It seems there are 2 trains of thought about life with VSG- Deep Thoughts?

The problem with your thinking is that once you reach goal (and even sooner for some), you can eat very large amounts of slider foods.  ie, the idea that your restriction will keep you from eating chips, ice cream, soft cakes, coke, etc is not applicable.  People tell you they can graze on carbs all day long and feel no restriction.  I think we will have to eat them using extreme moderation and much thought will have to go into using them in our meals--ie we must remain intelligent and vigilant.  I am planning on using a tortilla (25 carbs) this week for the base of my pizza.  But I am planning for it, going to work it in, and be "aware."  I do not want to eat this stuff mindlessly.

Happy,
They make a "Carb Conscious" tortilla! They taste great!! I use them for my pizza too!
Heidi

Heidi--YES, I saw those on the cooking channel (can you believe I still watch the Cooking Channel?--- with fascination too.)  I saw them used as a pizza bottom on the program where the girl makes healthy, low cal/low carb food, and has great tricks to share.  I will try the low-carb tortillas, esp now that you say they are good.  What brand do you use??  How many grams?  I tried a regular small-size tortilla a month ago for pizza bottom and it was outrageously good, esp when you think you can never have pizza again.  Thanx!!   Joan

I buy Mission Carb Balance (small-fajita size) whole wheat tortillas at Walmart. They have 80 calories, 4 net carbs (12 gr carb-8 gr fiber=4 net carbs). I use them for soft tacos and breakfast burritos. I cant eat a whole taco or burrito but what I can eat is yummy!! I havent tried make a pizza on them but that sounds really good. Do you have the recipe for it??
Thanks
Debby

I think it is very unfair to call someone out and say "The problem with your thinking ..."  This may truely work for some.  I agree with many on here that there are many ways to succeed.  We are not all one size fits all and therefore we need to find what works for us.  If one "plan" did work for all, we would not have needed the intervention of surgery.

I am mostly planted in Camp 2 myself.  BUT, I have to make sure I have the protein first.  If I do, then I can have a few small bites of the carbs and such.  I enjoy an occasional 1/2 cup of icecream.  Pre-surgery, it was 1 1/2 to 2 cups - now, a 1/2 cup is just about right.

I do not mean to offend you by quoting you.  So hopefully you don't take it that way.  However, I get very concerned when we try to sway people to just one way of thinking.  If it works for you, then by all mean, do what works.  Some people (me included) needed to try out a variety of eating plans, mesh some, throw some out, and find what works.

I WISH I could be in the second camp, and yes, I believe that there are way more than 2 camps, too.

I have too many triggers to allow me to eat many "normal" foods without triggering myself, which defeats my purpose.

I WANT to eat healthy, and I WANT to eat better than I did the first time around.  Maybe a lot of people just ate too much, but ate lots of good stuff, so if they eat it in smaller amounts they can do well.  I know I ate a whole lotta crap, all the time.  I don't want to eat a little crap all the time.  It will make me want to eat a lotta crap again.

I'm one of the lucky ones who rarely feels hungry, so I take advantage of it.  If that ever changes things might get tougher, but for now, its all good and works well.  The only time I step outside my health eating range is to take a "taste" of something, maybe once in a very great while, like if my dd bakes something and wants me to taste a very small amount.

I don't miss much food, thank goodness, or this would be really hard!

If eating a little of everything works, have fun!

I can ditto some of the same stuff others have said.  Like the wonderous Brandilynn (I am in awe of you girl!)  I don't bring my trigger foods into the house.  They talk to me, call to me and make me do bad things!

My life and my diet changed drastically on 4/7/11 and I've been pretty militant about it.  I too was one of those ravenously hungry people.  I was always hungry.  I never felt satisfied unless I ate til I was sick.

However, if I am away from my home and it's a special occassion, I will try to follow the rules (protein first, no liquids with food, etc) and may have a bite or two of something that is not strictly within my plan.  For instance, on July 4th, I went to a cookout and had a couple of bites of broccoli casserole.  You know, the one with the broccoli, rice, cheese, cracker crumb topping.....ummmmm.......I could eat a bushel basket of that stuff when I was pre-op.  But since I had eaten grilled chicken first, I didn't have room for more.

