female only 12-yrs post op and - finally - I am finding myself

[My Bariatric Life 764]

I am 12-yrs post gastric bypass. Back in the day, we did not have a treatment team to help us succeed in our journey. My surgeon, Dr. Vishal Mehta, told me, "I do the surgery. The rest is up to you." I was so focused on transforming my physical self and learning healthy eating that I never did the work to transform my inner self. I didn't even know it was part of the process. I think it is an important part of our transformation that is often overlooked -- we don't find ourselves.

So I've been exploring finding myself, which has led me on a spiritual path where I've learned to love myself and others unconditionally. And I've started to share those experiences through my opinion pieces (articles) on BariatricPal. So I thought I'd put the links and synopisis here to those articles for those who may be on a similar path of finding themselves. I hope my experience in some way helps you on your journey to health in body, mind, and spirit. We all deserve to live a life we love!

Soul Relationships, Part 1

Once we master our physical appetites we then begin to change the way we relate to ourselves and others. We are in a great transitional period. Our old way of being that was deeply entrenched in us was fearful. There is an awakening after obesity. We experience true living. Our lives can, in fact, be Heaven on Earth.

True Love

I grew up with a romanticized notion of love: One day my prince would come and life would be perfect. I still have my vision of him: A big, tall, dark and handsome dominate male, the stallion, who would rescue me, worship my feminine traits, but not possess me (except in the bedroom). Aside from the attributes in parenthesis, my fantasy man came straight from the Disney Princess movies of my childhood.