Bariatric surgery can be an effective way to lose weight, particularly if other options haven’t enabled you to achieve your goals. However, any type of weight loss has an impact on your mental health. Fortunately, many clinicians ensure their patients have access to emotional support and counseling prior to and following bariatric surgery. Of course, […]
A familiar face and a kind word can sometimes make all the difference. Family support after bariatric surgery is not only a wise choice for the patient, but the family itself might feel hurt if support is not asked for. After all, the purpose of family is to nourish the best interest of all who […]
The facts have been presented so many times that you might wonder if anyone is listening. Our children are at risk. They are overweight and becoming obese at an alarming rate, and the forecast for the future is not good. The positive news is that there are now schools fighting childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has […]
My experience with my bariatric surgeon’s support group is that it was useful in preparing me pre-surgery and for a short-term post-op in managing my new anatomy. However, it did little to educate me on how to maintain permanent weight loss. My surgeon told me, “I do the surgery. The rest is up to you.” So, […]
Weight loss inspirational quotes help us to mentally stay on our journeys. Why this is important is health isn’t just about weight loss, eating right and exercising. It is also about taking care of yourself emotionally and mentally. Wisdom, an attitude adjustment, is needed when we strive to transform our physical bodies. Our “being” consists of […]
I’ve led a well-lived life after weight-loss surgery in 2003. Prior to that, when I was morbidly obese, I led a life half-lived. One might say I am making up for lost time. Years ago I came to the realization that my life is the dash between the date I was born and the date I die. […]
Love is the deepest and most fulfilling connection to the world. Yet it is sadly ironic that most of us don’t know what love is. This is the story of how I found true love after weight loss. Storybook Love I grew up with a romanticized notion of love: One day my prince would come […]
Thoughts on self #forgiveness:
#MyBariatricLife #bariatrics #bariatric #inspiration
I feel the bad things we do, or have done, or the bad decisions we have taken, could not have been done differently by the person we were. Nobody takes a bad decision knowing the consequences will be very hard to live with. We do what we do mostly in self-defense and based on our own self-image. A thief is really saying to himself 'I steal because I am a thief'. An abuser is saying to himself 'I abuse because I am an abuser'. People with self-respect and self-love could not imagine stealing or abusing. It would be unimaginable to them. When we don't love ourselves, if we think of ourselves as a thief or an abuser, that is exactly how we will behave. Sadly, that cycle always starts when people are treated badly, or are shown a bad example, when they are very young. Through guilt we force ourselves to live and relive our past. Our past remains our present, and becomes our future. Self forgiveness is the only way of renewing our hearts and minds, giving us the self-respect that makes the idea of behaving badly unimaginable to us. And self- forgiveness is something that only we can give to ourselves. But once we have, we can respect and love the people around us, because our self-image of who we are, is changed. Once we respect ourselves, we are naturally respectful to the people around us. So the more we forgive ourselves, the better we become as people. How simple is that :-) So do something wonderful today and every day. Forgive yourself and become the wonderful person you are, that is, when you and only you realize it.
