Do you VSGers feel like aliens now?

 I find these places shocking, but not attractive in the least (which may be more shocking!). My first trip to Costco was overwhelming, the sizes of the packages, the variety of food, the amount of sheer carbs and sugar was mind boggling! 

~Colleen

Here's a little parable:

THERE'S A HOLE IN MY SIDEWALK Autobiography in Five Short Chapters By Portia Nelson
Chapter One I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost .... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.	Chapter Two I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend that I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in this same place. It isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter Three I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.	Chapter Four I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. Chapter Five I walk down another street.

Eventually the others will seem like aliens to you, because you're walking a different street.

I like your parable. 

Right on point, Kathy. Love it!

OMG.. thank you.... I will keep this in my wallet and on my fridge..

I absolutely love this!  Thank You!!

 I just printed this out and hung it up in my home office :)

 Pushes the LIKE button on kathy's parable

I think you bring up a very deep and important question.  The truth is that our society is not geared for healthy living.  This surgery will only change the size of your stomach forever and hopefully the amount of hunger and cravings you feel for the short run.  Most of us get our hunger and interest in food back after the first year.  How  you are going to handle shopping for food, eating out at restaurants, cooking for the family and all the other simple every day things will determine if you are going to be successful in the long run.  The real question worth examining here is how is a healthy alien to live in this food obsessed culture?  And the truth is it is not easy, and it requires a great deal of planning, motivation, ingenuity, commitment and ability to adapt.  Not only your stomach must change in order for this to work in the long run, your shopping habits must change. Where you shop, how often you shop, what products you buy, all must change permanently.  Eating out is another area that will have to change, where you eat, what you order, and what constitutes a celebration, all have to change.  This is just the beginning.  Your whole relationship to food must undergo a complete overhaul.  When you eat, what you eat, why you eat, all of this needs to be carefully examined.  People who go into this surgery thinking that it will simply reduce the size of their stomach and allow them to lose and maintain their weight loss mostly come back to this board complaining of major regain.  ( I am not saying that that is you, I am just sharing what I have seen over the years).  The surgery is just the physical starting point, the real work is all about our head issues, habits, and commitment. 

Thanks Elina,
I feel like this will happen for me. I pray and practice one day at a time. I wake up and make a plan to handle food on daily basis. It is tough to find the right choices in the "convient" world. You can make it happen for you. You just have to make a conscious decision at every turn. I read the post that said she was a carb crack head. I never really thought of it in that term but it was dead on. Absolutely addicting. I feel soooooo much better away from all that mess. I am trying to help my kids understand about making good food choices at each meal. It has been enlightening to learn with them and how interested they really are. I hope to instill some boundaries.
I always look forward to posts like this. I need this to keep me focused on on point.