I've not been on line or on this web site, I'm still out here working on my life. I am not losing weigh at this stage, with all that I have going on ( being homeless but not on the street) things are difficult. I am not gaining weigh and that is a good thing for now.... I have found a food addict meetings, I will be attending a meeting for my first time tonight. Yes, I had a WLS and I kept my weigh lost of 140 pounds off for eight years but then three years ago when life threw me a curve ball, I started snacking, so even with a surgery you can gain weigh if you eat for the wrong reasons. which is what I have always done. So I do love this web site, I learned a lot, I will continue to be a part of this site but I need more help, so I will be attending a food addict meeting.

Food Addicts Annon. are good people.
Be sure to tell them your WLS background and needs.
My experience had been that they were overly strict - which is good, but zero tollarence
can feel "self-righteous" if your not careful. None of us are perfect.
Make sure you let your "Sponsor" know that you will need 65-70 gms of protein.
It's important that YOUR WLS food needs are met within their food plan.
I was in FAA for two years, and OA for 10 years.
12 step is a great place to be to be loved and understood and learn about life on life's terms.
It's not always easy...
As they say "Keep coming back, it works IF you work it".

Keep coming back here too!
We love you and support you also!
We are your family and will help you to get the nourishment needed for us WLSers.

We only want success for you.

BIG HUGS!!
PM me along your journey if you'd like.

Loving you today!

Nancy

We miss you ! Post when you can. Let us know about your new meetings.
Good to hear from you!

Azuquita,

Welcome to the 'hood. I hear ya! I'm a food addict also! Frankly, I'm not sure it's possible to live in this society without aquiring some sort of eating disorder, we're so fixated on eating or the flip side of the coin, which is not eating. It's easy to become a rat in a treadmill.

The Aftercare program I attend says all addiction is fueled by toxic shame and guilt. Shame is the belief there is something wrong with you. Guilt means you feel as though you've violated one of your values. Interestingly, I can see where much of my life has been lived in servitude to these.

I will tell you what they tell us in Aftercare. Be good to yourself. You're not broken. You don't need to be fixed. Stop scaring yourself. Become curious about yourself and come to know the wonderful person you've
been all along. According to them, the chains of addiction start loosening as you become more and more aware of yourself. I'm still in the process of it, but it is having some surprisingly positive effects on me. I am feeling more at peace and somewhere in that my cues to eat are becoming fewer and fewer.

Good luck with your program. I hope it's a good one!

Good luck with your program. I am sure I am a food addict too. I love to eat and its my crutch! I am an emotional eater, I have always hid behind food to fix it and make it better. I pray this will be a good thing for you. That you can find peace with in yourself. That you will begin to see the beauty within you. value you for more than what you eat or dont eat! You are so much more than this addiction allows us to see ourselves for. I think we all have a need for wholeness,. things happen in life that scew our perception of ourselves. we take on somebody else's warped view or just create one of our own. I search for things, people, shopping, food.... to fix whats wrong even if nothing really is. As long as there is a gap in our being we will always search to fill it with something. I spent a lifetime filliing it with food and bc I lacked the love of my father I spent many years in the wrong relationships, with manipulative men who "thought i was pretty" and bc I didnt value me for who I am and not just a part of me I became even further broken and more addicted to food. For me personally it was a relationship with my heavenly father that has broken the chains of years of hurt and bondage to food and attention from men. He has filled a void in me that only He could. For the 1st time in my life (at 30) I climbed up in daddyGod's lap and felt the true love of a father. No judgement, no critical word or need to improve. Just the unconditional love of my creator. Well I feel better now.. thanks for letting me share.!

this is a beautiful share, thank you.......I had some of those issues that you are talking about but I did work on them and cleared them up... my life for the pass four years has been about my daughter, I did not know where she was for two years, then I found her, married with a child, homeless and hating me. all kinds of things have happen then last year I find out that she and her man are using drugs, and I found that out because my brand new(2 days old) granddaughter tested positive to drugs and they took her away from my duaghter. then they took my grand son who was 23 months old. I had to move 3500 miles and fight to get my grandbabies from foster care. I was raising them until Jan 1, 2008 when they went back to their parents and now the parents won't let me see them. I ended up, with out a job or a home....... so I look at the fact that I've only gain 50 pounds as a blessing, cause I could have gain a lot more........I know that I am more important then the f****** food, but right now I need people support, so going to meetings and getting my food in control is want I need.....

I was also in OA for a long time, I did have weigh lost while in OA but that was because I found me a HOW sponsor and did the food plan. I lost my first 50 that way and kept it off. But then other things happen and I wanted to be safe and had the WLS. I just need more support in controling my food....heck I don't know if I get 65-70 grams of protein now!!!! thank you soooooooooooo much for your support

Azuquita,
Glad you are posting again after your short time away from the 'hood. I hope things get better for you. We are here to listen and try to encourage you.

Thats alot to deal with! Drug addiction is a very ugly thing. It turns people into monsters, with no regard for self or family. Children included! My youngest child's father was/is a crack addict. I did not know until i was 7 mos pregnant. I knew he had an addiction, I believed his lie that it was gambling. I was niave and codependant. There were definant signs of addiction, things missing money always short. he could never hold a job, bc of any # of reasons he fed me. It was a very painful place to be in to know that he loved his drug more than me or his newborn child. He was 30 and this was his 1st child. All he had ever wanted according to him. I will say he did go to a rehab a few mos before the bby came and was clean for his birth. He relapsed a mos later the day after my birthday. We were on and off bc I thought I could save him or love him out of it but you cant. I do know tho that everything happens for a reason! It was actually this struggle with him that brought me back to God. It created a need in me for HIm. I couldnt bare it on my own, I was depressed, betrayed, angry, confused, abondoned and overwhelmed with the idea of having another child in a less than an ideal situation( I had my 1st child at barely 18) But thru it all it was God that gave me the strength to make it, He gave me peace in the midst of the storm. You see sometimes He calms the storm, and sometimes He calms His child in the storm! I knw that if it was not for the trial that I went thru with my X I would not have the relationship that I have now with my heavanly Father. I know that God will give you the strength to make it thru what ever mountian you are climbing. And He never puts more on us than we can bare. Another thing I have learned is if we never go thru anything than we can't learn to trust Him, I mean if you never have pain or sorrow than you cant appreciate joy and peace. You cant really know one without the other. Alot of it as well is perception, Instead of telling God how big your storm is, Tell the Storm how Big Your God Is!!! You will be in my prayers! and know that Its already alright! Everything works to the good of those that love the Lord!