I'm addicted to Portillo's!!

I'm pre-op and afraid I won't be able to do without Portillo's. Atleast they have good chicken. How do you post-ops drive past Portillo's and not automatically swerve into the drive thru?

The first couple of weeks you will have "head hunger" but in reality your not really hungry. Once you get past the head hunger stage, the next 6-7 months you realize your never hungry, but you HAVE to eat for the nutrition (protien first!!!!)... about the 7th month your appetite will start to come back and then some of the cravings.... but hopefully by the time this happens you have learned to eat right and realize that the surgery is a TOOL and that going back to bad habits has consequences. Just remember... the surgery is a tool, and never think that the weight is gone forever, because if you don't follow the rules YOU CAN put the weight back on (and probably have some icky periods of sickness and vomitting if you gorge on food or eat things your not suppose to). Best of luck to you. Peggy -94lbs

After surgery your tastes change so maybe that will help. For me, driving past Portillo's and Famous Dave's is the best because I get "high" off the aroma. I love it, but have no desires to stop. I haven't had any fast food since my surgery. I've heard people talk about eating at Taco Bell because things are so high in protein, but what they usually don't say is how much fat and how many carbs are in what they ate. That's enough for me to stay away. Even though we malabsorb fat after the surgery, many fast foods have so much fat that you're still going to absorb a bunch. I used to be a chocoholic. But now, the smell of real chocolate makes me nauseous. My cravings for all that once was good is now gone...at least for now. But I also look at it this way....The surgery is expensive and for some, quite painful. Why would I want to go through it if I'm not willing to make the changes necessary to make it work? I don't want to fail. I want my health back. I want to be able to walk without pain in my legs. Therefore, I stay away from fast food. It's just not worth it. I also now live by the motto I read in Susan Maria's book (but it's an old saying)...."Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." The surgery is a tool and like any tool, if you abuse it, you'll eventually break it.

I occasionally have a chicago style dog no harm there...but its a treat for me. I eat very normally, although I do steer clear of white breads, pasta, rice and potatoes. Other than that, I eat pretty much what everyone else eats..just much LESS of it