What newbies need to know :-)

[shyanne 198]

I read this in a support group online and loved it :-D thought I'd share.

What newbies need to know before/after surgery

1. Do your own research! You are responsible for your own health! Ask questions and do lots of research!

2. Be clear about why you want this surgery. If you are having the surgery to weigh a certain number on the scale, wear a certain pant size, to make your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend happy, or to fit in or to stand out, then realize now that none of these have anything to do with the reality or success of this surgery.

3. Do this for you and for your health. This isn’t the easy way out. WLS will fail you if you fail to live the WLS life. Be diligent, be mindful, be aware, and be present with the journey.

4. This program is for life. It is a wonderful tool for health. It is only a tool. You still have to do all the work. There is no finish line. Just day after day choices.

5. This is NOT a diet. This is healthy eating for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! If you think of this or treat this as another diet you are setting yourself up for failure. This is a new way of life, for the REST of your life. Keep that in mind and you WILL succeed!

6. If you are looking for happiness and fulfillment from everyone around you, you won't find it. No one can MAKE you happy. Happiness comes from within!

7. In the end, you are your own best support person. Don’t expect everyone to understand or be supportive. Tell only those who are supportive or tell everyone.

8. This procedure doesn't fix you or your life, just your guts. You are responsible for working on your emotional and mental issues along the way. There WILL be emotional and mental challenges. If you haven’t already started doing the mental and emotional work, START NOW!

9. Some people, NOT ALL, experience buyers remorse if you are not mentally or emotionally prepared. Just because you've had your guts rearranged does NOT mean you don't still have A LOT of work to do emotionally. The successful people ALL do their emotional work. Positive people have a much easier time on this journey than the whiners, complainers and poor me's. This is your chance to change your life for the better!

10. You have the choice of how you want your roller coaster journey to be. Kicking and screaming, or screaming with joy!

11. Your life and your relationships WILL change. You are developing a new relationship with food, yourself, and life.

12. Having a goal or prize or image will help keep you focused and moving forward.

13. You WILL have pain and it will take time to feel like yourself again. The pain WILL go away. You will heal. Focus on Protein and Water. Protein melts fat, and water flushes it. Some days you will have energy, and some days you won’t. Rest when you need to.

14. You WILL have temporary post op weight gain as your body processes the fluids and inflammation from surgery.

15. Your whole belly MAY turn purple from blood thinners after the surgery.

16. If you have a problem, CALL your doctor! Don't mess around!

17. You may or may not have temporary moments of insanity. They will pass faster if you just let them go and not fight them.

18. The more you walk the less gas you will have. Sip while you walk. That way you will get more water in. The more water you sip the faster the drugs will flush through your system and the better you will feel.

19. Don't drink 30-45 minutes before or after meals. Drinking before makes you too full to get the food you need. Drinking during or too soon after flushes the food. Drinking in between helps keep you feeling satisfied.

20. Eat one food at a time to find out which foods give you gas. DONT EAT THOSE FOODS! You won't be able to get much food down at first, or many calories, so don't worry about that. Always eat protein first.

21. It's not how much food, but what food. PROTEIN! You may not be able to handle meat protein for several months. Shelly has great protein recipes of all kinds, heavenly protein smoothies, and even protein ice cream. Check out The World According to Eggface.

22. Taste, texture, and smell preferences change after surgery.

23. Fiber + water = no Constipation. Diarrhea is common immediately post op until your body stabilizes. Keeping your water up helps prevent dehydration. As your bowels stabilize your still need to keep your water up to lubricate and stay regular. Many people need a regular fiber supplement. You SHOULD be daily regular. If not, get your fiber and water intake up. Smooth Moves Tea works wonders!

24. Your stomach does NOT get hungry at 1 week out. The hunger is all in your head. At one week, your stomach is still inflamed, swollen and healing and needs very little coming into it. Hunger, at least the first month, and often for many months, is head and emotional hunger. You are used to turning to food and are going through mental withdrawal.

Gurgling noises are normal functioning noises. The glands that line your stomach go into action every three to four hours whether you eat anything or not. SMELLING FOOD, SEEING IMAGES OF IT OR EVEN JUST THINKING OF can start the release of gastric juices. The movement of your stomach walls and the juices being excreted creates growling and gurgling noises.

