"The Emotional First-Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery" by Cynthia L. Alexander, PsyD

This book has an extremely straightforward tone without a lot of touchy-feely. ("You only have one chance for success.") Despite that, I feel it would be invaluable to anyone considering bariatric surgery. The book is meant to be informational for pre-surgery folks and serve as a resource after the surgery as well. It contains a lot of good information, including a list of websites and articles from psychological and medical journals. It walks the reader through the entire before and after process, including sections on deciding whether or not bariatric surgery is right for you, psychological preparation for surgery, self-talk, learning to cope with stress without using food, how to begin a consistent exercise program, behavior modification, weight management, relapse prevention, how relationships may change after surgery, depression after surgery, and unresolved issues that may impede the achievement of success with this surgery. The book is small, a perfect size to keep in a purse or briefcase. I have no doubt I will be carrying my copy around with me for some time. One of the things I appreciate is its reality-check statement of facts: diet and exercise are key, you can't just make the lifestyle change halfway and expect to do well, and unresolved issues need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.