Realistic Expectations for Weight Loss Surgery

If you undergo weight loss surgery, you need to set realistic expectations. When I first started considering gastric sleeve weight loss surgery in order to help treat my binge eating disorder, I didn't have realistic expectations for the weight loss surgery. My goals and my thinking had to be adjusted to suit reality.

Why I Didn't Have Realistic Expectations for Weight Loss Surgery

A reason why I didn't have realistic expectations for my weight loss surgery was not due, in any part, to a lack of expertise when it came to my surgeon or eating disorder therapist. I had unrealistic expectations about my body and hearing I was going to go through this change just made me fall back into ideas I had when I was younger about what my body could look like.

Growing up overweight, I had always had a fantasy that I would be not just slim, but small enough to walk a fashion runway. It had became so ingrained in my psyche that this specific body type was acceptable and any problem I had would magically dissolve once I reached this level of thinness, that I sometimes couldn't think of anything other than being mythically thin.

I Realized I Needed Realistic Expectations for Weight Loss Surgery

The first reason why I had to develop realistic expectations for my weight loss surgery was because my surgeon quickly burst my bubble about my goal weight and dress size. He pointed out that my body is not built like a runway models and no matter how thin I got, I would never look like that. At first, I was disappointed that I would never be unarguably thin.

But then I realized what a losing battle I was still trying to fight after years of toxic thinking and dangerous starvation diets. The thinness I wanted was truly mythical because it wasn't thinness that I was aspiring to. I wanted respect. I wanted to be seen. I wanted my body to be loved instead of criticized.

How I Developed Realistic Expectations for Weight Loss Surgery

It occurred to me shortly after I realized I needed to get realistic expectations for weight loss surgery; the emotions and reactions I wanted from the surgery were ones I needed to have for myself. I needed to respect myself. I needed to see myself. I needed to love my body instead of criticizing it. Most of all, I needed to accept my body for what it was.

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