So when you are obsessively thinking about or drooling over something that sounds good you are actually activating the hunger signals. Hence it being called head hunger!

25. Hormones, periods and therefore emotions can be affected for a while post op but will stabilize in time.

26. Your weight WILL fluctuate up and down from day to day plus/minus 1-3 pounds.

27. Don’t be a slave to numbers. If you obsessively weigh you WILL make yourself crazy! DON'T! Obsessive weighing = insanity.

28. Everyone sheds at a different pace. Comparing only makes you needlessly crazy.

29. You WILL have LOTS of plateaus/pauses! Get used to it! The first plateau usually happens around 3-4 weeks. Protein first thing in the morning!!! Water, protein, adequate sleep, less stress, addressing emotional number memories, and exercise will help them to pass. The weight will shed whether you drive yourself crazy along the way or not.

30. As you backtrack through time, weighty memories surface, usually during plateaus. Working through them helps to move through the plateaus, and the whole journey, faster. When you hit a pause, look at what was going on in your life when you were at this weight before. You are releasing more than fat. You are releasing years of weighty emotions, memories and pain that you have stuffed or eaten: worry, anger, resentment, grief, sadness, guilt, fear, drama, victimhood, self- punishment, fears of the future, what if’s, old patterns, old beliefs, and attitudes that no longer serve you, etc., etc.

31. Questions to ask yourself during plateaus: What am I afraid to let go of? What am I hanging on to? What was going on in my life when I weighed ___, that I don’t want to address or look at? What old attitudes, beliefs, or thought patterns am I resisting releasing? What is it about succeeding with this that scares me? What emotions do I want to “stuff” my face with?

32. If you eat too much or too fast you WILL get sick. Chew your food to mush. One bite at a time. One food at a time. Eat with presence so that you can pay attention to your pouches signals.

33. Listen for the subtle cues of your new pouch. If you listen, your pouch will treat you well. If you don't, you will regret it. Pouch signals range from runny nose, stuffy nose, gurgling, subtle fluttering, sneezing, hiccups, etc. Learn your pouch signals.

34. Measure everything until you know what 1/4 or 1/2 cup looks like.

35. Track everything! Great Iphone apps are, Target Weight, Water Tracker and Food Scanner. Or use a document chart.

36. Protein, Vitamins and water are important for the rest of your life! Get your protein first. It helps with wound healing, muscle mass, and Hair loss. Water keeps you hydrated. Vitamins provide the nutrition to help keep you healthy. Get blood tests regularly.

37. You WILL lose hair between months 3-7. If you have thick hair you are lucky. If you have thin hair you may need to cut it short, wear a hat, a scarf, or just don’t concern yourself with it. Biotin, Nioxin hair products, and protein help but it still comes out. Shampooing less often, refraining from coloring, perms, and heating appliances helps as well. Your hair will grow back.

38. You will have body aches and pains along the way as your body posture adjusts to not having to carry such a load all of time. There are a myriad of ways to help with aches and pains.

39. You are going to have loose skin, bat wings, saggy belly, legs, arms, breasts. That’s a fact. Many people who never cared how they looked being fat, all of a sudden care when they are flat out skinny. Either accept the loose skin or start saving!

40. Relax! The harder you hang on, the longer it will take to meet your goal. Instead of refusing to "not" meet your goal, try affirming that you WILL reach your goal.

41. You WILL have A LOT of non-scale victories.

42. The people who focus on daily non-scale victories have an easier time on this journey.

43. You WILL be happier, healthier and have a more fulfilling life than you could have ever imagined!

44. Enjoy the ride of your life!

Posted on 11/06/11, 01:48 pm

[babs963 201]

Great and so true... Thanks for sharing!

[hajones5891 133]

Love it!!!

xo Hilary

[michelecaples 224]

Very good advice! I would like to add that you are not a failure if you cant get in x amount of Protein or Water in a day. Just try to reach the goal every day and you will be healthy even if you cant reach it. Oh and take your Vitamins or you will feel ill. Prepare to wish you were on the funny farm because this is very very hard mentally. The people that you dont want to notice your loss will gush about it. The people you are dying to have notice you will only talk about your loss behind your back. Pat yourself on the back so noone else has to. Be kind to your melting body. It can look out of proportion for awhile.

