My 8Wise™ Bariatric Journey
I always tell my clients the psychological challenges of the bariatric journey are by far the hardest ones to manage. I know this first hand because of my own bariatric experiences. What I also explain to my clients is why. Why is he psychological process so challenging and the answer is always in the ‘baggage’.
Our past, our histories, our experiences, our journey through life has a lot to do with our weight, our relationship with food and therefore our bariatric success. They are all kept inside our subconscious mind navigating us through life. The baggage we keep hold of adds to the new baggage we develop and that can become very heavy and reaching for food to cope with it, numb it or make it feel less heavy is very common.
The best way I can explain it is to explain my story and hopefully it will help you a little …
I had seen inside my first mental health hospital when I was 8 years old. As a visitor I didn’t find it scary, I didn’t find mental health or mental illness scary either. I just accepted it as part of life, as a part of my life. Fast forward ten years and as I visited another mental health hospital, the reality of mental health and mental illness really had sunk in. In that previous 10 years I had observed first-hand the ignorance of others towards those with mental health issues. I had seen the stigma first hand and experienced how that stigma impacts entire families, livelihoods, and social support systems. To me mental health had become ugly and something to fear. I didn’t fear those who experienced issues themselves, but I feared from ever developing mental health issues myself. My prime focus in life was to fit in and I knew potential problems with mental health would do the exact opposite. So, I got on with my life, or so I thought.
The funny thing about fear, the thing you fear is never too far away because you carry it with you, like a ghost in the corner of your eye. I lived like that for another 20 years after my last mental health hospital visit. Ignoring any signs of a mental health dip, digging in deeper to prove my ‘normality’ to the world so I would not suffer with the stigma I had seen my loved one’s experience.
So, I ignored the signs of extreme stress, burnout, binge eating disorder, anxiety and depression and let them completely consume me until they left me with agoraphobia and at rock bottom. But for me there was only one option, only one way to go, because when you hit the bottom there is always a bounce and you have to the advantage of that.
I struggled, like so many do to access to the necessary mental health support I needed due to extreme waiting lists, I knew I was deteriorating and so I knew I would have to do it for myself. I would have to take care of my own recovery, and this is how I stated to complete the research that led to me developing my 8Wise™ Programme – it was my own recovery plan and then my own prevention plan. It then became a recovery plan and prevention plan for my clients and then it evolved further into my books, my podcast, my programme, my training courses, my bariatric management plan and now part of the Centre for Bariatric Support membership portal too.
For those who don’t know what 8Wise™ is, it is a model based on four core dimensions of wellness each with two pillars of wellbeing, this creates your mental health and wellness spectrum. When life events enhance your stress levels those stress levels impact your wellness spectrum adding pressure to your pillars of wellbeing. By focussing on these eight key elements and implementing strategies to remove them or balance them we can create our own recovery and prevention strategies – helping us to manage mental health, wellbeing, and a challenging bariatric process.
As I always say if the national statistics tell us 1 in 4 people are suffering with a mental health issue, then they are also telling us that 3 in 4 people are at risk of developing one. Therefore, there needs to be a methodology to help with both sides of that statistic and 8Wise™ does exactly that. It is the blueprint for developing optimal mental health and wellbeing.
Or as a wise man once said told me, you are teaching people to swim. I gawped at him not really understanding what he meant, and then he explained. “The total volume of water on Earth is estimated at 1.386 billion km³ (333 million cubic miles). Humans are going to have to interact with water and will face dangers and risks when doing that. To reduce the dangers and the risks associated with so much water we could line the seashores and riverbanks with lifeguards who could support in saving those who face troubles with the water. Or we could teach everyone to swim giving them the skills to move through the water with less danger and less risks, learning how to manage the dangers and potentially saving themselves, always knowing that support is still available on the shoreline and riverbanks if they need it. Kim, he said, 8Wise is giving people the skills to swim and learn to take care of themselves when facing the difficult waters associated with psychological wellbeing, whilst still providing additional support if they are unable to overcome all those dangers and risks themselves – because after all even the strongest swimmer gets fatigued and tired at times and needs to reach out for support.”
I used 8Wise™ to teach myself to swim through the difficult waters of psychological wellbeing and with regards to my bariatric journey, it helped me reduce my binge eating and develop a healthier relationship with food. Using 8Wise™ I got myself back to shore.
There were times when I needed some additional support from others, but ultimately, I developed the skills that allow me to swim in the oceans, rivers and seas of life, the muddy waters that cause confusion, the swirling waters that cause overwhelm and the choppy waters that lead to exhaustion and almost defeat us. And now I teach others to swim too by learning to live the 8Wise Way for a healthier happier life. I am so happy I can offer the 8Wise™ Programme as part of the Centre for Bariatric Support membership platform. There are 12 modules and each module with all its supporting workbooks are uploaded to the portal monthly from April 1st, 2024.
So, if you have recognised that your mental health and wellbeing is causing you difficulties in your bariatric journey, then the 8 Wise™ Wellness Programme could be for you. You can access it through your membership on the Centre for Bariatric Support or you can become a member by clicking here: https://centreforbariatricsupport.com/user-memberships/patient-memberships/.
Through the programme you can develop the knowledge and skills needed to ‘Live the 8 Wise Way’ and develop optimal mental health and wellbeing for an improved quality of life and bariatric success.
If you would like more support with your bariatric journey, please feel free to get in touch with me directly and book in for a one to session: https://daltonwise.co.uk/personal-support-form/.
