You Didn't Have Surgery to Eat Like a Barbie Doll

I just read a great post in our Facebook Support group that made me sad.

Someone who was years out from surgery was concerned that they woke up hungry and ate 2 eggs.

This isn't something we worry about naturally. This stems from photos of plates of nearly untouched food with the caption "This will be 3 meals for me!"

Or that stupid meme with dollhouse food and the caption "Bariatric Dinner!" Not funny.

I've been in the Weight Loss Surgery community for many now. So here's the raw deal no one wants to talk about until it happens to them:

THINGS WILL CHANGE

In your early days, you will be full on a vitamin. When you are still counting time from surgery in weeks you won't be able to fathom eating an entire popsicle let alone two eggs. That is the point. We are supposed to eat less food after surgery. Immediately after surgery, we are given a short window we lovingly call The Honeymoon Phase. This time frame is paired with two important factors that we are supposed to use to our advantage.

1. Tender brand new stomach. It's small and unforgiving. We are forced to eat a lot less to maximize the Honeymoon phase and lose a ton of weight very quickly.
2. Metabolic change. The surgery implements a drastic change to the very way our body processes food. You will never be able to lose weight as fast you will in the rest year after surgery. I am not saying itís easy but wait until you are at least 4 years out before you claim that I "forget" where I came from and that it's hard or that 'the struggle is real'.

This is why we are strict in our Support Groups on Facebook and here on our website. It will backfire on you big time if you spend your first year dabbling with moderation and eating teeny portions of the food you ate as a Pre-Op.

Things will change naturally the further you get from your surgery date. We are strict and have no shame in telling you what NOT to do because we learned the hard way and paid for it with Regains.

However a few of us have figured out how to get to goal and stay there for years without a Regain.

Why? Regain is not mandatory. It's not part of the journey. It's a choice we make. So those who haven't regained actually managed to listen and didnít clap back when someone said "Hey, consider the Whipped Cream is not an everyday food. Keep it for special occasions. Not for Tuesday Night Jello or on your Protein Shake."

Things change. By the end of your first year, you may be able to eat more than a 2 ounce cup of baby yogurt and not feel stuffed like a turkey. Not because you stretched your pouch, or because you ate through the surgery. But because Mother Nature catches on to what we did and the body adapts.

Please spend that first year as a Post-Op retraining your mindset about veggies with all meals. Stop complaining and drink your water and hit the gym for some exercise a few times a week. And for the love of God STOP thinking about snacking at the movies and start thinking about eating portions of healthy food so that WHEN, not IF you can eat more you can do it guilt-free and without concern.

There's NOTHING wrong with a breakfast of 2 eggs.

There's NOTHING wrong with finishing your plate of ANY food, if you put smart choices on it to start with.

Lower carb. Lower Fat. Higher Protein. FOR LIFE.

There's EVERYTHING wrong with pretending you have a tiny pouch and eating like a Barbie Doll yet spend your night's binge eating on bags of popcorn and white-knuckling "Fatbrain" cravings.

We see those posts too and know it's stemming from NOT eating right during the day.

~~ Embracing Bariatric Life with a Smile, Suzi Shaw!