Tackling Misconceptions...

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." 

Vince Lombardi

As I read comments on my Facebook and in basic conversation with people, I have realized that people  have no clue that the bariatric surgery is a TOOL, not an end all cure all.  From day one, my surgeon and dietitians, and all bariatric staff reinforced that this is merely a tool! However, the general public thinks that you have your stomach stapled and you lose weight and everything is great!  Nothing could be further from the truth!  If you have been following my blog, then you know that I have had ups and downs as a result of this surgery.  BUT... let me take you through a day in my life!

5:30 am.  I am up and off to either take a shower or start my morning routine.  I tend to drink anything I am going to before breakfast and while I take my vitamins and supplements.  My vitamin consists of a prescription pre-natal that I take three times a day.  I also take a B-complex and follow that with Biotin and Calcium with D.  If this is a Monday morning, I take a prescription "horse pill" D vitamin too.  If it is the 1st or the 15th of the month, then I must take a B-12 injection.  Mind you, this is how I start my day off.


As I get ready for work and get Chloe ready for daycare, I cook either egg whites with protein powder or I do a high protein shake.  I am to get almost 100 grams of protein in a day along with at least 64 ounces of water.  Now my stomach is the size of a walnut so I have to figure out how to get this by eating minimeals AND by waiting 30-45 between eating and drinking.  I do not come to the table with anything to drink, which is why I drink my coffee with my vitamins and supplements. Then I head to work.

Throughout the day, I take two more chewable calcium pills with D, and another prenatal vitamin while either consuming a high protein shake or protein bar.  Now also keep in mind that I am limited to 500 calories a day.  So generally the night before I am planning my meals for the next day.  All the while, I am logging my calories to make sure that if I go over, I have a way to burn those calories.  I also work anywhere from 9-12 hours a day at the university and I travel between two campuses as well as make employer and community visits.  Somehow I find time to eat and there have been some days that I have actually forgotten to eat.

As I drive home, I am still consuming my water.  I am also thinking about what I am going to feed Bill and Chloe for dinner, since they cannot eat the way that I do.  Once I arrive home, if I have not already put something into the CrockPot, I am start dinner.  After we eat dinner as a family, Bill and I either have homework or we have bills to set up through bill pay, laundry to do, showers, bedtime routine with Chloe, reading with Chloe and a plethora of other items to do.  In the midst of it all, I find time to either train for my 5K or do my coreconditioningtraining.com fitness routine.  This lasts for about 1/2 hour.  Then I take my last vitamins, muscle relaxer, and water and I work on whatever else didn't get completed that day.  Then it is time to put Chloe to bed and then I usually shower, if I have not and go to bed.  Only to start the same routine again tomorrow.  The weekends are the same, only every other weekend I have doctoral classes and then I generally am there all day.

The shining moment is my Friday that I get off each week, unless a professional development seminar, inservice, or meeting takes place.  Then I also must attend those with my little routine in place and try to find time for me in all of this.  All to often I start a book, only to finish a month later.  Yes, me the girl who could read up to five books in a day when I was younger!  I tell you all this because I think that people think that you get the GBS and you lose weight while eating whatever you want and without having to exercise.  That is probably the biggest misconception of all!  I have seen way too many people get this surgery and never exercise, only to gain the weight back!  I do NOT want to be a statistic or a failure.  I will say that it is irritating that people think that I have nothing to do with the weight loss at all.  I wish you could live in my head for a day when I look at the skin that is sagging and stretched out and I started putting myself down for even having lost the weight.  Or when I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I AM NO LONGER plus sized but I still feel huge.  Or when I decide that this week, I need to go see my counselor who works only with bariatric patients because of the psychological effects of having gone through such a transformation.  I liken it to waking up one day and living in someone else's body!

I wish that I could scream from the mountain tops that I HAD to do this or I was faced with death.  I wonder if that would change people's perception or not.  That is part of the reason why I am writing this blog.  So that people will stop judging people who chose to have bariatric

So let me say in conclusion.  I have done this by myself, with a tool called bariatric surgery.  Regardless, I know that people will still judge me or think less of me because of my decision.  And you know what?  I really don't care, because I did it for my family and for me.  I would have had to have lived with the knowledge that I had an opportunity to do something about it and I failed to do so. So if you are reading this and you feel inclined to judge me or others like me, please remember, that this is a heck of a lot harder than anyone ever can explain to you.  It is not only physically exhausting, but it is mentally, psychologically, and spiritually taxing.  If it wasn't for my husband, family, and close friends and the opportunity to educate people about this process, I think that I would probably have opted NOT to do this.  I will end by saying, how someone chooses to do something in life is entirely up to them and whether they succeed or fail is up to them as well.  I don't care what anyone says though, because I intend to succeed at this!!!! Now excuse me while I go run my two miles...