I told my lunch buffet friend I'm having a VSG

My friend and I have a long history of going to buffets for lunch. It used to be once or twice a week, sometimes more. Due to a few things, and me setting some good boundaries, that went down to maybe once a month. But once a month is still too much. We went to lunch today, yes a buffet, and then I helped her with something she couldn't do due to a back injury. After we left the home improvement store and were getting back into her car I said "ok, time for a change in topic." Then I told her what I was doing. She had no idea I was even looking into surgery, but it didn't surprise her.  She's supportive as I knew she would be and told me that when surgery time comes she'll help me with whatever I need.

Now I've had conversations with my regular doctor and my friend. I also told the person who comes over once a week to help me with things my brain has problems with, it's kind of like home based therapy. She and my therapist work out of the same office. Next week is my therapist. I'm gaining the experience needed for the harder people.

After I got home from lunch today I thought about things and realized I only enjoyed one tiny thing I ate.

It's great that you have support lined up for after surgery.  That will be so helpful while you're recovering.  I had my brother, who is also my roommate, to help, and I really needed him. 

I live alone and knowing I have a few people I can call if I need something helps calm down my anxiety. My programs bariatric coordinator is also a nurse practitioner. I have her direct number if I need anything or to ask questions. No wading through stupid menus and operators!

Buffets are a funny thing... For some they view it as "all you can eat" with this (often unspoken) goal to consume as much as one physically can. For me a buffet has always been about variety so even before surgery I might only put a tablespoon of something on a plate, and done that with a variety of foods.

Due to the way I regard them I still go to buffets, and darned if I don't go for all you can eat sushi, etc. All I can eat is a pittance comparatively and yet I leave smiling... I have a little of this, a little of that... I plan for it, and account for it all. I am not fooling myself that this would fit into any plan but since I have reached my personal goal I am ok with that every once in a while. The really important thing one has to remember if they are going to be a crazy nut bar like I am... Slow down, pay attention, and know in advance what "enough" is. I have my "order" down to a science... And I am never the one "hurting" unless a food didn't sit well.

I think an occasional trip out to eat is healthy. We need variety and can't shut ourselves out from the world. It sounds like you have a great plan for going out. I'm beginning to look at menus and looking at options for post op. I go out to eat with my client once a week (I work with seniors in their own home so they don't have to go to assisted living or a nursing home). My purely liquid phase will last only one week, then it's pureed for 3-4 weeks. So I'm thinking something like a small bowl of applesauce or asking them to puree something else. I know one Chinese place in town makes really good egg drop soup and also has a chicken and veggies option that's cooked with jus****er in a wok.  I'd have LOTS of leftovers to take home. In the past I have stuffed myself so full at a buffet I was in major pain for hours afterward, it hurt to breath. I was watching a youtube video yesterday and the woman was talking about how we are abusing ourselves by eating so much food. We wouldn't let anybody else treat us like we treat ourselves.

I've been looking at so many menus!  Even before surgery, when I'd go out to eat, I'd play the "what will I be able to eat here post-surgery" game.  Maybe I have a warped idea of what's fun ;)  But this is something I strangely enjoy doing!  

Well then I must be warped too!  I enjoy finding ways to work around things, it's one of the ways I survived high school. Most of what I did was legit and some of it not so much. LOL I can't believe the stuff I pulled and got away with.   This all took place in a tiny religious school.   I was so quiet I don't think anybody ever suspected me. I figured out there was a pattern to the tests in certain subjects so I didn't have to study. Then there was the time there was a logic puzzle in my booklet. My teacher told me I didn't have to do it because nobody was ever able to solve it. I took that as a challenge and half an hour later I showed he I had indeed solved it. Don't tell me I can't do something, because I will do it! Note: that doesn't apply to the rules before and after surgery. I know enough to know when to follow rules, like speed limits and surgeons directions.

