You won’t believe what happened to me today!
I was getting ready for work and saw myself naked in the full-length mirror and I didn’t hate what I saw! I actually gave myself an unrehearsed slightly passive self-compliment “You don’t look bad today.”
The reason this is monumental is because most of the time when I look in the mirror I do not like what I see and I give myself harsh criticism. I suppose after years of self-loathing that it is more comfortable to degrade my appearance than to appreciate it.
Many patients report hyper-judging their bodies after weight loss; it seems the thinner we get the more judgmental we are of our bodies. These days I’m critical of thighs that seem a bit jiggly and some very unattractive cottage cheese dimples on my rear end. Loathing these body parts keeps me from appreciating a thin waist, toned arms or those curious collarbones that were in hiding for so many years.
Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental image many victims of anorexia nervosa have that tells them they look fat, even when they are emaciated. Morbidly obese people and bariatric patients can suffer from body dysmorphia as well.
One reader, ThereseD, posted this message regarding body perception:
“Body Dysmorphia is REAL! Over five years after my open RNY gastric bypass and I got hit with it again just last night, when I was cleaning out my closet. My daughter commented that my new shirt, which I was so proudly placing at the front, was too big and needs to go in the “go” pile. I checked the label and sure enough, it said “Large”. Following my revision surgery of April 18, 2005, I still have my bandages and I’m probably wearing a size 4 Petite . . . and still I put on a smart and stylish new top in a size that’s just too big for me! Oops!”
When we were morbidly obese our emotional coping mechanisms kicked in and many of us were able to convince ourselves we really weren’t that big. It is emotionally kinder to avoid body criticism. The whole issue of obesity seems hopeless. In fact, many morbidly obese patients will say they see themselves normal sized. That is until rude moments remind them they are not normal sized: a skinny chair, a turnstile, a bathroom stall, a flight of stairs, a photograph. This false perception is a subconscious coping strategy to protect us from the brutal truth, the truth about how big morbidly obese really is.
After surgery, there is a tendency for the body dysmorphia to reverse. Before surgery we denied how big we were, after surgery we judge ourselves critically - like the anorexic - and fail to see an honest reflection. One woman, down from size 24 to size 10 wrote, “I feel fat daily. I never felt this at 248 pounds - I saw a thinner person in the mirror than I see now. I look at my size 10 jeans and they look like tents. I don’t feel as attractive as I did when I was heavy. I don’t understand it,” she continued, “but I think it has to do with learning to accept yourself fat so you didn’t see all the fat. Now I just have to learn to accept myself as thinner.”
It has been suggested that dressing in stylish clothes that fit is one way to beat the body blues. Another idea, as Therese suggested, is having a bystander who will be honest about our appearance. Therese wrote, “My daughter’s the number one person I go to, when I need to cure the myopic view of myself that I’ve developed.”
I wish I knew what magic happened this morning that I accepted and appreciated my own body. If I could package that magic I would personally mail it to every reader of LivingAfterWLS.com - we ALL deserve to love and appreciate ourselves. It’s time for the self-loathing to end and the self-appreciation to begin.
Kaye Bailey © 2005- All Rights Reserved
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com
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Tags: body dysmorphia, body issues, gastric bypass, obesity, self loathing, self loving, weight loss surgerybody dysmorphia, body issues, gastric bypass, obesity, self loathing, self loving, weight loss surgeryShare This
When all other measures fail to control morbid obesity, weight loss surgery is a source of hope to the overweight. American doctors perform weight loss surgery over 140,000 times a year.
The oldest form of weight loss surgery is the most familiar, stomach stapling. In this 30-year-old procedure, most of the stomach is sliced and then stapled shut.
After the procedure, only a small pouch remains. Shrinking the stomach so it can only hold half a cup of food makes it easier to feel full.
In fact, most people who have weight loss surgery feel full after eating the amount of food that you could put on a coffee saucer. It becomes impossible to eat more than two quarter-cup servings (about 50 grams altogether) of anything at a single meal. Weight loss follows calorie restriction.
The newer and now more common form of weight loss surgery, the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, also makes the stomach surgically smaller. In this procedure, however, the stomach is not dissected and stapled shut.
In this newer form of weight loss surgery, the stomach is cut and sutured, or sewn, and the intestines are moved so that the end of the stomach is connected farther down the intestine.
This procedure leaves a smaller stomach that fills more quickly. It also leaves a shorter length of intestine to absorb fats (and other nutrients) from the smaller amounts of food that are eaten.
