Billie R.
Recent support group meeting
Feb 10, 2009
I went to the most recent support group meeting in my area last Monday. This meeting was hosted by a psychologist who works with the Bariatric Center. She spoke alot about mindful eating and cravings that come back after the "honeymoon phase" is over. There was a lady there who was 2 years post op and she was talking about how hard it is for her to keep her focus on the right foods that she needs to eat. She said it very hard to not have all those things that got her to where she was before surgery. She said she really thinks it will be a life long struggle to not resort to stuffing her face with all the wrong foods like in the past. I sat there listening and thinking to myself that I didn't want to have to deal with the temptation like her. I guess I just have to accept the fact that this was surgery on our stomachs not our brains. Back to the mindful eating, the psych said that once we are out of the HM phase and have a craving for it that we should have it. She said that we should take it and savor it and make it last. Enjoy it to the fullest extent instead of popping it in our mouth and gobbling it down. If we savor it, then we have a better appreciation for our surgery and for the right to have "something special" every now and then. It made total sense to me. If you openly allow yourself to have a special treat then you are less likely to try to sneak something and feel guilty about it. That would be denial.On another note, we spoke aloud as to wether we were pre or post-op. When it came my turn I was so excited to tell everyone that I was post op. There was a lady a couple seats down from me who said "I can't believe you had RNY. You don't look big enough". After the meeting was over I had a talk with her. She asked my my weight before surgery and my reason for choosing RNY over Lap Band. I gave her my reasons. Come to find out she is 10 pounds less than I was when I decided to have surgery. She just assumed that you had to be like 200 lbs overweight to have RNY. I told her I stand behind my decision to have RNY and would do it all over again. She told me she was certain that she wanted Lap Band until talking to me and now she is uncertain. I recommended to her to have a long talk with Dr. Trieu about her options and then decide what would be best for her. I didn't want to sway her decision one way or the other, but on the other hand I want her to explore all of her options. I hope I did the right thing. After we talked she told me that I was an inspiration to her and that I looked great. That made me feel good!
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About Me
Winslow, ME
Location
23.0
BMI
Surgery
01/12/2009
Surgery Date
Mar 01, 2008
Member Since
