Maintaining our weight . . .Re: New to List

[Guest guest]

I don't think any of us had WLS only to be smaller and still dealing

with food issues. I was in it to get rid of food issues once and for

all. My personal belief and experience has shown me that dieting

totally disconnected me from being able to feel and follow the

signals which come from the biological needs of my body. I was so

messed up with food, even after surgery. I remember crying because I

din't know what to eat or when or how much or how often. I am so

glad that is all in the past.

" Getting right with food " did not come easy, it came in time with

hard work and dedication to making it happen. The freedom I feel now

is worth every minute I spent obsessing about permanently changing my

relationship with food. I don't even think about food until I am

physically hungry. When I do get hungry, I think about what my body

needs most at that moment and what will restore my energy. There are

no foods that are off limits, just food that makes me feel physically

bad. If its a taste I love, I'll save room for a bite or two after

nutrition is handled. Its weird how I used to be so compulsive with

food and now I'm not at all.

I think what we all want is peace with ourselves and food, as well as

good health. And for thoses of you that know me and the book I

love . . . Yes, I live by those " secrets " automatically without a

second thought. I have maintained my size/weightloss eating what I

love, always honoring hunger, never having to go hungry and without

counting calories or grams. The mark of success to me is: I can have

1/2 a cookie and not want the whole thing, I throw out fresh baked

goods and brownies because they don't get eaten much around here even

if they sit on the counter readily available to all, candy including

chocolate doesn't call my name anymore, and I prefer fruit (esp.

bananas) to chips and carbs. I do " diet " things (like only eating

the topping off a slice of pizza) not because I have to, but becasue

I like to! It feels good and gives me more energy. I know it sounds

impossible or like a fantasy. My friends all want to feel about food

like I do. The friends that struggle with 15 pounds up and down ask

me how I maintain my weight so effortlessly. Even my PCP has other

post op WLS patients that are having weight problems call me for help

as I am one of her most successful WLS patient and she has a lot of

them! It feels so good to be successful and be able to help others

do the same.

The best thing that ever happened to me was finding " The Seven

Secrets Of Slim People. " I followed the book to the letter and did

all the worksheets. Success was my reward for being dedicated to

changing my relationship with food. The funniest thing about all

this is after all I went through (gaining 130 pounds after I got

really into dieting) I am smaller but about the same weight I was

before I ever got into diets. My job as a mother has been teaching

my kids a healthy relationship with their bodies and food. I have 2

daughters and believe me, they are now diet proofed! When we go to

buffets where the kids can eat anything and all they want, they go

for fruit and food labeled healthy without any guidance from me. The

sweets and crap foods don't attract them as they can have it if that

is what they want. I am proud of them, they learned their lesson

well. Hopefully I have broken the cycle of obesity in our family

tree.

All I wish for anyone here is effortless weight maintainence (neither

too high nor too low) and an end to the food thing. It is really

pleasant not to think of food unless you're hungry. And even more

fun to eat whatever you really want every time you eat . . . and yes,

sometimes I even crave a protien shake!

) Vicki in CA

> In a message dated 6/11/03 5:38:18 PM Central Daylight Time,

> ray@b... writes:

>

> << I do this, but it is still a constant battle to maintain my

weight. >>

>

> This statement hits home with me. It shows me how much I am still

in the

> grips of food addiction and have a warped perspective on food and

eating. While

> I intellectually understand how difficult it would be to be

fighting to

> maintain a healthy body weight, this situation feeds into my

desires to have the

> freedom, even the MANDATE, to EAT with abandon. On the one hand, I

understand

> that it would be a terrible condition to wish on myself ... but

that

> dysfunctional eater in me fantasizes about it all the time.

>

> Beth

> Houston, TX

> VBG - Dr. Srungaram

> 05/31/00 - 314 lbs.

> 11/01/02 - Abdominoplasty

> 11/29/02 - 160 lbs.

> 5'10 "