Congratulations on your recent surgery & good for you for making the decision to get healthy at such a young age!! I would have loved to have my 20's back again at my post wls weight though I tend to have the believe that everything happens for a reason ;) To everything there is a season and all that.

It's a whole new world for awhile but soon it will seem so normal like you have never lived any other way. You didn't really mention what you are struggling with but their are so many helpful people on DS who will be so willing to share their experiences... start a thread, ask Q's, you'll get oodles of replies.

Best wishes! Hope you will soon feel as I do about having weight loss surgery that it was the BEST GIFT I ever gave myself.

Michelle "Shelly"
My journey: www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com

Welcome Sammy, you will find this site a source of a lot of useful information and I am sure that will be of comfort and give you some reassurance. A lot of what you are feeling / experiencing will probably be common and everyone here wants to help you.

Please tell us some more about yourself, what is getting hard ? I know that the first few weeks for me were really tricky, the first 2 weeks were "wow I am losing loads of weight, this is so sool", it rapidly changed into "what the hell, I can't go on eating this liquidy slop forever"............ but that changes too.............. (honest).

For me (and many others here) it has been a real roller-coaster of emotions that started about 3-4 weeks out and to be honest I still have some big emotional wobbles now at getting on for 3 months out.

Please tell us some more, I am sure you are not alone in what you are experiencing.

Jimbo

thnxs sooo much 4 esponding 2 my post, eggface!! The main thing Im struggling w/ right now is, I can be in front of people eating, but a certain food will set me off(like cheetos-my main source of aggravation) I needed 2 have this done, as i have to start school at the beginning of the year or im off my moms insurance :( so please write back, as id love to talk 2 you.

It's hard to see people eating some of your post-op favorites. Cheetos weren't my thing but bread was big time and those damn Olive Garden bread stick commercials bugged the hell out of me for awhile. I feel ya pain.

I try & remind myself that I ate my share of those foods pre-op actually... I ate my share and 4 or 5 other people's share too ;) LOL which is one of the reasons I needed to have weight loss surgery. The price I pay for looking & feeling good now is that some things just can't be a part of my life.

It will get better. The longer away from the crap foods the less you want them... it's like an addict detoxing. It's bad for awhile but eventually if you stick with it one day you wake up and the craving is gone in fact you can't understand what you ever saw in it.

Feel free to ask people to eat them before they come around you. Friends and family should understand... say "listen I need you to support me and not bring trigger foods around me for awhile till I feel comfortable with my new lifestyle changes"

You will feel comfortable again... I walk right past the bakery now. No problem. Those foods were part of a life I don't want anymore because this life is sooooo much better. No bread stick or cheeto can compare.

~Michelle

Sammy, we all have our triggers. For me, smells are the hardest thing - especially BBQ. Also bread. I do what a lot of GBS patients do - avoidance. Avoid the smells, avoid the events.

Avoidance is a good strategy -- but I'd really like to point you towards Michelle's site (Eggface - http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.com )

Michelle has taken the opposite approach - she has embraced her love of cooking. Her web site is a cornucopia of GBS-friendly ideas. Eggface's site gives you an alternative to avoidance.

BTW, 18 is very young for GBS (Though I wish I hadn't waited until I was 52). I'm curious how you came to the decision to have GBS. Thanks.

Oh, baby, I feel your pain!!! Right this minute my darling daughter and husband are eating brisket in the other room and even thought they are being sweet not to eat in front of me, the smell is wafting into my room and making me drool. I'm new at this, too, so don't have many strategies, but what I did was get on DS and look what I found...... a fellow "loser" to commiserate with! So lets make a pact. Whenever I am discouraged or "head" hungry because I see or smell something scrumptious, I will say/pray "Strength and support to my sister Sammy." It will take my mind off what is tempting me and help me remember that I'm not in this alone. If you will do the same for me, maybe we just might make it!!!

