Results not typical...
Like they say in the "miraculous weight loss" ads on TV - results not typical. Well, I'm not typical, I guess...
I managed to lose 30 pounds between my initial consult and my surgery. HOW? ----- Well - first I'd have to admit that going on Prozac helped me immensely with my food cravings. But at least as importantly, maybe more, I came to the realization during the waiting period that if I succumbed to my desire to pig out as much as possible while I still could, I'd wind up gaining so much weight they'd cancel my surgery, and I'd have to start over again. Also, the knowledge that in a few months, I'd have a tiny stomach pouch that would make it impossible for me to pig out, put me in a different frame of mind about my eating than I had EVER had before. This was no diet - I was prepping myself for eating in a radically different way after surgery. I didn't want to bridge the gulf between uncontrolled eating one week to tiny sips of liquids only a few days later... the thought of the immense contrast in that made me want to start learning to eat less - and not mind it - way before the surgery.
I was pretty successful with this, and it really paid off, because they originally planned to do open surgery on me (my liver was enlarged, common amongst us large folk), but with the 30 pound loss, was able to have lap surgery instead.
One trick that really helped me was to sit down and think about the foods that triggered my eating binges - and I avoided them like the plague, without limiting myself too severely on other things. I cut out most snacking, and enjoyed three good, tasty meals a day. I got some exercise, but didn't obsess about it.
Ok, ok, I'm a man, and "men lose so easily....." blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Partly true, but if it was such a miracle, I'd never have gotten morbidly obese in the first place.
And BTW, I hit my first "plateau" at three weeks out from surgery.... So I'm NOT losing all that fast right now, but I don't really care - I feel so great that I know I'm on the right track.
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Phil Darby / LAP RNY Dr. Callery 09/27/04........|Max:280+|Min:±155|Now:±175|
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