This is not the holiday season I am used to

nschneider
on 12/18/08 4:22 am, edited 12/18/08 4:29 am

OMG so I made it thru thanksgiving just fine, but I forgot about all of the sugar and sweets at Christmas and they are my down fall, andyes I have made the mistake of eating a couple of christmas cookies like 3 not bad in comparison to other years and I did not get sick however, I really wanted toget sik so that i wouldnt do it again. I am also getting to a point where I can eat more and not feel stuffed so I am now stopping the eating thing when I get to a point tha I figure is enough more than stopping when I feel full. But damn I want a chocolcate chip cookie. LOL And to top it all off my compnay is having the annual Holiday luncheon at Old Country Buffet tomorrow. That aught to be fun for me HUH?

CHRISTINE W.
on 12/18/08 12:35 pm

I know where you are coming from w/ the sweets. Before surgery, I was so affraid that I would dump on sugar, now I am affraid that I wont dump!!

I do find though that I am still scared enough to only have one cookie or just a bite. I made sugar cookies tonight w/ half spenda and ate 2- no problems :( . I stopped there though.

Lucklily, I am finding that if I endulge just for a taste (one cookie or one bite) that I am satisfied.

I realize that I must have been eating up all the goodies in the past years, b/c now that I can't eat them, they are lasting longer lol

As for your company party- try to stick to your allowed diet as much as you can. I went a wedding 3 weeks post op and had to make my husband take my food away so I wouldn't pick...or I just put a napkin over it or pour salt on it until its inedible. It sure beats getting sick.

Although it's not as bad as I thought it would be, it's definitely NOT the same.

drwashock
on 12/18/08 5:55 pm - Brunswick, NY

RNY on 04/21/08

Holidays are hard but you'll be fine if you plan ahead. Things like cookies are not only bad choices but they mush up into nothingness and slide right on through so you can eat and eat and eat them and not feel full.
Before you go think about the foods you need to eat, the ones that are part of your plan. OCB almost always has a broiled fish, a turkey breast and a roast at the carving station. Go there and take a piece of dense protein (use a salad plate) next find a nice veggie and if you can finish those maybe a bite of a starch or a fruit. I very rarely get past the protein. Remember to take small bites, chew them and chew some more. In between bites put your fork down and enjoy the company and companionship of your fellow guests. You'll have a great time and that full feeling will be there from the dense protein making it much easier to pass on the bad stuff.
Go in with a plan and enjoy your holiday party.

HW/SW/CW/GW 270/239/139/150

jamiecatlady5
on 12/20/08 6:53 am - UPSTATE, NY

RNY on 10/09/02

Thanks for introducing this topic!

Over the past 6 years I have worked at redefining the meaning of the Holiday's for myself. I knew that if I continued to focus on the food it would continue to be a challenge.....

Holidays now are about friends, family, relationships, time, giving, gratefulness, joy and love. Food is a small part that no longer takes cetner stage. This gradual reframe has been a process.

Indeed the honeymoon period of WLS ends and the expected ability to eat a greater variety and quantity of food happens even if we wi**** would not....

Food as holidays can be emotionally laden/charged evetns/things. The work to be done for me was to learn how to live my live in the present, authenitically and w/o numbing my emotions. Coping and learning to embrace them. I certainly am not perfect but I am certainly farther ahead than 6 yrs ago....

I often reflect on the words of Terry Simpson WLS surgeon that the goal of wls IS NOT TO eat to fullness it is to stop eating before we are full.

Buffetts lack their appeal, I do not want to be challenged by feeling jipped as I can not eat my fill or price but now I rarely go probably have gone 3x in 6 yrs, it is possible there are choices there that are ok for me just not appealing, go with a plan always helped me even pre wls!
As for cookies I guess there are cravings and there are emotional cravings..determining what i AM TRULY HUNGRY FOR HAS HELPED USUALLY FOOD NEVER SATISFIES THE TRUE EMOTIONAL CRAVINGS...BUT IT IS A LEARNING JOURNEY ENJOY!

Take Care,

Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

jamiecatlady5
on 12/21/08 2:32 am - UPSTATE, NY

RNY on 10/09/02

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy your time with your family. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

It is on this holiday that we choose to reflect upon, and be thankful for the things that we have. Many of us have lived life in abundance, and as such have either had, or will soon have, weight loss surgery. For many the holiday season represented another struggle in the weight loss battle. This season I would ask that you put those thoughts aside, and instead concentrate on the holiday itself.

On a personal note, I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my parents and brothers, knowing that this could very well be the last time we all spend it together, but thankful for the time that we have had, and the moments we will have. Since learning my brother has metastatic lung cancer, the blessings of the holidays have become more precious, less cynical, and making me wish to drink up all the time and moments remaining. I am fortunate to have been able to have my immediate family for my entire life (even though they drive me crazy). For all who have suffered loss, sometimes even around the holiday season, this can be a difficult, even depressing time. But know that those who have passed on would want us to be thankful for the blessings we have, and would want us to remember the good.

