratitude, listening, problem solving, and forgiveness. I think that is a pretty good start. Those were never there before.