Gpsteph

Fear of failure or critisim and shame are powerful tools that sabotage us. It's likely the reason why many of us comfort ourselves in different ways. Food, alcohol, sex, religion or other substances and activities help distract us or let us escape from those feelings. Sadly, some of the ways we can self medicate have negative affects. Maybe if you start your conversation by telling the drs that you're afraid they'll chastise you, it will help them understand. Remember that they've likely had other patients who've experienced this come to seek help. I hope any dr who helps people who are over weight realizes that weight gain is not a cause, it's an effect. That's seems like a simpe concept and I'm not a dr. You need to be helped, not scolded or told by your Dr or from some Dudley do right on their own journey who loves to feel so enlightend by stating the obvious (ex: "You have to stop eating the white chocolate."). I've had the band for seven years now and I understand now that it's not the biggest resason I lost weight. I lost nearly half my weight going from 289 lbs to 148 lbs, went up to a more comfortable weight of 165lbs after being told I looked sick and now I'm up to 180lbs. I was freaking out over the fear of getting huge again. For me that was a hellish prison. I'm a bit older now and maybe my motivation isn't as fired up as it used to be but I thought maybe by going to the gym and joining this site it will help trigger some reaction. "For every action theres a reaction", right? Your fear or shame may be the real problem here so don't beat yourself up. It sounds like the time I had to climb this really tall ladder. I stood at the bottom of it for quite some time, staring at the top of it thinking "how the heck is my foot going to reach that high up?". After feeling very nervous and thinking it might be easier not to bother trying at all, I looked down and saw the first step. It was only a small step up but it got me closer than staying still. That's obviously a fictional storey and simpler compared to what we are really dealing with but things can only get better if you do something, even a small thing. Actually, you already made your first step by posting the problem and you may have helped someone else who can relate to you..... like me!