WLS Show.....Tomorrow on Oprah! - Page 2 - ThinnerTimes

coptergirl · 10-24-2006, 11:10 AM

Oh I wish I could see it, but will be at work - do you think I could view it online later - or could someone here that can watch it give a sort of report on what was said?

sierrab · 10-24-2006, 11:29 AM

im sorry this looks so extreme i saw a longer ad and itwas like now the pounds are gone there binge drinkers and one is haveing one night stands like shes addicted to sex know she is thinner and a celeb that had it comes out to share etc

Baron Patrick · 10-24-2006, 11:52 AM

From what I understand the show today are people who've not only had wls, but replaced their obsession with food to another such as sex, and gambling.

It will be interesting to hear their stories.

LisaBoston · 10-24-2006, 11:56 AM

So here I am watching Oprah. The first 20 minutes I am mad, then next 20 minutes I am empathetic, and the last 20 minutes I am here typing!

I am not so vain to think that I won't be a addict to something other than food, but really I need to believe that it won't happen to me. 30% of people find another addiction after WLS...hmm.

Carnie Wilson on the show today was real. Factual - she was an addict before WLS, and still is. Just a transfer of addiction. Real.

Whether we had WLS or not, people are addicts....to all sorts of things. The first lady on the show seemed to blame WLS on her addiction, yet she was molested as a child, and has issues in her life..are these a result of WLS...not - they are there.

Oprah states that people feel that WLS is a quick fix. Never did I think this, but is this normal. I am having a real hard time relating to this show..makes me think that either I am nieve, stupid or not a typical WLS patient. This board makes me feel normal, like I fit in and going through a process. I also know that I am fairly early out and will face issues down the road, no different than I have faced food issues in the past months.

I didn't have self asteem issues before surgery. I walked around a pool deck at 314 pounds in a bathing suit and felt good. I really don't feel much different in my bathing suit other than the fact I don't stand out as much, but inside I am still the same person. I knew who I was as a fat person, no different than I feel now.

Now I have to question what made me fat...obese...morbidly obese?

I guess in the end, I took from the show that WLS effects us all different..but I knew that already. That we never know what is around the corner for us, no different than anyone else on my street. I don't think it makes us any different than anyone else.

The show refers to bypassing the pain in your life by having surgery - I don't know what I bypassed other than a stomach and some intestine....is this so wrong? I have said many times that I wasn't prepared for the emotional aspect of surgery - the woes, the ups and downs, but I think its all about balance, which I strive for everyday.

I am still getting used to seeing the NEW me in the mirror, the INSIDE me is still here.

Ok, I am rambling...how do you feel?

MiladyB · 10-24-2006, 12:25 PM

Lisa, I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us. I won't be able to watch the show because I'm heading to work shortly but I think I get the sense of what it was about through your sharing.

You, Marty and I have already had this discussion on another thread about the need for balance in our lives. I too really feel that is one of the huge keys to the emotional aspects of wls.

I also wasn't ready for the emotional side of all of this. For me the physical changes have come pretty easy but I also have so far had minimal complications. But it has been the emotional aspect that has made this journey hard for me. I really don't understand the statement that we are just "bypassing the pain". For me, without the food there to grab I've had to face my pain head on. It actually is making my inner feelings more clear to me.

I do often feel that my head isn't keeping up with the changes my body is going through. I feel so different on the outside but the inside has been slow to change. It is a struggle for me. I did have a lot of self-esteem problems, most of my life. But I also knew a lot about my inner struggles and what was causing them.

I do see that there could be a tendency to shift addictions. In someways that is the easier way, but not the healthy way. The healthy way is the hard way. But if we are to become healthy not only on the outside we also have to face the inside, head on and not bury it under another addiction.

I don't think your feelings are abnormal. Personally, I can relate to them a lot.

SPICYEYES99 · 10-24-2006, 12:44 PM

.This was our topic at the last North County Support group meeting.

