Uh oh...I think I'm grazing.....

This time of the year is so hard not to GRAZE!!! We have had dips, chips, and treats galore at school and I find myself Grazing on them. I've gotta stop and stick to my eating schedule. It just hard. I find myself thinking just one is ok. Oh No!! I'm getting back into my old way of thinking. I don't think I did too bad today. Tell me what you think... 6:30 - South Beach Protein Bar 9:30 - 4 ounces of breakfast casserole 11:30 - Beefaroni - (7 ounce bowl but all mashed together it was probably like 4 it had a lot of broth) 4:30 - 2 ounces pretzels Then the grazing started!!!! 5:30 - 2 pieces of bacon (I was making dip for tomorrow) 6:00- 4 graham cracker sticks - less than one ounce... Its just scary because I see myself enjoying food again way too much. I'm only 9 weeks out. I have been keeping my portions down. Can you tell I'm trying to justify my actions!! Thanks for listening. Rachel

It's normal to go through periods of eating more, and this is a lethal time of year, for sure. There are booby traps everywhere, and be sure that everyone is watching to see how you handle it. No pressure there!! It's really good that you're concerned. That's the biggest hurdle. Try drinking more. You can't eat if there's a bottle of water in your hand and your mouth and stomach are all ready full of it. Also, if sugar alcohols don't bother you, try sucking on hard candy when you know you'll be around food. Ice works too. Stay away from carbs as much as you can. They only make you crave more. If you have to graze, try cheese or meat. And if you can't stop grazing, leave the room where the food is. I love South Beach Meal Replacement Bars. They're really sweet, so they take care of my cravings, and they have lots of protein. Don't eat the other kind of South Beach Bars. Bad for you. My new sweet obsession is to freeze SF pudding, let it soften a little, and scrape it with a spoon. It only has 60 calories and takes awhile to eat. You can do this. Food isn't worth it. It tastes good for a few seconds, and then it's gone. Remember - your mind is in charge and you know better!

Okay Barbara, what is wrong with the South Beach Diet High Protein Cereal Bars????? I use those when I need a little something in between. Susann

Rachel you brought up a good point. I feel like I am doing the same thing. I find myself eating something about every 2 hours and find myself eating to many carbs like crackers, croutons, cornbread, chex mix... stuff like that. It is really hard not to go back to our old habits. Lord knows I didn't come this far to stop or gain back. No way, no how!!! We can do this... Pam P.S. Great job on entering Onederland!!!!

Not to make light of your concern, but I got a chuckle out of your subject line because I was like I KNOW I'm grazing, there's no thinking about it!! It's actually better some say to eat 5-6 times a day. The only difference in you and me is that I was no where near where you are with eating at 9 weeks out. Now when 6 months rolled around and my appetite finally reappeared.......well now that's another story. And now?? Well, lets just say I need help....... I would really encourage you though to try and be strong and take advantage of your honeymoon weight loss period. No one ever really encouraged me during this period and as a result I didn't lose as much or as easily as others. I only attribute half my weight loss to my WLS and the other to sheer hard work. I'm still struggling now for the last 15-20 lbs

Is it a bad thing to be able to tolerate what you could not at 9 weeks. I have tolerated everything really well which could be my down fall. Did I do to bad with what I ate yesterday? Rachel

Sorry, didn't mean to make you worry....cause I've learned you really also don't want to go to the other end of the spectrum after WLS where ANY type of food is seen as an evil. Don't anyone flame me, but I'm not a typical poster child for WLS. I don't exclude anything from my diet....it's about moderation and with you being so early out, your little tummy is going to help you learn that. Could be why I still am struggling with my last 15-20 lbs 3 years out, but I also feel like I can be normal sometimes and not always think about food (hard but doable). If I want to go a few days and just don't worry about it, I do, but then get back on the bandwagon. My most recent bout of eating junk (love chocolate!) lasted about a month; that's the longest I've just let myself "go" in quite some time, but I realized it by paying attention to the scales (net gain of 3-4lbs) and made myself quit eating chocolate EVERY day. Moral of my rambling story? Don't beat yourself. I just couldn't eat the same quantity of food as you at 9 weeks (probably b/c they operated on my tummy twice in 4 days at my initial WLS and it was teeny tiny from swelling for a long, long time).....not necessarily the whats. But looking overall at what you ate from my standpoint now? No, you definitely didn't eat too much! You'll find that the longer post-op you get the more you actually need to eat or your body will go into a starvation mode where you won't lose anything at all. Strange but true.