[abbybeep 53]

Awesome list! I'd like to add that, while you shouldn't get carried away with it, looking back, I wish I would have thought about the "what ifs" a little more. Only to make sure that I really understood the ramifications of my decision to have surgery. What if things don't go as planned and I have to have additional surgeries and possible complications for the rest of my life? Am I ready to handle that? Like I said, don't dwell on it, but just consider the possibilities- good and not-so-good.

[GaPeach31061 23]

Very great post...

[pookybear 284]

Awesome!

[ready2smile 138]

Fabulous!!!! I love it and think everyone should be given a copy. It's realistic and full of great info. I thought I was prepared, but I was in no way as prepared as I thought I was. I had and still have so much to learn at almost 3 months out.

[crmdefense 0]

I read this in a support group online and loved it :-D thought I'd share.

What newbies need to know before/after surgery

1. Do your own research! You are responsible for your own health! Ask questions and do lots of research!

2. Be clear about why you want this surgery. If you are having the surgery to weigh a certain number on the scale' date=' wear a certain pant size, to make your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend happy, or to fit in or to stand out, then realize now that none of these have anything to do with the reality or success of this surgery.

3. Do this for you and for your health. This isn’t the easy way out. WLS will fail you if you fail to live the WLS life. Be diligent, be mindful, be aware, and be present with the journey.

4. This program is for life. It is a wonderful tool for health. It is only a tool. You still have to do all the work. There is no finish line. Just day after day choices.

5. This is NOT a diet. This is healthy eating for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! If you think of this or treat this as another diet you are setting yourself up for failure. This is a new way of life, for the REST of your life. Keep that in mind and you WILL succeed!

6. If you are looking for happiness and fulfillment from everyone around you, you won't find it. No one can MAKE you happy. Happiness comes from within!

7. In the end, you are your own best support person. Don’t expect everyone to understand or be supportive. Tell only those who are supportive or tell everyone.

8. This procedure doesn't fix you or your life, just your guts. You are responsible for working on your emotional and mental issues along the way. There WILL be emotional and mental challenges. If you haven’t already started doing the mental and emotional work, START NOW!

9. Some people, NOT ALL, experience buyers remorse if you are not mentally or emotionally prepared. Just because you've had your guts rearranged does NOT mean you don't still have A LOT of work to do emotionally. The successful people ALL do their emotional work. Positive people have a much easier time on this journey than the whiners, complainers and poor me's. This is your chance to change your life for the better!

10. You have the choice of how you want your roller coaster journey to be. Kicking and screaming, or screaming with joy!

11. Your life and your relationships WILL change. You are developing a new relationship with food, yourself, and life.

12. Having a goal or prize or image will help keep you focused and moving forward.

13. You WILL have pain and it will take time to feel like yourself again. The pain WILL go away. You will heal. Focus on Protein and Water. Protein melts fat, and Water flushes it. Some days you will have energy, and some days you won’t. Rest when you need to.

14. You WILL have temporary post op weight gain as your body processes the fluids and inflammation from surgery.

15. Your whole belly MAY turn purple from blood thinners after the surgery.

16. If you have a problem, CALL your doctor! Don't mess around!

17. You may or may not have temporary moments of insanity. They will pass faster if you just let them go and not fight them.

18. The more you walk the less gas you will have. Sip while you walk. That way you will get more water in. The more water you sip the faster the drugs will flush through your system and the better you will feel.

19. Don't drink 30-45 minutes before or after meals. Drinking before makes you too full to get the food you need. Drinking during or too soon after flushes the food. Drinking in between helps keep you feeling satisfied.

20. Eat one food at a time to find out which foods give you gas. DONT EAT THOSE FOODS! You won't be able to get much food down at first, or many calories, so don't worry about that. Always eat protein first.

21. It's not how much food, but what food. PROTEIN! You may not be able to handle meat protein for several months. Shelly has great protein recipes of all kinds, heavenly protein smoothies, and even protein ice cream. Check out The World According to Eggface.

22. Taste, texture, and smell preferences change after surgery.

23. Fiber + water = no Constipation. Diarrhea is common immediately post op until your body stabilizes. Keeping your water up helps prevent dehydration. As your bowels stabilize your still need to keep your water up to lubricate and stay regular. Many people need a regular fiber supplement. You SHOULD be daily regular. If not, get your fiber and water intake up. Smooth Moves Tea works wonders!

