Yesterday at 2 was my psych evaluation and mysterious test. The psych eval went well---the little lady was about a size 3 and had one eye that trailed off somewhere---I kept focusing focusing focusing on that left eye of hers. A little distracting, but she was a great person. I sat on the couch (sat not lounged) and she started her barrage of questions. What is your history of weight from age 5 until now? What roll did food play in your childhood? Were you ever anorexic or bulemic? Are you an emotional eater? Why do you think this will work when other things have failed? Do you have the support of your husband? Do you have the support of your extended family? Are there people you haven't told about this and why? Have you ever felt anxious or depressed? Are you a person of faith?

I went to great length to answer and answer and then I asked her some questions that I know are some personal fears of mine. I asked, "In the past ten years, I have lost ALOT of weight and have always gained it back. I know WLS is a TOOL not the SOLUTION, but I am scared that I will start to slip once I get to goal or 155 or something like that. How do I avoid that? She said the 2% of people who have lost the weight and kept it off (regardless of the method) have done so by 1)TRACKING everythign and 2)GOAL SETTING and 3)surround yourself with a village to help you. She said that I need to practice articulating my needs (emotionally) to my husband and to my friends. THAT WILL BE A HUGE SWITCH for me!! I am self-sufficient person of the year.

Also, she told me to learn the difference betweeen a LAPSE, RELAPSE and COLLAPSE. That I need to be conscious of those three stages and to understand that the first one WILL happen, the second one will happen if I let it and the third one is a choice that I am making.

She told me to get the book "The End of Overeating" by Kessler. I went to the library and they didn't have it but they had several other ones that I got--and they have been really inspiring to read so far.

So my personal goal for the next two weeks is to design a nutrition plan, build a vision board and to start working on articulating my needs.

Great blog, thanks. I saw that Kessler book on Amazon for about 16 dollars...I should probably get it too! Cali

The book by Mohammed Ali's daughter is great also, written by her and her doctors. I think it's called Fighting Weight.

Wow...great info.! I feel gypped...my Psych eval. was 20 min. and about half the time it was silence while he wrote things down. It sounds like you'll have a great doc to rely on if you need help along the way. We all have food issues and most of us have emotions tied to food...let me know if you find the holy grail!

Also, she told me to learn the difference betweeen a LAPSE, RELAPSE and COLLAPSE. That I need to be conscious of those three stages and to understand that the first one WILL happen, the second one will happen if I let it and the third one is a choice that I am making.

This is a great way of looking at this. Thanks!

Yeah...as I was leaving I was really grateful that it had gone the way that it had and that she actually had some words of wisdom that I could hold on to. And I MIGHT go back if I struggle along the way. I'm all about using resources that are around me!