After another week of struggling to keep myself away from chocolate, I decided to take my bariatric surgeon's advice and see a therapist who specializes in eating disorders.
I honestly felt a little stupid that I couldn't seem to work this issue out on my own, but as a friend bluntly reminded me, "The counselor who treats herself has a fool for a client."
Anyway, I've been to two therapy appointments. The therapist I'm working with is very intuitive and able to read (correctly) into what I'm not saying, but she's also very sensible and down-to-earth when it comes to problem-solving. That's a perfect combination for me.
My last few blog posts have talked about some of the more difficult aspects of going through weight loss surgery, especially if you're an emotional eater like I am.
This week, however, I wanted to share some good news. My favorite time of year - the fall and the winter holidays - is fast approaching. I've always loved the cheap but pretty Halloween shirts that stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart offer during the holiday season. For the last several years, however, I've been to heavy to fit into one of them.
On Tuesday, I ran some errands that included a trip to Wal-Mart. As I was finishing up my shopping, a rack of Halloween t-shirts caught my eye, and I wandered over to admire them.
I worked a long day yesterday, completely exhausted myself, and ended up taking today off from work to recoup. When I go back to full duty next week, I am going to have to learn to pace myself so that I don't keep hitting the wall. Unfortunately, moderation does not seem to be a word in my vocabulary. This business of learning to eat small amounts very, very slowly is a real challenge, since before surgery, my modus operandi was to wolf down a huge meal in front of the television and then get to work on my writing projects. But I guess the good news is, I am learning. It takes time to change any habit.
