I must say that going to the company Christmas party was a treat.  I was a little apprehensive to go, like usual.  Found a cute sparkly top and my leather jacket and away we went.  It really feels good to have people come up to me and be all happy for me and my weight loss, but I get a little frustrated, too.  I had a few people ask me how I did it and they turned their nose up at the word 'surgery'  Like it was a dirty word.  Too bad!  It is the tool I chose to help me succeed.  (Yes, one woman was extremely skinny).  

I'm not ashamed of my decision to have surgery.  I am proud of it!  What I truly dislike is when someone asks and then rolls their eyes at me.  Don't ask me if you don't really want to know.  I am figuring these are the people that are not really friends.  Or even good acquaintances.  Probably have a lot of negative things to say regardless of the answer I give.  Pfft!  Whatever!  I didn't do this for them.  I did this for me.  For my hubby and my family.  I did this to be well!  

I met up with another woman, whom I hadn't seen in maybe ten years and she told me she had bariactric surgery the month before me!  We sat together for a bit comparing notes and how happy we feel now and all the wonderful little victories we have experienced.  We are both down more than 70 pounds!  How very cool to meet someone else that is excited!

I came across this today on a forum.  The poster said it was from a blog.  The information is exactly what I need to remember.  Here it is:

"HUNGER is the need to eat. APPETITE is the desire to eat. Many people assume the two are mutually exclusive but they are not. You can need to eat even when you have no desire to eat and you can have a desire to eat even when you don’t need to eat."

"Many simply don’t feel hunger post-op, but our bodies find ways to tell us that we need to eat. Learn those cues (light-headedness, shaky hands and fatigue are common ones). Then use what you know to determine how much and how often you need to eat. "

"Hunger is NOT an emergency. Yes you are hungry. No you will not die if you have to wait 20 minutes or so until your next meal. For those who have reactive hypoglycemia or diabetes, this may be different. But barring those circumstances, it truly is your head freaking out. Your body has a defense mechanism against starvation. It’s called fat. Those feelings you are feeling that are pushing you to have that “tide you over” snack? They come from somewhere. Something is driving them. Figure out what that is and you’ve done yourself a great service."

" Impulse eating is a result of allowing your appetite to dominate your food decisions. Like I said, appetite can exist outside of hunger. You can WANT something you don’t need at that moment. "

"Overcoming impulse eating is a matter of slowing down the situation. It takes a certain commitment to stopping yourself (sometimes when you are in “mid-reach”) to ask yourself some questions. Why am I reaching for this food? Am I hungry? What am I feeling? How will this food make me feel after I eat it? Is it going to make me sick? Is it going to make me depressed."


I needed to re-post this, so I can find it again.  Something to read over and over again.