I am 19 months out from surgery and I still have protein shakes every single day. It is a good habit to keep for sure.
Chill. We wouldn't need surgery if we had willpower. Human beings were not designed to have to have willpower with food. We were designed to pig out when food was available, in order to get through leaner times between hunting. Some of us haven't adjusted to the modern world. I like to think we are the pinnacle of evolution - able to eat a lot and put weight on easily so we'd survive in times of scarce food availability. The problem isn't us - it's incompatibility with an environment where high calorie food is constantly available.
I just think of the surgery as having updated my gastrointestinal system to reflect my environment. I have a shedload more willpower now to make good food choices, combined with all the benefits of physical restriction and reduced hunger due to the surgery.
Let's all stop hating ourselves for getting out of control - we didn't intend it to happen, we didn't choose to be in a world which made it very difficult to stay healthy. But we HAVE made the good choice to have surgery to regain our health, and take responsibility for making the behavioural changes needed to make it work in the long term. I think having surgery was amongst the 5 bravest things I've ever done.
PS. I still have RTD protein drinks at work most days to solve the 'what will I have for lunch' dilemma.
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