24. Your stomach does NOT get hungry at 1 week out. The hunger is all in your head. At one week, your stomach is still inflamed, swollen and healing and needs very little coming into it. Hunger, at least the first month, and often for many months, is head and emotional hunger. You are used to turning to food and are going through mental withdrawal.

Gurgling noises are normal functioning noises. The glands that line your stomach go into action every three to four hours whether you eat anything or not. SMELLING FOOD, SEEING IMAGES OF IT OR EVEN JUST THINKING OF can start the release of gastric juices. The movement of your stomach walls and the juices being excreted creates growling and gurgling noises.

So when you are obsessively thinking about or drooling over something that sounds good you are actually activating the hunger signals. Hence it being called head hunger!

25. Hormones, periods and therefore emotions can be affected for a while post op but will stabilize in time.

26. Your weight WILL fluctuate up and down from day to day plus/minus 1-3 pounds.

27. Don’t be a slave to numbers. If you obsessively weigh you WILL make yourself crazy! DON'T! Obsessive weighing = insanity.

28. Everyone sheds at a different pace. Comparing only makes you needlessly crazy.

29. You WILL have LOTS of plateaus/pauses! Get used to it! The first plateau usually happens around 3-4 weeks. Protein first thing in the morning!!! Water, protein, adequate sleep, less stress, addressing emotional number memories, and exercise will help them to pass. The weight will shed whether you drive yourself crazy along the way or not.

30. As you backtrack through time, weighty memories surface, usually during plateaus. Working through them helps to move through the plateaus, and the whole journey, faster. When you hit a pause, look at what was going on in your life when you were at this weight before. You are releasing more than fat. You are releasing years of weighty emotions, memories and pain that you have stuffed or eaten: worry, anger, resentment, grief, sadness, guilt, fear, drama, victimhood, self- punishment, fears of the future, what if’s, old patterns, old beliefs, and attitudes that no longer serve you, etc., etc.

31. Questions to ask yourself during plateaus: What am I afraid to let go of? What am I hanging on to? What was going on in my life when I weighed ___, that I don’t want to address or look at? What old attitudes, beliefs, or thought patterns am I resisting releasing? What is it about succeeding with this that scares me? What emotions do I want to “stuff” my face with?

32. If you eat too much or too fast you WILL get sick. Chew your food to mush. One bite at a time. One food at a time. Eat with presence so that you can pay attention to your pouches signals.

33. Listen for the subtle cues of your new pouch. If you listen, your pouch will treat you well. If you don't, you will regret it. Pouch signals range from runny nose, stuffy nose, gurgling, subtle fluttering, sneezing, hiccups, etc. Learn your pouch signals.

34. Measure everything until you know what 1/4 or 1/2 cup looks like.

35. Track everything! Great Iphone apps are, Target Weight, Water Tracker and Food Scanner. Or use a document chart.

36. Protein, Vitamins and water are important for the rest of your life! Get your protein first. It helps with wound healing, muscle mass, and hair loss. Water keeps you hydrated. Vitamins provide the nutrition to help keep you healthy. Get blood tests regularly.

37. You WILL lose hair between months 3-7. If you have thick hair you are lucky. If you have thin hair you may need to cut it short, wear a hat, a scarf, or just don’t concern yourself with it. Biotin, Nioxin hair products, and protein help but it still comes out. Shampooing less often, refraining from coloring, perms, and heating appliances helps as well. Your hair will grow back.

38. You will have body aches and pains along the way as your body posture adjusts to not having to carry such a load all of time. There are a myriad of ways to help with aches and pains.

39. You are going to have loose skin, bat wings, saggy belly, legs, arms, breasts. That’s a fact. Many people who never cared how they looked being fat, all of a sudden care when they are flat out skinny. Either accept the loose skin or start saving!

40. Relax! The harder you hang on, the longer it will take to meet your goal. Instead of refusing to "not" meet your goal, try affirming that you WILL reach your goal.

41. You WILL have A LOT of non-scale victories.

42. The people who focus on daily non-scale victories have an easier time on this journey.

43. You WILL be happier, healthier and have a more fulfilling life than you could have ever imagined!

44. Enjoy the ride of your life!

Posted on 11/06/11, 01:48 pm[/quote']

Well done

[DLCoggin 1,788]

Wow - great advice!!