Soozee

Hi Sammy, Just wanted to say hi.
This support group will help you and gude you through.... Its an awesome procedure for sure.
Im not sure anything sets me off with foods anymore, I struggle to eat my daily ammounts and all too often dont eat at all. its so very easy to miss meals...
Just bare with us, write all the posts you need to. we are with you ok...

Dont be scared your never alone.

Good luck all the best

Andy (BUZZ) in the UK

Hey Sammy..........Congrats to you for doing something for yourself at such a young age. You will love, love, love the new you.
I can't help with your triggers, because at 3 months post-op I still have no desire for food at all. Even my old favorites haven't bothered me at all.
I did have a couple of sugar free chocolate covered cherries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They tasted very good, but the old me would have had the box gone within a couple hours of opening it. I only ate 4, 2 each day.
I wish you would share a little more, like your starting weight, what made you do the surgery, health issues, what exactly is getting hard?
As far as support and help, you have come to the right place. This is a great bunch of loser's, and they all have great advice.

thank u again eggface. a big thing 4 me was smell, ad 1 day my mom was cooking up sausage and that pretty much killed me. i did tell her afterward that it bothered me and she hasnt cooked anything that sizzles since.
yeah, the longer i stay away from certain things im missing them less and less. at first i REALLY wanted a pepsi, but now, its not so bad. if only other things were that easy! : )

jerry1007- thank u, thats basically what ive been doing-avoid the smeels, avoid the headache : ) ill be sure 2 check out michelles(eggface) website. as for cooking like she is... ill be better w/ it later on. i have a lot of recipes from my culinary class last year in high school that i still want to try at home. lots of international stuff! as long as the people im giving it too are enjoying it.

soozee-thank u soooo much, honey. some things will and are going to be harder than others- 4 me, its thigns like hamburgers and the like, but my mom doesnt eat in front of me, so that helps. be sure to come online if youre ever in need of an e-hug or some support. well b sister losers together! : )

andyls322-thank u for responding. ive been saying that a lot cause so many people have written me and given me support. i love u all! *sniff**sniff* : ) its better 2 deal w/ others as long as ive had my little bit of whatever to eat b4 hand.

Welcome Sammy. It is difficult to have our "old" life friend (food) still everywhere we look and go. I always used to say at least for an alcoholic they don't HAVE to be around alcohol, we still have to be around food and we still have to eat....I truly believe at your age you will be SOOOO thankful for doing this now. You'll be one hot chick by summer!!! Hang in there.

kfletcher- ea, i am loving the new me. at leat 20 lbs or so lost so far. i dont have a scale, but i do weigh myself whenever i go 2 the doctors and i measure my arms and legs and stuff once a week. thats the way 2 go, since im losing more inches than pounds right now. The reason i didnt give too much info at 1st was because i was new 2 this, and wanted to just get a post out quick(sorry 'bou that!). but ill get ya that info now. my heaviest wieght was at least 350, give or take. that was a real problem at my school, since i was always uncomfortable in those desks w/ connected chairs. such a pain!!! ive wanted to do the surgery 4 a while, cause it was getting so bad that i couldnt even stay on my feet 4 more than a few min. at a time b4 my back would hurt. I pretty much looked into having it done since i was 16 or so. this time was my 4th attempt. 1st time my ins \urance wouldnt even start the preprocedure til i was 18. 2nd one was reccomended by a friend, but wouldnt take me cuase it wasnt in my moms insurance plan. 3rd one was a real pain in the u-know-where. to avoid trouble, i wont say any names, but i went to see this TWIT who, after seeing me 4 2 hrs, charging 100s of $s(nonrefundable and not chargable 2 the insurance, btw), says im too DEPRESSED 2 have it done, while previously i had seen a therapist 4 YEARS who said i was more than ready 2 have it done??? i dont think so!! at least this go-around went a lot smoother. : )

Sammy, so proud of you for not giving up! It's so easy these days to just give up and you fought the battle and now are going to win the war! Good for you, keep it up. We are all a very supportive lot here on ds and you just ask away and you'll get lots of answers! Glad you here sitting with us on the loser's bench, welcome aboard.