In every religion there is a central command to give thanks for the blessings we have. This is that time. No matter what the struggle may have been with weight, with food, with family, with loss, or even with gain -- this is the time to set those things aside and be thankful - not bitter, not angry, but simply thankful. Life is hard, and even recognizing this, all prophets have had a central theme of a time to give thanks for the blessings we have, no matter how great or small. Not getting carried away in material goods, not falling into depths of despair, but being thankful puts a perspective on life that is sometimes taken away by the mundane day-to-day grind that seeks to wear us down. This is the time to be thankful, this is the time to recognize and enjoy the blessings we have, no matter how great or how small.

One of my blessings is to have the patients I have, who have entrusted me with their lives, their stories, their struggles, their joy, and their sadness. For you, I am thankful, and will remember you at my Thanksgiving table this year.

It's not how much you can eat

Do not test yourself.
Control your portions.

Whether it is the RNY, LAP BAND, or DS -- there are myths that you can eat whatever you want and lose weight. That doesn't work. The other myth is that you eat until you feel full -- that doesn't work. The other one is that you will feel restriction -- and early on you do, but later you don't.

Weight loss surgery isn't about seeing how much you can eat, or what you can get away with -- weight loss surgery is about making better choices, a healthier lifestyle, and seeing how little you can eat.

Portion control is the key to all weight loss operations. Which means you determine the portions you eat before you consume them. Do not rely on your body to tell you when you are full, or stuffed. Instead, eat the portion your doctor recommends, and walk away from the table.

Do not test your stomach -- because you can fill it up more and more and stretch the nice job your surgeon did. With the band, that means you can slip the band -- by eating more and pulling stomach up above the band. But generally can be adjusted by deflating the band for a bit.

Bottom line-- it isn't how much you can eat -- it is how little you can eat.

It isn't six small meals a day. It isn't snacks - it is, two to three meals a day. If you find yourself hungry at a certain time of the day then figure out what you ate before-- was it soft food, was it something that lasted? Did you wash things out with water or some drink? Can you make a better choice.

Weight loss surgery is the marker for a new and healthier lifestyle. Here are some simple things to start or restart your surgery:

(a)	Cut television time in half. Honest, the bad guys will get caught in CSI
(b)	Spend 30 minutes a day doing some physical activity -- dedicated time to walking or swimming. More is better. If you need some help starting, see a physical therapist.
(c)	Use smaller plates -- put your portion on the smaller plate
(d)	Leave something on your plate-- always leave something to get rid of. What you leave should be starches -- what should not be left are vegetables. Leave the potatoes, eat the greens.
(e)	After 30 minutes you are done eating -- stop there, and get rid of the excess food.

Plan It

Eating is not a random event. Plan it. Being hungry and standing in front of food is not a recipe to lose weight.

Eating is not a random event, it is something that can be planned, much like the calories we consume. If you can measure it, you can manage it, and the holiday season is the perfect time to manage and measure the foods we consume.

Recently I operated on a very nice lady who had waited for months to get her weight loss surgery. Along the way we operated on her husband and one of her daughters -- when I joined them in the waiting room to tell them that their mother and wife were doing great, I noticed the snacks they were consuming. They knew they had to come to the hospital and sit in a waiting room, and that in that room were plenty of temptations -- high fat cookies available in the vending machine, lots of nuts, and so forth. Instead they brought some healthy snacks, a bit of fruit, and a small package of Go-Lean Crunch cereal in a bag. They didn't leave to random the snacks that were available at the hospital.

Another very nice lady came to me for after-care following her RNY surgery in California. She had come to me specifically because she wanted to lose those last 30 pounds, and besides purchasing the book wanted to go through what she was doing and a timetable to lose the last 30 pounds of her journey. To lose 30 pounds in a year means to consume about 300 calories a day less than what you are maintaining. In her case it was easy - cutting out a few simple high fat items that were doing nothing but holding on to those last 30 pounds-- cheese for breakfast and nuts for snacks.

Cheese and nuts are not sources of protein -- they are sources of fat. They are easy to consume, and a handful of nuts contains about 160 calories. The average 1/2 inch cube of cheddar cheese contains about 33 calories of which 74% come from fat. Eat three or four of those cubes -- and you have not filled up your stomach, but have snacked on almost pure fat. One pat of butter contains 35 calories, all of which are fat, just as a comparison.

So when considering when and where you eat over the holiday season -- eat well, eat healthy, and make your choices ahead of time-- random eating behavior didn't work before -- now measure it and manage it.

from 11/2006 newsletter

Take Care,

Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP
100cm proximal Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh Albany, NY
320(preop)/163(lowest)/185(current) 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)
Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King www.albanyplasticsurgeons.com
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/jamiecatlady5/
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

This is not the holiday season I am used to

Our Mission

Follow us

Links

Select Photos

This is not the holiday season I am used to