Being a Mentor and Leader

Jul 01, 2013

Each month I am blessed and fortunate to speak to pre-op patients at the Cleveland Clinic.  I enjoy meeting each and every one of them to share my knowledge and experience and answer their questions.  Sometimes I get emotional in front of the group.  On the outside I look lean and muscular...but underneath it all I still have my insecurities, and I still battle food issues. 

I think it's important for us WLS patients to share our experiences with each other.  We can always learn from each other.

The things I try and underscore and the most frequent questions I get are:

1.  Start practicing the post-op principles BEFORE surgery (like for 3 months).  These include not eating and drinking at the same time, getting in daily exercise, getting treatment for bingeing, and timing your meals so they last at least 15-20 minutes.  I truly believe this helped set me up for success, and it was one less thing I had to learn after surgery.

2.  The irony is...you WILL still think about food all the time.  This time, it's about managing your protein grams, water intake, and nutrition.  Whereas before you wondering whether to eat at Mc Donalds or Taco Bell, now it's about fueling your body and being kind to yourself.

3.  I'm often asked if I ever thought I would binge again or if I ever feared regaining weight.  The answer is NO.  When I think back to how bad my feet and back hurt, how swollen my ankles were from daily activity, how self-conscious I felt just walking around, how I was constantly sweating or hot, how I was moody and irritable from eating high sugar/high carb foods, how fearful I was about fitting into an airplane seat without an extender, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE WORLD I CAN PUT IN MY MOUTH TO MAKE ME WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT AND GO BACK TO "EXISTING" LIKE THAT.  Notice I used the word, "existing" and not "living."  

4.  Does having weight loss surgery mean you cannot eat your favorite foods?  Not at all.  BUT, I do have 2 rules.  The first is I will not order pizza to my house for delivery.  Can't eat it unsupervised.  I know no limitations with pizza.  The second is I cannot have macaroni and cheese in my house.  I still enjoy cake, cheesecake, jelly beans (my weakness) but only in a smaller quantity and less frequently.  Fortunately or unfortunately, I can eat sugar.

5.  Do I try and hide my past?  Not at all.  I accept the poor decisions I made health-wise.  It turned me into a completely different person.  However, through the process of being obese I learned a lot about myself--good and bad. 

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