With this form of weight loss surgery, you don’t just eat less. Your intestines absorb less of the food you do eat. Roux-en-Y bariatric surgery produces quicker and more significant weight loss than just stapling or banding the stomach.
There’s also a third approach to weight loss surgery, the lap band.
The benefit of the lap band is that the weight loss surgery to install it can be laparoscopic, that is, done through an incision as little as one inch (25 mm) wide.
Lap band surgery can even be an outpatient procedure, with the patient going home the same day. After lap band surgery, many patients go back to work in three to four days and resume all normal activities (except eating) within a week. The other gastric bypass procedures require a minimum of four days in the hospital and six to eight weeks before resuming an active lifestyle.
Another advantage of lap band surgery is a much lower risk of infection. Lap band surgery goes around the stomach, not into the stomach. The bacteria in the stomach do not leak into other parts of the body, and the risk of infection is greatly reduced.
Lap band surgery is much less painful than the other procedures. And since pain in the muscles is so much less, patients are very unlikely to develop pneumonia or other breathing problems.
The disadvantage of lap band bariatric surgery is that not everyone can have it. The FDA at one time required that recipients of lap band bariatric procedures be at least 18 and no more than 50 years of age. It’s also utterly essential not to be allergic to the material used to make the band.
And if you overeat after you have a lap band in place, the effect is a little like pulling a napkin through a napkin ring. Too much food can stretch the band so that it damages the stomach. Lap band surgery is easier, but requires more discipline.
There is no form of weight loss surgery that is a complete cure for obesity all by itself. Lifetime attention to diet and exercise are still necessary. But successful weight loss surgery can give you the boost you need to regain control of your life and become truly, lastingly, healthily thin.
Tags: bariatric, bariatric surgery, fat surgery, weight loss surgerybariatric, bariatric surgery, fat surgery, weight loss surgeryShare This
Gastric bypass patients often find themselves regaining weight soon after reaching goal weight. The reason? They return to the poor dietary behaviors of snacking and grazing thus eating around the gastric bypass system. Patients who succeed at weight maintenance understand the difference between snacking and grazing. They learn to chose snacks wisely and eat moderately.
Snacking vs. Grazing:
A snack is food eaten between meals, a light or hurried meal.
Grazing is daylong feeding, feasting, consumption.
A snack can be planned, executed and completed with mindfulness to nutrition and caloric need.
Grazing is constant eating or nibbling without end, resulting in the stomach pouch never feeling satiated.
A well-chosen snack will boost energy, satiate appetite and fuel the body.
Grazing is most often void of nutritional, emotional or satiating value. Grazing is mindless.
A well-chosen snack will not defeat the gastric bypass system.
Grazing will defeat the gastric bypass by allowing too many empty calories to be consumed and absorbed.
The wise snack list includes items that are high in protein, low in simple carbohydrates (sugars) and are fairly basic or unprocessed. You will also notice foods rich in calcium, vitamins and minerals to feed the body well. In addition most of these foods will satiate the pouch and it is unlikely one will engage in prolonged snacking on any of these items. In other words, make a good choice, enjoy it and move on with your life. No more grazing.
You will notice sugar-free Jell-O is on the wise food list, but sugar free items are on the poor choice list. Sugar free Jell-O is a good source of protein (gelatin)and when combined with other ingredients such as yogurt or cottage cheese can be a nutritional snack unlike many sugar-free sweets that are nutritionally void. The sugar-free sweets to avoid are candy, puddings and baked items as they lack nutritional value. They waste pouch space and simply add calories to the diet.
Enjoy Wise Snack Choices:
Protein bars/shakes
Lean deli meat (turkey, chicken)
Shimp, tuna or seafood flakes
Low fat cottage cheese or mozzarella cheese
Melons, apple slices, berries or any tolerated fruit
Jerky
Sugar-free Jell-O
Hard-cooked eggs
Nonfat, unsweetened yogurt
Peanut butter with apples.
Kaye Bailey © 2005 - All Rights Reserved
An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website http://www.livingafterwls.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community.
The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, http://livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes, general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled “You Have Arrived” available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog.
Tags: gastric bypass, morbid obesity, regain weight, snacking, stretch stomach, weight loss surgery, wlsgastric bypass, morbid obesity, regain weight, snacking, stretch stomach, weight loss surgery, wlsShare This