Breaking bad habits . . .

Hi everyone, THIS IS HARD! I am one week post op and have caught myself doing some bizarre things, LOL. I am such a creature of habit. On Sunday, I got up in the wee hours of the morning to let my dogs out . . . and is my customary procedure (ingrained for years and years) grabbed a 2-liter soda out of the fridge and poured myself some Coke. I was on serious auto-pilot. It wasn't until I was reaching for the ice cube tray that I realized what I was doing. I poured the soda away thank God . . . (soda is the one thing I think I'll miss most of all). Then yesterday afternoon, I had to take my kids through the drive-through at McDonald's for a quick meal while we waited for their dad to get out of his evening classes. (This is our Wednesday night ritual and we do it for time's sake as our day/evening is quite packed with errands and events.) I was NOT hungry before I went to McD's . . . but I will admit the smell of the fries was overwhelming as I was doling out the kids' Happy Meals to them. My mouth was actually WATERING just from that smell. After a couple of minutes I had convinced myself that it couldn't possibly hurt to eat ONE fry . . . then I had another, before I came to my senses. I am SO MAD AT MYSELF for this lack of willpower. I am going to have to find a subsitute meal activity for Wednesday evenings so I don't put myself in this tempting situation again until I am strong enough to handle it. I don't want to deprive my family of their usual activities and meals . . . but DAMN I just can't sit through that again! -BJ

Barbara, You are sooo right. The unconcious habits are the most challenging for me right now. When I feed my cat, I ususally make coffee. I've done it twice now even though I can't drink it. I know I'm not crazy, but muscle memory is there making all the moves for me. Also, I've been so used to a 'snack' before bedtime that even though I'm not hungry, I find myself looking in the fridge. Of course, the only thing in there is lots of water bottles and SF jello, but that's okay. This habit thing will be the most difficult thing to overcome. I think when I get back to work it will be a bit worse. There is constant unconsious eating... candy on desks, birthday cakes, etc. I'm going to have to steel myself against it. Thanks for letting me know it's 'not just me'. - Sharon

I can't do it. I sent my kids into Burger King to eat a quick meal and my son came out sporting a Whopper to go in his hands. I was ready to shoot him. I told him he had two choices, he could go back in and eat it or throw it away, but NO WAY was I torturing myself by smelling the aroma of a Whopper in my van. I have pretty much forbit this kind of stuff. I can't talk much, my Mom just came in. Good luck... My best advice....stay away from temptation... Marsha

You know, I think the hardest part of this for me will be preparing family meals. (Which is a hard part for *any* dieter, I guess.) Last night I caught myself getting ready to lick the spoon out of habit while I was cooking . . . I also caught myself getting ready to nibble crumbs. Wish there was a way to cook with hands tied behind my back, LOL. -BJ

I'm almost 5 weeks post op and I find myself eating somethings that are not pureed. I tell myself that as long as I chew them up well that everything will be alright. Then there are times when the family brings home dinner and the temptation is horrible. I can't say that I haven't tried the stuff, but I am hoping that all the exercise that I do will help me in the future. Habits are the hardest to break, but learning good habits is even harder. As long as I eat my six small meals I'm ok. Maybe you should try that too.

I'm an adult caregiver, and cooking for my mom everyday is super hard. I have been going through tons of paper towels to keep from licking my fingers and keeping dish water in the kitchen sink to keep from licking spoons. It is so hard to make a meal and have to go on sight and smell to see if it is right. My hardest habits are from stress eating. I used to be the queen of the "drive by" at McDonalds or Burger King...I could kill a huge burger and fries in less than five minutes...I wondered what would happen if I tried something, but I've had so much trouble keeping pureed foods down. The hospital is 35 miles from here, so I'm afraid of making a mistake and making a long embarrassing drive back to get help. Anyway, as long as we know and are working on the change now, I think we will be ok. None of us are alone. Theo RNY - open 6/23/04

I have also "caught" myself grabbing a soda out of the refrigerator. What really makes this ridiculous is that the first few days home I had terrible gas, so carbonation is not appealing to me in the least! Yet my body seems to think that I can't make it past the refrigerator without reaching inside! I have kids too, but I've decided that their eating habits will have to change also. Right now I'm a little to overwhelmed with keeping myself fed and hydrated, but once I get better at tha****ch out! If my parents had insisted that I eat healthier when I was younger, maybe I wouldn't have had this surgery. I figure the best bet I have to make this surgery "stick" is to change my lifestyle...and my family is a part of that. They'll feel better and have less life long weight problems if I insist they eat healthy (low sugar, no fast food) now. My partner has had over 40 years to eat junk food, and my kids will have many years to eat it after they leave my house (and when they're older, whenever they're out of my sight). A few years of healthy eating won't kill them. Of course that means I'm going to have to do a lot more cooking, meal planning and grocery shopping. YUCK. In our house there is no doubt that I am the one who determines what everyone else eats. We have fast food whenever I don't want to cook, and we eat junk because I've bought it rather than listen to the complaining if I refuse to buy it. This is the serious weak spot in my plan, but I feel more determined than ever! Pretty radical coming from someone existing on pureed soup and SF popcicles, eh? Time will tell... Tracy Lap RNY 6/29/04