Post-Op Week One: The Week In Review

As I lazed around this morning, taking my time to wake up and get dressed, it occurred to me, wow, I've actually had gastric bypass surgery!  You would think that it would have sunk in by now but I'd been on a liquid diet for two weeks prior to surgery and clear liquids all this week so it really has felt just like an extension of that liquid diet, even though I feel full so much faster.  I've been eating the same individual Jell-O cup for 3 days and it's not even halfway gone!  I'm still dealing with pain but it's getting better and I'm able to go for long walks without feeling weak so are you sure I had surgery?

I think what finally made it real to me is that tomorrow I get to start Phase 2 of my diet: the Pureed Phase.  After a nice hour long walk with my mom and my dog in the park today, we went to the grocery store to shop for the week and I was never so excited to shop for food!!  I can remember being excited about going to buy my favorite junk foods before in the height of some sick binge, but this was different.  I was happy that I get to eat again, but I also brought my resource book from the nutritionist with me because I so want to get off to a good start and follow my new diet to the letter.  At other times when I've started some new diet I've gotten excited about going to the store to buy my healthy foods, but today the real difference was that not only is this a new diet for me, but it's one where I know that I will definitely lose weight and have a really great opportunity to never gain it back again.  There's no guarantee, but I now have the best chance to lose weight and maintain that loss than I've ever had before.  (btw, I couldn't believe how small the total bill was and I look forward to cutting my grocery budget by leaps and bounds!!)

I made a preemptive call to the therapist that I have here and scheduled an appointment because I know that I will always have to work on my food issues.  I've spent the last several months addressing why I eat and how I've gained my weight, but I know that this new change in lifestyle is sure to bring up additional issues that I never thought of.  I cannot ever allow myself to forget the mantra that I've been taught, "...they operate on your stomach, not your head."  Just like anyone else who starts this process, I not only want to meet a goal weight but I want to surpass it.  I once heard that it takes 40 consecutive days of performing a behavior in order for it to become a habit.  I started changing my eating behaviors months ago and healthier eating is now more than a habit, it's a lifestyle.  One thing I've learned from successful post-ops is this, you simply cannot get through this journey successfully if you don't learn to settle the voice inside that cries for food when the heart is broken and the stomach is already satisfied.