help me understand...

[mermaidm 0]

i am scheduled for surgery soon and having second thoughts. i just cant seem to wrap my head around HOW people are amazingly able to choose better eating habits and be compliant with sleeve eating after being sleeved than before? what has being sleeved provided you that you can now do health/eating wise what you couldn't before?

i am an emtional/stress eater and grateful for any replies. : )

[Recycled 2,182]

For me it was the fact that I would only fit so much food into my sleeve and if I tried to fit more, I'd regret it painfully. Plus with only a limited availability of food if I chose the wrong types (like low in protein) my body would suffer. I'd become weak and tired and sickly. So I use that limited space to put the optimum items I can find following the WLS mantra.

To simplify, I have no choice anymore. (which is exactly what I needed because mine were all wrong.)

[RJ'S/beginning 5,358]

The sleeve is a tool that gives you the time to fix what was wrong in your head about food and why it means so much to you and why it got to the point that you needed to have it in the first place...The honeymoon period will not allow you to over eat or there will be trouble....

Hopefully like others you will take the time to really listen to yourself and how you react to things and the experiences you are going through...You will get excited as the lbs start falling off...the first part is not the whole journey....Asking questions getting help with the things that made you an emotional eater and learning how to retrain your brain is very rewarding...

I know myself better now then ever before I have changed so much and it is due to this experience.....for me it has been frightening, scary, interesting, humbling, mind bending, crying, sobbing, sleepless nights , good times and bad times. All rolled into one....An adventure or journey to recreate the me that is inside....

Is it worth it.......OH yes it is........I would not change a thing really..It has taught me to have a lot of compassion for others and understand that I was not a lone all this time...There were others out there that were struggling with the same issues..

I read all information on all packaging and I eat healthier and actually enjoy it more......I keep it interesting and make sure I eat the very best.....

You will find your way and you have us here to help any way we can..........

I can't even believe sometimes that this is me on this journey eating fish instead of Mc Donald's hamburgers and loving it....

I got a good report today so I'm a bit stoked.....I love my sleeve today and most other days as well...

[slvrsax 301]

The appetite control the sleeve provides helps me make choices based on what my body NEEDS instead of what it WANTS. I can think about food logically instead of emotionally. After a 2 week pre-op diet and another 5 weeks of very restricted eating (in phases as outlined by my surgeon) I feel like I've had a reset. I am being VERY particular about what I put into the engine now. It is still early for me, I am only six weeks out from surgery. Hope that helps!

[mermaidm 0]

thanks, all for the replies. very helpful.

[It'sMeAnonyMouse 10]

I'm praying it will help control my appetite. Ever since I quit smoking, I am always hungry. Like, stomach hurts hungry. I would LOVE to eat 2 oz of chicken and be full

[indecision 863]

I am an emotional eater too. For me it is the fact that I never really get hungry as well as there is only so much I can fit in my stomach. These help me stay focused on insuring I put the right things in my mouth. Can you eat around your sleeve. Absolutely you can. That being said though you have to have the mindset that you will not have such a drastic surgery and just ruin it by eating incorrectly.