Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
I have been told and read that you should reward yourself for the hard work and victories you make along the way on this journey. Some non food rewards are obvious but let's face it anything that requires cash outlays can become expensive and diddifult for most. So I would love to hear suggestions for non food cheap or no cost rewards any ideas?
My focus was never on losing weight but on shedding the weight. I changed my whole language and thinking and celebrated every tenth of a pound that I shed and no longer had to carry around. For me losing weight implied the need to find weight. I just wanted to shed the weight. I had a dream/vision a couple years before surgery, when I was doing some spiritual work, of my skinny self standing in a puddle of the old fat suit. The thought was that I was shedding the fat suit like I was shedding a coat. Hence my bio picture. Having this vision gave me focus throughout my shedding process. After I had shed the weight, I went back to the vision and did some more work on stepping out and away from the old fat suit at my feet. Celebrate the shedding of every tenth of a pound along your journey!
I also "pampered" myself by making a big deal out of what I did eat (e.g. using my grandmother's tea cups for my herbal tea, eating the sugar-free jello out of martini glasses, and that kind of thing).
Perhaps it's just semantics, but I think I struggle with the term, "rewards" for a couple reasons. First, I automatically connect it to its opposite - punishment (which I wasn't going to do to myself during this journey!). I also associated it with all my failed attempts to lose weight over the decades. This time, I wanted to focus on the things I could control - which was "doin' the deal" every day (doin' the deal = getting 70+ grams of protein a day, eating mindfully, taking my vitamins, drinking lots of water, staying away from white food and most carbs, getting at least 8 hours of sleep, and moving as much as possible). The natural reward for doin' the deal was that the scale number would change and I would shrink. But, I couldn't control what my scale said on any given day, so rewarding myself for it felt contrived. I just trusted that as I did my part, the scale numbers would eventually follow. Finally, I found shedding the excess weight to be its own, intrinsic reward for me (because I felt and looked better, and I could do things I couldn't do while super-morbidly obese). However, I did "celebrate" significant milestones. For example: I came here to DS to "celebrate" when I finally hit wonderland and when I'd lost half my excess weight.
With all that said, if you decide rewards work for you, here are a couple websites with some fun ideas:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=1990
http://blog.anytimefitness.com/395419-41-awesome-non-food-rewards-for-weight-loss/
Personally, like the idea of a getting a bracelet and adding a charm for every X number of lbs shed. It could serve as a cool historical reminder of the journey towards health.
Something tells me you're totally gonna rock this thing!
JJ
JJ makes a good point (as always) on rewards/punishment. My "rewards" of mani/pedis and clothes were not really associated with any specific numbers or goals. The reward of being able to fly without a seatbelt extender was awesome! The reward of the ease of personal hygiene was awesome! Rewards of clothes bagging on me and clothes fitting. Rewards of being able to fit into a regular sized toilet stall. Rewards of being able to sit in a booth instead of a table at a restaurant. Rewards of picking up two 25# bags of birdseed and realizing that I used to carry almost 7 of those suckers around! Rewards of realizing I no longer had to literally carry myself around 24/7. Rewards of learning and knowing that I am good enough. Rewards of ...
JJ