Same thing on my 5oth birthday.  I had a big (or at least what I see as big now...small for my preop self) piece of birthday cake.  And you know what?  It wasn't that great.  Immediately post op, I would've killed for a pizza hut pizza.  Now I think of how it would feel in my tummy and I don't think it would be pretty.  I was a carboholic.  Bread was my drug of choice.  Now....meh.  Tried one small bite last week and it felt like a rock in my belly.  Not interested now.

I know that for me carbs are a no-no.  If I am going to go over my daily carb allotment, I don't do it with candy, cake or bread.  I do it with watermelon or strawberrries.  At least they are packed with nutrients.  Surprisingly, I don't feel deprived. 

I am not that far out (3.5 months) but food is now more a means to an end instead of the sensuous-joy-comfort-me-anesthesia-obsession that it was before.  I am more concerned with getting my nutrition in while losing than feeding my urges.

I never thought I was the OCD type (ok...ok....other people may have seen my anal retentive tendencies) but I have become kinda that way about my food/liquid intake.  I log my food RELIGIOUSLY on myfitnesspal.  If I have that bite of bread or when I had the BD cake, I log that too.  If I'm over on my cal or carbs for that day, I make it up the next day.  Besides myfitnesspal, I also have a spreadsheet with each day's nutritional stats, weekly weight loss, etc.  I have it set up so it averages up weekly so I can see how I'm doing overall.  It helps if I have a good week or a not so good week with my weight loss.  I can see where I may have gone off track or need to make adjustments.

I guess I am in the diet overhaul camp.  I was self pay, went to Mexico and took a big leap of faith on this surgery.  I am all in.  I have lost almost 60 lbs and plan to keep doing what I'm doing.  Nutrition, vitamins, exercise and positive attitude.  I might have the few bites of pizza, etc when I am in maintenance but for now, they are just not worth it.

This is a great topic, and like others who have posted, I think there are more than the 2 camps and that the answer is as varied as the many people on this board!

My thoughts summed up: KNOW THYSELF AND THY TRIGGERS

For me, I think it's become a combination of the 2. At 6 months out I follow my plan 85-90% of the time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all protein-focused and as planned as possible. On occasion I'm thrown a curve ball and adapt accordingly. I can already tell that grazing and slider foods will be a life-long issue for me, so I'm working on allowing some foods on special occasions so that I can keep them that way - as special occasion foods. For example, I used to eat tons of ice cream. I mean pints of Ben and Jerry's some weeks. It was a horrible habit and probably accounted for a good 30 lbs of my obesity. I've had ice cream since surgery, but I don't buy it for my house and I limit myself to a few bites. And I've even been in a Dairy Queen with friends and didn't get anything. But I did have a few bites when my boyfriend and I went out on a date last week. It was delicious! And the best part is I could stop at a few bites and I was fully satisfied. It's occasions like that that I'm saving my treats for.

As far as carbs go for me, I try to avoid white carbs as much as possible. I have come to the conclusion that my body runs best that way. The times where I've had some rice, or a few pieces of bread, I didn't enjoy it anway as much as I thought I would anyway.

So I've done both the entire lifestyle overhaul as well as the "enjoy life" route. I think everyone needs to be honest with themselves to figure out what will help them be successful for the long haul.

I am somewhere in the middle. I was a volume eater. What my sleeve has taught me, is that I DO NOT NEED THAT MUCH FOOD. Having learned that, I also have learned that my body feels best when it has as much protein as I can get, with some really fresh fruit and vegetables.

I have learned that I have good restriction on everything, and I do not plan on testing that. If I want chocolate, I chocolate almonds -- and find that I'm full on half a serving -- that's about 8 chocolate almonds, protein, and 100 calories.

I have gone out for ice cream twice since surgey, and was pleased to know that I was thrilled with one scoop. Full, tasted great, and I'm happy.

Do I have crap in the house? yep. I own teenagers. Do I eat their crap ? Nope. It really doesn't intrest me anymore. It's gotta be really good crap to make me want to eat it !!!!

Right now I am in the low carb camp because my sister who had the surgery and lost 122 lbs says you really have to put the pedal to the metal during these first few months. When I hit goal maybe I will up my calorie and carb count a little bit.