SINCE YOU LIKE CHOCOLATE, MS KIMBERLY, HAVE YOU TRIED DOVE SF CHOCOLATE? ... DARK, MINT & RASPBERRY (or Strawberry, I can't remember which). THEY ARE SUPER RICH & DELISHHHHHHHHH. MS CHERYL INTRODUCED THEM TO US AT A LCBBuddies' MEETING & I KEEP SOME ON THE COUNTER. I FIND THAT IT ISN'T OFTEN AT ALL ANY MORE, BUT WHEN I GET AN URGE FOR CHOCOLATE, LETTING ONE MELT IN MY MOUTH (instead of chewing) DOES THE TRICK & I R-E-A-L-L-Y ENJOY THE TREAT BUT AM NOT TEMPTED TO OVERDO IT. I BOUGHT SOME DIFFERENT KINDS OF SF CHOCOLATES LAST CHRISTMAS FROM bariatriceating.com & I WASN'T HAPPY WITH THEM AT ALL ... VERY WAXY TASTING WITH AN AFTERTASTE. BUT, THAT'S JUST MY TASTE. OTHERS MAY LOVE THEM. RUSSELL STOVERS HAS SOME REALLY GOOD SF CHOCOLATE CANDIES ... THEIR PECAN TURTLES ARE GREAT ... THEIR PEANUT BUTTER CUPS ARE OK. BOTH THESE & THE DOVE CAN BE BOUGHT AT WAL*MART ALONG WITH TONS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SF CANDIES INCLUDING HARD CANDIES THAT ARE SF. PUBLIX HAS A REALLY GOOD SELECTION OF SF COOKIES & THEIR BAKERY OFFERS NSA FRUIT PIES PLUS A SF CAKE IN THEIR COOLER SECTION. ALSO, TRY THE SF FUDGECICLES ... THE ONLY ONE I DON'T LIKE IS IN A BLUE BOX ... IT'S REAL MUSHY. BUT, THE ONES IN THE YELLOW BOX ARE GREAT! MS SHANNON BOUGHT A SPLENDA COOK BOOK & SAYS THAT THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF SF GOODIES IN THERE THAT WE CAN EAT ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS. YOU'RE SO RIGHT ... THERE ARE NO "EVIL" FOODS ... IF WE KEEP NUTRITION FOREMOST, THEN THERE IS NO PROBLEM IN SPLUGING HERE & THERE. BUT REMEMBER, THERE ARE ABOUT 20% OF OUR GASTRIC BYPASS FAMILY THAT WILL FAIL & REGAIN THEIR WEIGHT. SO, NOT EVERYONE CAN ALLOW THEMSELVES EVERYTHING. SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO SAY, "NO" TO OURSELVES. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT, EITHER. AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THIS IS MY LAST CHANCE AT A HEALTHY LIFE & MY LAST CHANCE TO DEFEAT OBESITY. WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO MORE RADICAL THAN REARRANGING MY GUTS? THAT'S ABOUT AS EXTREME AS IT GETS IN MY BOOK. SO, EATING A PARTICULAR FOOD ISN'T AS IMPORTANT TO ME AS MAINTAINING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IS TO ME. SO, I GUESS THE ANSWER FOR ANY OF US IS THAT WE NEED TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES FOR EACH OF US TO SUCCEED! NO TWO PEOPLE WILL BE THE SAME. GOD BLESS YOU ... DAWN & NICK

STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!! Then tell me how you did it...hehe. I'm finding myself doing the same thing. I keep water and something warm to drink around as much as possible. When I do insist on eating off of my schedule, I try to pick something sensible. I usually find it has alot to do with boredom, because I am not REALLY and TRULY hungry unless I have skipped a meal or had too many carbs. Remember, as someone said before, this is your honeymoon period. Make the most of this time to lose as much of your excess weight as possible and develop the good habits. After that, it is all on you. Believe me, if I didn't believe it before, I am certainly believing it now! Kathy

I am having a problem with not wanting to eat the 5 meals a day, which I think might be worse than the grazing. I can eat more than the 4 ounce total that I am suppose to be eating at one meal, and I am craving the carbs again. I am trying to eat more meats and cheeses, but they aren't as enjoyable without a good old starch like potatoes or rice. I'm drinking alot of water and still using the prostat daily and isopure as one meal replacement about twice a week. My weight loss is at a stall again and it's been over a week that I am stuck at the same weight. I'm worried since my pouch seems to be able to hold more than they say it should. I'm trying so hard to just stop at the 4 ounces and I am weighing and measuring all my food, I'm hungry again in less than two hours, but I'm just not wanting to give in to the hunger. I can't seem to make myself eat the 5 meals and I'm thinking it's just a head thing where I feel like I'm eating too much food in one day. I guess it's time to talk to Dr. Russell about this fear of eating too much, when I'm really not eating enough. My damn head can't seem to get this right! Mary