Eating food you like.

I know just about everyone here can repeat the idea that it is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change. If it is a diet, in other words, at some point you revert to not being on the diet and then the issues begin. I personally focus on eating foods that I like. Don't get me wrong- I am not the ideal "perfect" sleever by any stretch of the imagination. I go off plan at times, I cannot always exercise, I have periods that I don't log, etc. But, overall I have done well. I am back at goal weight after a slight regain, and approaching 4 years out. In my world, that is a tremendous accomplishment given my history. Ovearll, the one strategy that has held and made a difference is my electing to frame my diet around food that I like. The food has to be both something I like, and a good choice- not just the like part ;) I don't try to choke down crap I can't stand. I do eat food that I merely tolerate, i.e. Premier Protein shakes but usually the trade off for tolerating is either convenience or a different medical issue creating a situation where it is best for the time being.

Maybe I am blessed. I like a long list of healthy foods. I (now) enjoy thinking about food as nutrition and organizing my eating day around my different targets (protein, iron, calcium, total calories, carbs, etc.) Anyway, it works well for me and helps me for sure to stay on point and managing. Give it a try!

Excellent advice . . . . .I'm only 8-9 weeks post sleeve and I, too, prefer having what I like. If I don't like it, I give it away (I've gone through tons of various protein shake mixes, chewable vitamins, etc. . . . and if they don't taste right to me, I give them away).

Super congrats on 4 years out and thank you for taking the time and sharing sound advice given from a place of experience!!!

Jo

Hey Happy! Popping in after a long time away and your post brings up something I just shared on FB. I too (now) eat what I like, generally fatty, protein forward real foods.. and find it very satisfying. Today's bfast was a tin of smoked sprats in oil on wasa bread!

Here's the articles- while newly pre-ops should def imo count cals/track just to train the brain etc.. long term weight stability is the biggie since nearly any WLS can get you to goal, but staying there is the bugger and that's very hard to do with "diet foods" since the satiety factor is so low. I know you were not a "low-carber" so to speak losing, but now getting lower due to glucose issues- I was never a low-fat person as I preferred (prefer) low carb/high fat eating. Once I lost the weight.. upping fats (and carbs in a limited way) was needed and happily part of the transition. My biggie is: food should not come in pre-packaged form, no ingredient lists (or very limited ones.) Keeping to the real whole foods: fats, protein, veggies etc.. and learning how to make them amazingly tasty = high satisfaction = good energy balance.

Couple interesting reads:http://www.vox.com/2015/10/2/9439049/why-people-overeat

http://www.vox.com/2015/8/7/9113645/science-food-hangover

Hey, good to see you again! Glad to read you are doing well! I totally agree with you, although my cholesterol still remains high (just put back on Simvastatin) so I try to be careful with the fats still. But I couldn't agree with you more! The second article- I noticed post vsg that I would crave healthier items and then eventually noticed I would have an angst for particular items. I always felt like it was a nutrition thing, but of course had nothing to back it up. The article on flavor was outstanding- I am now going to be more mindful to ensure to infuse as much flavor into food as possible. i can fall into a a bland funk once in a while, and will try to notice if that also goes hand-in-hand with taking in higher calories. Thanks for the links- I enjoyed reading it!

Weirdly (or not) my mostly normie skinny husband was tagged by our great PCP to get on statins years ago.. he read up and adopted a lowcarb lifestyle and his lipids leveled out. He also never had any high inflammation markers which are a biggie.. just something to read on.

Yes! If your meal is limited to the size of a tennis ball, make it the healthiest, best-tasting tennis ball you can manage! Like you, I love vegetables and fruits. Learning to make them and lean protein the star of every meal is worth it. And eating such limited quantities allows more room in the grocery budget for high-priced goodies like tropical fruit, smoked salmon, berries out of season, etc. I had a starfruit two days ago that was to die for.

psychoticparrot

I love this and absolutely feel the same way! You have to remember to still enjoy food and not demonize it as the enemy. It's really important to my ability to stay on track that I focus on cooking what I like and trying new things. When I lose focus on enjoying my on-plan foods, I start feeling deprived and moody and start thinking about off-plan foods. I've also noticed that my cravings are usually more fat, salt, and protein cravings rather than sweets since I fell off the carb-wagon. It's like my body knows what is good for it now.

When I was losing, I followed my plan to the letter. By the time I hit maintenance, I knew there were certain things I would not continue to eat. For me, the issue wasn't dropping certain foods, it was to avoid starting back on crap food.

I think there is, nutritionally, a perfect diet. A blend of all the different food groups, etc. I'll never, ever eat that way. What I CAN do is make sure I don't eat too much, and eat very little crap. Green things? I probably won't eat them again, ever. I know I'd be better off eating them, but I know I won't. So I make adjustments, substitutions, and do what works for me.

We all have to figure things out. There are lots of ways to make our new diets work for us. But unfortunately, there is still an infinite number of ways to screw it up.