Question:
I am thinking about not attending our annual parish festival this year, due to the

fact that I am 6 weeks post-op from open rny, and I'm SCARED. I can't imagine seeing all that food and smelling all those smells without caving in!! I don't want to disappoint my family, and one reason I had this surgery was so I could do MORE with my family, not less. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Julie    — Julie G. (posted on June 4, 2003)

June 3, 2003
If you can't think of anything at the parish fest you can eat then pack a lunch in a little backpack and bring it with you. You'll probably have lost so much by then that you be excited about that and not even care. Also that early post-op food maynot even appeal to you. Another idea could you be working in a booth or something while your family eats?
   — Candace F.

June 3, 2003
sounds like a challenge for sure...but you can certainly do it. I was about 6 weeks out when I went to a school carnival... bake sale, cotton candy, candy prizes...and I did crave all those things... but knew I couldn't eat them.. for lunch I had a half a hot dog minus the bun...and I was full.. bring your water, and bask in the glow of everyone telling you how great you are looking... then mark the occassion...and remember how you looked, felt---next years festival will be a great reminder of how healthy you have gotten over the past 12 months!!! Good Luck
   — Peg L

June 4, 2003
You'd be surprised how reality doesn't live up to what you have created in your mind's eye about how it's going to be. Just go already and focus on the people and the activity. Go ahead and indulge in a bite of corndog if that will keep you sane. Trust yourself...you will not overeat...your body won't let you! Now go have some fun!
   — merri B.

June 4, 2003
I say, if your gut says you will crumble, don't put yourself in "harm's way" early on. Different people have different tolerances, and the early days/weeks/months make a huge difference in how successful you are in the long run. Trust me, you will have all the time in the world to break yourself in to your new active life, but if you are like I was, the easier you make it on yourself in the early "formative" days, the better your success will be in the long run. It really does get tons easier with time, but right now feel free to be a little self-centered if that's what it takes to do what's right for you at this point. That's not to say you should lock yourself in the house and huddle in fear of food, but a festival or a fair is a big eating event. If you think it'll make you feel deprived and unhappy to go and restrain your eating, or if you think the temptation will be too much and will lead you to go off your doctor's eating plan, then send the family with a merry wave, and know that you'll be right there with them in 12 months. If you think you can take it and stay with your program with only some mild discomfort, then by all means go and have fun! And if you think there's a chance you just won't know until you get there, then my advice is take two cars :-)
   — L M

June 4, 2003
Julie- I have taken much comfort in being finally able to be around people who are eating and not be obsessing with how much I was devouring. Also, when I start to think that having a stomach the size of a shot glass isolates from friends and family, I realize that I have so much energy so I can appreciate their company rather than concern myself with food. You might surprise yourself. Lastly, as a practical matter, at your early stage out, there are relatively few things that you can safely eat anyway-- just carry around a bottle of water and sip it as you feel tempted. That's worked for me. Good luck.
   — SteveColarossi

June 4, 2003
Julie, For what it's worth, Dr. Huse was my surgeon too and I know what the regimen is, and if it's w/in the first 3-4 months I'd still suggest that you consider my 2 car advice. The program works if you follow it closely, but I know others who had the exact same surgery w/the exact same doc who started deviating early and ended up nearly as MO as when they started. Other docs do different things, and the only thing I'd change about Huse's program if I had it to do all over again is that I'd keep using my shakes and never go over 4 oz. of food 3x per day until I was w/in spitting distance of goal weight. None of this 8 oz. at 11 months business, unless I only had another 10# to lose. But I digress. I just know that on the plan you are on, sipping water in the face of corn dogs and cotton candy and who knows what else just isn't necessarily a perfect coping mechanism, and unless you're far enough out that you've dropped a couple of sizes and are in some kicky new clothes, you won't necessarily be so motivated by your new "look" yet that that will give you the strength you need. Soooooo... with all due respect to the other posters and their experiences ( and I'm sure they are very good, I know Merri has been very successful for one) my advice is still to follow your instincts, cut yourself some slack, don't feel one tiny bit guilty if you give yourself a pass this year, and if you do decide to try it, TAKE THE SECOND CAR!!!! :-)
   — L M

June 4, 2003
Go and have fun! Two days after I got home from the hospital after lap RNY, we went to a dinner cruise/wedding reception for one of out older son's friends. Guess where we sat - yep, right next to the buffet table! Holy cow, did that food smell good! BUT - I knew I couldn't eat it, and I didn't (except some mashed potatoes). I took along a can of Coice DM in case I needed something and drank lots of water. I enjoed talking with people and the entertainment, so I didn't really miss the food, even though I was unavoidably aware of it!
   — koogy

June 4, 2003
Wow. That's great! Me, I was in too much pain to move w/o help for pretty much the first three weeks and struggled with a lot of head hunger for several months. Which is why I say that for anyone who isn't a superman or woman, there's nothing wrong with NOT testing the boundaries of your resistance to temptation, or placing yourself in a position to have to confront your food issues head-on right out of the blocks. There's all the time in the world to do this stuff later, I just found it to be better to get in a good groove at first and if a little selective non-attendance helps with that, then it's a good thing. Personally, I would NOT have been able to just "go and have fun" in such an environment at that stage of the game, and I just don't want Julie to feel like there is something wrong with her if she decides she couldn't either. To each his own, but not everyone could sit next to the buffet and be that perky about it. And there's not a thing wrong with anyone who can't. (LLM. Surgery 3/17/00, down 127#, current wt. 126. BMI 23)
   — L M

June 4, 2003
Wow. That's great! Me, I was in too much pain to move w/o help for pretty much the first three weeks and struggled with a lot of head hunger for several months. Which is why I say that for anyone who isn't a superman or woman, there's nothing wrong with NOT testing the boundaries of your resistance to temptation, or placing yourself in a position to have to confront your food issues head-on right out of the blocks. There's all the time in the world to do this stuff later, I just found it to be better to get in a good groove at first and if a little selective non-attendance helps with that, then it's a good thing. Personally, I would NOT have been able to just "go and have fun" in such an environment at that stage of the game, and I just don't want Julie to feel like there is something wrong with her if she decides she couldn't either. To each his own, but not everyone could sit next to the buffet and be that perky about it. And there's not a thing wrong with anyone who can't. (LLM. Surgery 3/17/00, down 127#, current wt. 126. BMI 23)
   — L M

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