Don't get me wrong...This surgery is one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself!!! I feel so exhilarated and excited about so much every day!! I KNOW I can do this!! I don't feel deprived. I can't eat much and I'm really not craving anything!! I am in the process of trying to figure out how/what to eat to try to get in all my protein everyday. As of today I've signed up for MyFitnessPal.com. I'm going to keep track of my food/calories/protein and water consumption as well as my exercise. This is going to be quite a journey and I hope to help anyone I can as I feel my way along. Another tool is YouTube. There are lots of people on there that are sharing their journey with others. Right now I'm in the process of watching Leah's VSG Journey's videos!! She's got me so excited and motivated!! She smiles and she's upbeat but she definitely shares her negatives!! They're things everyone goes through and the things she's brought up so far have been concerns of mine. I want to share a few of them with you right now.
1. My hair. In 2004 I found out I had a growth on my thyroid and after a summer of testing they removed half of it. I knew I had thyroid problems for a few years before but no one would listen to me. One of the things that indicated a problem was thinning hair. My hair is still thin and fragile. I use henna to color it. I treat it with coconut oil. (I need to do that more often) and I rarely blow dry it. If I'm not going out that day, I don't even use the curling iron on it. Well, with this surgery hair loss is a common problem. I'm scared to death to lose even more of my thin hair!! I'm going to up my dose of Biotin and add an Essential fatty acids in as well.
2. Relationships. More than once in my life I've heard of people losing a lot of weight and their personal relationships being affected negatively. I saw a girl on a talk show a few years ago who was losing a LOT of weight. She had given her Mom some clothes and he family and friends accused her of thinking she was better than them!! She was really hurt!!
Then Leah (from above) is talking about her relationship with her boyfriend coming to an end. He expected her to do what he wanted to do instead of working out! When we have this surgery it's a commitment that we need to keep!! We have a responsibility to do the best we can with it!! My family will always be my priority! But now I have to exercise most days and eat a certain way!!
I would not be at all OK if the people closest to me decided that our relationship was over or that I thought I was better than them! I'm always going to be me and my family and friends will always mean as much to me!! None of that will ever change!! I will be devastated if that happens!
And there's the flip side...People who have never had anything to do with me before or have even been hateful or mean. I could never be friends with them!! I could never trust them!!
I just wanted to share with y'all! What do you think? Am I nuts or is this as common as it seems?
Shama D
You are not crazy. Your post pretty much summed it up. As we gain weight we become withdrawn and even ashamed. We don't want our pictures taken, we don't socialize (in person) anymore and that sets off a vicious cycle. You can count on your relationships changing, but it can be a positive change as well. As you lose weight you become more confident, more outgoing and less prone to the "blues". Basically it is the cycle of weight gain in reverse. So if your relationship with your husband and family is solid, it will only get better. I think you will find your husband looking at you the way he did 20 years ago. Just my thoughts. BTW, please keep us updated with your progress since I need to drop 50 pounds myself and I am really having a hard time finding the motivation - perhaps your blog will help.
ReplyDeleteSine, Thank you so much!! You've already been a huge encouragement to me! I do have amazing support from my husband and family!! I'm just so excited about this whole thing!! I will definitely keep up with the blog!! I really hope that I can encourage you and others!! Thanks again for commenting!!
DeleteShama, I am betting that your family is behind you 100%. That will be a blessing in this battle. It will be a battle but you are strong enough.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is super-encouraging, Beverly!!! For the first time ever, I have no doubt that I can do this!!! Thank you!!
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