I enjoy eating again!

Phew! 0.4 cc has made a huge difference in my life. I am no longer afraid to eat. No more first bite syndrome. No more getting food stuck. No more "Ohhhh I can't eat that wonderful fresh fruit/vegetable because I'm too tight." I am now re-learning how to not fear food. I am beginning, again, to love planning and cooking healthy meals! I'm even liking eating out again. Yesterday's lunch was a prime example. We went to our favourite Mexican restaurant. My husband and I split an order of bean burritos with no cheese but extra salsa and an order of vegetarian fajitas. This restaurant makes the best vegetarian fajitas because unlike other places they don't just slap some onions and green peppers on the plate. Their veggie fajitas are potatoes, carrots, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and zucchini. Add some refried beans, some Mexican rice, a bit of avocado and an abundance of made-from-scratch salsa ... YUMMY! And I was able to everything without pain or the fear of pain. I still got full after eating a reasonable portion of healthy foods. I'm not without restriction - but I'm definitely not fighting against too much restriction! Yahoo!!!!

Yeah Carole! This is the way it should be. This is where I am now. I have restriction, but not too much. I still get things stuck now and then, but there is really nothing I can't eat, just not too much of it. I knew you would love it when you got straightened out...WOO-HOO!!

That's wonderful news Carole! It is where I am at now, and I love it. I never want to be too tight again!

Chelle, How have you done with your checklist? Is it helping to visualize it every day?

Uh, it was hell week at work last week - and I expect the next two weeks to be the same. So I utterly failed at the checklist - did it for two days. I really need to come here for that daily support because my life is so crazy busy I just don't think sometimes. Tomorrow starts checklist day - I just found out that I have a high school reunion at the end of May!!!!

Cool! See my next post...definitely applies to you!

Thanks! You know ... Now that I realize that I was really too tight for the better part of a year I can't imagine how I didn't realize what the problem was. I guess I thought that if I was maintaining my weight that I must be eating "too much" so I couldn't possibly be too tight. Really, I was just not eating the right foods to lose because I was afraid of those foods. I think there will be a bit of an adjustment as I relearn how to eat (distancing myself from those fall back foods). Right after my unfill I reveled in being able to eat and I gained about 2 pounds. This week I lost those two pounds. I feel much better and I'm looking forward to going back to "Dr. 600 - 800 Calories" and showing him a loss in spite of not eating 600 calories of meat a day.

HOORAY! Amazing what a difference, such a small amount can make, isn't it! Good for you, hon!

Ok, I'm not a vet, but I am just here to say AMEN. I suspected I was a bit tight before I got sick, but now with the unfill I KNOW I was. I'm just keeping track of the calories and will go back for a bit of a fill on the 17th because I can eat a little more at one time than I'd like to-but I DO want to be able to eat squash and tomatoes an cucumbers. That doesn't seem too much to ask, and if it means staying completely away from JUNK, I'm all for it. Being to tight to eat anything but a small tin of smashed tuna is no fun. There, I said it and thank you all for letting me share.

The one thing I have definitely learned on this Lap-Band journey of mine is that the "sweet spot" and "proper restriction" are things that are defined differently by all of us. For some people it means being so tight that a 600 - 800 calorie diet of mostly (or all) lean proteins is all you can handle. For others it means being tight enough to take the edge off of hunger to help make better decisions. For yet others it means something in between. Finding what works for us and individuals is part of the process.