Permanent weight loss is not a guarantee of bariatric surgery. You must do the work to not slip back into ingrained behaviors, habits, and ways of relating to food, as well as physical inactivity. In this 3-part interview with Lori Rosenthal, a bariatric dietician, we examine some of the healthy behaviors necessary and pitfalls to […]
A reader emailed My Bariatric Life and asked bariatric dietician Elizabeth Anderson about nutritional needs for persons more than 12-months post-op. Learn how to get your question answered. Dear Elizabeth, I’m almost a decade out from having weight loss surgery. Are my nutritional needs the same now as early post-op? What should I be eating, drinking and taking […]
A reader emailed My Bariatric Life and asked bariatric dietician Elizabeth Anderson for her perspective on bariatric vitamins. Learn how to get your question answered. Dear Elizabeth, It’s been 10 years since I had my gastric bypass surgery. I’m confused as to which bariatric vitamins I should be taking and which ones are best? I can’t swallow large tablets so […]
Self Acceptance -- I found this on my computer. It was something that I read or listened to a few years ago when I was going through inner transformation. I think it will help some people as it helped me so I am sharing it. Unfortunately, I don't know who the author is. #MyBariatricLife #bariatrics #bariatric #inspiration
Am I trying to be someone I am not? Am I people pleasing or approval seeking in order to find my own value, and if so, is this working for me? Many times we do things to be liked or accepted. Question what are the intentions behind and stories in you mind causing you to act the way you are.
What does it feel like to be me when I am not trying to improve myself or pretend I am someone that I am not? Are you putting on a mask (more outgoing, more courageous, etc)? Or are you holding back who you really are out of fear?
What if I allowed myself to be completely me — how would things change? How would you act? What would you think about yourself? What if you let go of your fears and were completely you?
What do I need to believe in order to step into this place of peace and acceptance with myself? I am valuable. I am unique. I am special. I am worth something. I have gifts and talents and abilities that others don’t have. I have something to give to the world.
Is there anything stopping me from believing this? Times that I failed in the past… recognize the stories that come out when you think back to these “failures” when I proved to myself I was not good enough. The most important thing here is to recognize the stories that come out and write about them. And recognize that they are just stories. These are the stories that are holding me back every day. I can detach from the stories, I can detach from the emotion.
Step into the person I allowed myself to be. Let go of trying to be someone you’re not. Let go of your judgements and self doubts. I’d be more vulnerable, more giving, more… the best way to change is to act as if. Stop the stories that are preventing me from being that person, and act as if.
Acceptance of where you are in your situation, in life. Far too often we blame others. We have regrets. We have resentment. We have all these stores around why we are where we are. And we think these are partly someone else’s fault. So to change, we need to take 100% responsibility for where we are right now. That involves letting go of the past and taking 100% responsibility for your actions OR how you responded to a situation that someone did to you so that you can claim back your personal power. Choose a different response.
Next, accept what is — what is currently happening in your life. Our suffering is because we are not accepting. Anything that happens to you is neutral. It’s the meaning we give the situation that causes all of our negative emotions. We get caught up in the story to blame everyone else for the situation instead of accepting our own accountability.
And finally, acceptance of what happened. Far too often we hold onto hurt and pain and blame and resentment and unforgiveness. You aren’t getting anywhere - you aren’t moving forward. It keeps you in a helpless place. You are not growing. It is time to let go of the past. While you are holding onto the past and justify it through unforgiveness it keeps you stuck in fear and stuck in life and unable to move forward and be the person you were meant to be. It is your own self hate that is keeping you stuck and from moving into the place you were meant to be. And from this place of self acceptance and forgiveness and what has happened enables you to do a clean sweep of your past, and present, and your self — and you can make massive changes in who you are as a person to live more authentically and create a future that is not based on who you think you are or your past.