Realizing that what you ate didn't even interest you is a HUGE step!! This kind of thinking will really help you through this. I agree with the other poster, that just because it's a 'buffet' we think about gorging ourselves, not simply enjoying a variety of tastes, which it should be. For a couple months after my surgery (5 yrs ago) I got nearly physically sick jus****CHING people pig out at the trough--it was sloppy, loud, dripping, spilling, gulping, over-eating, disgusting! I have to say that it helped me to feel that way, although it's not what I expected to ever feel....since I used to be one of "those" people. I also couldn'****ch food commercials or shows for a time, it grossed me out. Conversely, I had no trouble smelling lovely smells, merely TASTING a fork of this or a spoon of this when I was cooking for my mom. But it certainly wasn't a chore to make her something while I indulged in a tasty protein shake.

It will make your journey much easier having emotional support, for sure. Prepare for mood swings, unexpected highs or lows. When your body thinks it's being starved it goes into survival mode. Everyone's experience is different.

Frankly I'm such a cheapskate I cannot fathom a $7 or 8 (or more) buffet lunch or dinner because I can't take it home and I can't eat very much. So I just don't do it anymore.

Food is a universal culture. We use it to celebrate, mourn, cheer, party, befriend. For some of us it's simply the devil. You've got to train your brain to accept food as a source for living, not for anything else. Just like you gotta breathe and drink, you have to eat. Once you get to the point where you're healing and can experiment with food, it sounds like you're really going to enjoy using herbs and spices and using different combinations to focus on the protein. TASTE the food. Don't just inhale. Right?

Best of luck!! You'll be very, very happy with this choice.

You bring up a good point with being satisfied with just a tiny bit. I once heard a program on NPR and they were talking about the pleasure we get from food. They said we only get the true pleasure from the first few bites anyhow, after that satisfaction goes wayyyyy down.

I've started working on a workbook called Am I Hungry: Mindful Eating for Bariatric surgery and reading the companion book, Love what you eat, Eat what you love. You can't buy the workbook without buying the companion book. I've been blown away by just the first few pages of the workbook. They have a list of emotions and have you write down which foods you crave with each emotion. I now realize how emotions trigger certain cravings.  I know after surgery I need to be careful with what food I eat and the order I eat it in. The post floating around about the function of the pyloric valve made me realize how important it is to eat protein first.

Now that I've been learning all this stuff my mind has started playing with me. I have those thoughts of "well I know this now so why have the surgery." My soul knows I need the surgery to give me the best possible chance to lose the weight, keep it off and live a long healthy life. There is a super strong history of Alzheimers disease on my dad's side of the family and obesity has been linked to an increased risk for it. I don't need my lifestyle to increase my chances of getting the horrible disease. I've worked with clients who have Alzheimers and its horrible to watch them go through the various stages and knowing something is wrong but not understanding what it is. My current client has Alzheimer's and he's forgotten he has it. I'm not certainly going to remind him. It's strange listening to him talk about other people he knows who have the disease. I'd rather be dead than suffer through the later stages of the disease.

I'm already with happy with my choice to have the sleeve even though I don't have it yet. I'm starting to take more control of my life. The sleeve is a tool and a gift I'm giving myself. My 6 year old niece will be super excited to have an active auntie!!  She's been raised to be active. She thinks it's normal to walk to the library 2+ miles away or walk all the way to grandpa and grandmas house 4 miles away. She gets upset if her mom goes on a walk without her. The workbook I'm working on had an activity where it asked me to think of a person I know who manages their weight effortlessly. I picked my brother (my nieces dad). He eats fairly healthy and stays very active. My sister in law rides her bike to work most of the year. I've always been a low energy level person and I'm not counting of that to change after surgery.  I'm taking up yoga again and will work with physical therapy and the program psychologist to find more ways to increase activity in my every day life. I'm not much of a gym person.

Great outlook! My buffet friends were supportive of surgery but still bummed that they were losing me as their buffet buddy...I was the buffet queen!