I am part of a handful of WLS Support Facebook groups and I'm quite irritated with some of them lately. For the most part they are supportive, people ask good questions and share positive stories to help others stay motivated. Every now and again there's someone who posts a comment or recipe that just makes you wonder why they ever had weight loss surgery to begin with. One of my pet peeves:
1) People who enter into this major surgery without doing ANY research first. They don't read about it, google it, ask questions or do anything to learn more about it. They think (sorry for my bluntness) "I'm fat, so I'll get surgery, it seems to be the quickest and easiest way to lose weight". There are plenty of people on those support pages that ask the basic of questions that can easily be answered by doing a little of their own research. It's THEIR health, it's THEIR lives - why wouldn't they want to do their own research?? Something else that bothers me:
2) People who don't follow their own doctors instructions. Every patient is different - every journey is different. Height, starting weight, lifestyle, medical and mental illnesses - - all of these play factors into what the doctor tells you to do after surgery. So going onto those support groups and saying, "My doctor/nutritionist recommended I not drink after surgery - well, I'm 1 month post-op and have a date this weekend, I'd like to order a drink. Think that's ok?" Um.... how about you take the advice of a group of strangers who don't know your history - instead of your actual doctor??.... No! The BIGGEST thing that upsets me....
3) Cheaters! They've recently had WLS and make comments like, "I won't deprive myself of a treat now and again...." as a way of justifying the fact that they ate pizza, donuts, a cheeseburger and fries! We all got overweight because of a number of reasons, and more than likely it included a real, serious food addiction. Just like every other addiction, if you slip a little, you'll easily go back to your addiction. Your body can't handle those foods in the beginning and your weight loss will definitely suffer because of your cheating! I think part of this thinking is due to lack of research, but also - crooked thinking. "I won't deprive myself of a treat....".... um, yes, I WILL deprive myself of a treat. I got overweight for many different reasons, but one is that I didn't deprive myself of all the yumminess around me. I want a different lifestyle now, I want to be healthy and happy, and to do that, I WILL, for dam sure, deprive myself of a treat.
The only thing that reduces my irritation is the fact that it is THEIR life and they will be derailed by their actions, not me. Hopefully posting their happiness about their cheating on those support groups doesn't convince other, non-educated WLS patients it's ok to follow. But I will read those posts and smile and say, "at least I didn't cheat today, like so-&-so" and keep sipping my water.
I see a therapist, have for many years, for many reasons. And he says things that just make sense... one thing that really sinks in is, "It took you many, many years to get this way, it won't go away overnight." It's a "duh" moment, but hard to realize sometimes, no matter how much I want to lose weight overnight. The next best thing he's ever told me was that "If nothing changes, then nothing changes." We will always weigh what we weigh if we always eat what we've always eaten. It's THAT simple!!
I need to remember -
It's not a diet, it's a Lifestyle Change!
Keep me in your prayers, I need the strength!
Much love!!
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