I agree we do switch addictions. I know I now struggle with 2. Going out and drinking is one. I want to go out all the time now and I drink 1 or 2 but that’s a lot for someone who never drank. Also I feel I am addicted to attention, flirting and such. I sometimes feel like I can’t stop. I want the damn attention so badly I hear myself saying "what the He$$ are you doing?" It's so frustrating because the way it’s going on it not the way I am. Yes I am outgoing and flirty naturally always have been but something changed and now it's like I HAVE to do it and get positive attention from men.
I hate these new things that came up and I know why I got fat, to keep the men away. It did somewhat but if you know me you know my personality still attracted men at 305. I feel out of control in this now and its scary sometimes because I want a real relationship and I find myself thinking it isn’t going to happen, they will leave like all the others, find someone prettier or thinner. I still don’t see me as a small(er) girl and when people make comments I misread them as being I am too fat for them. It's crazy and is making me crazy because no one prepares you for the emotions that screw with your head. I don't have food as the crutch anymore (mostly) and I can see what its doing. I know I should get help or talk to someone about it but I am just so ashamed I do this now as I was the good lil Christian girl who was engaged and abstained from liquor and sex, and now I feel like a drunken whore (not that I am by any means but that’s how I feel) I feel like I whore out my emotions and such....does that make sense. I just want to be normal again as if we all knew what that was

rainrain · 10-24-2006, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPICYEYES99

.This was our topic at the last North County Support group meeting.

I agree we do switch addictions. I know I now struggle with 2. Going out and drinking is one. I want to go out all the time now and I drink 1 or 2 but that’s a lot for someone who never drank. Also I feel I am addicted to attention, flirting and such. I sometimes feel like I can’t stop. I want the damn attention so badly I hear myself saying "what the He$$ are you doing?" It's so frustrating because the way it’s going on it not the way I am. Yes I am outgoing and flirty naturally always have been but something changed and now it's like I HAVE to do it and get positive attention from men.
I hate these new things that came up and I know why I got fat, to keep the men away. It did somewhat but if you know me you know my personality still attracted men at 305. I feel out of control in this now and its scary sometimes because I want a real relationship and I find myself thinking it isn’t going to happen, they will leave like all the others, find someone prettier or thinner. I still don’t see me as a small(er) girl and when people make comments I misread them as being I am too fat for them. It's crazy and is making me crazy because no one prepares you for the emotions that screw with your head. I don't have food as the crutch anymore (mostly) and I can see what its doing. I know I should get help or talk to someone about it but I am just so ashamed I do this now as I was the good lil Christian girl who was engaged and abstained from liquor and sex, and now I feel like a drunken whore (not that I am by any means but that’s how I feel) I feel like I whore out my emotions and such....does that make sense. I just want to be normal again as if we all knew what that was

Sheri, your emotions are so raw and honest. Yes, we talked about this topic at the last meeting, I wish I had the answers.

We are all searching for the answers to happiness.

Addressind the issues of addiction are more complicated than a 1 hour Oprah show and so individual.

We are all in it together and all I know is that the support we get from each other and having each other to lean on is the best addiction for me!!
Love you all!
Rain

SPICYEYES99 · 10-24-2006, 05:04 PM

Rain you are my saving grace so many times you do not know

God has blessed us all by having you in our lives and the strength you lend us when we are weak or the support we need when we have fallen and forget the way back up..THANK YOU!

AlabamaChick · 10-24-2006, 09:34 PM

There is something that is bothering me that I wanna get off my chest. Maybe I will feel better about it then. I agree that I used food before surgery as comfort, in time of celebration, when I was angry, etc., but the thing that really screws with my head is WHY is it an addiction for us fat people, but when a skinny person eats just as much as we did or more on a regular basis and their body just processes it different so they don't gain weight, then they are not called addicts. Hmmmmmm....go figure. Take food away from ANYONE like it has been taken away from us, skinny or fat, and I think the reactions and emotions would be the same. Everyone would freak out and mourn the loss because let's face it, everyone loves to eat and even skinny people overeat. It's just not fair for us unfortunately heavy folks to have to say we are addicts just because our metabolism is not as good as the next persons.

eli_far77 · 10-24-2006, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlabamaChick

There is something that is bothering me that I wanna get off my chest. Maybe I will feel better about it then. I agree that I used food before surgery as comfort, in time of celebration, when I was angry, etc., but the thing that really screws with my head is WHY is it an addiction for us fat people, but when a skinny person eats just as much as we did or more on a regular basis and their body just processes it different so they don't gain weight, then they are not called addicts. Hmmmmmm....go figure. Take food away from ANYONE like it has been taken away from us, skinny or fat, and I think the reactions and emotions would be the same. Everyone would freak out and mourn the loss because let's face it, everyone loves to eat and even skinny people overeat. It's just not fair for us unfortunately heavy folks to have to say we are addicts just because our metabolism is not as good as the next persons.

That is soo true Trina. There are skinny people who can stuff their faces and it's ok, it's not seen as a bad thing but ooooh if a fat person does it they have a problem. Glad you pointed this out.