Food Porn also cutting out sweets
Starting somewhat before surgery, but mostly after I am all about food shows/videos. I will watch them for things I cannot eat on my current food stage (puree) or I can't have at all (bad fatty carby ridiculous no one should eat this way foods).
I've been watching a ton of "Man vs. Food" and watching the host Adam try and tackle an 8lb burger in a half an hour challenge etc. It's actually weirdly satisfying, and helps curb cravings. When you watch a man try and eat something the same weight as his own head in less than 30 minutes it gives you time to stop and pause.
Also watching food shows and videos on YouTube makes me realize I don't really want it. Thank heavens, now that I am getting used to this way of eating more and more every day I find that food isn't something that has to be cooked/eaten in a way we do American culture.Everything does not need extra butter(Paula Deen I'm looking at you) or to be breaded and fried.
The things I want most now are more healthy things I have to wait for on other food stages I'm not quite to yet. I would like to have salmon, tuna, chicken or pork right now, but cooked in healthy ways.
Like I would like some baked salmon with just a little bit of garlic herb butter, or I want a salad topped with rare cooked tuna steak, or a pork chop bbq'd with bbq'd vegies with balsamic vinegar drizzled on them on the side, but all in good time.
The smell of food frying which used to be comforting and satisfying also makes me feel kind of ill. I went with my mom to Jack in the Box the other day because she hadn't eaten all day, she got the 2 tacos for 99 cents (she is tiny and can get full from like one and half tacos so not sure where my food issues come from), and since I had eaten I had water with crystal lite(which I carry in my purse now), and the smell in the lobby was so gross. Watching them dump fries out of the fryer to under the heat lamps was also gross because there was so much oil pooling under them in the metal bin they sit in.
Maybe this food porn is unhealthy (I'm sure some of you will tell me it is and yes I am seeking a good therapist to deal with my issues) but it is helping me cope and making me not want bad/naughty foods.
Secondarily I think I will have to put (sugar free) sweets to rest, I know they are lower or (sometimes) carb free but I cannot control myself with sweets. Especially the pudding currently allowed in my puree stage, I cannot eat it slow, I cannot have just 2oz and be okay. I find myself going back and taking bites out of the containers in the fridge almost in a grazing fashion. Therefore I dumped all the pudding I have made (not too big a loss money wise just 3 flavors) down the garbage disposal. I don't need it.
Maybe someday in the distant future I will be able to handle sweets but I don't foresee it anytime soon, because sweet has always been my downfall. Oddly the salty sweet combo I can control myself it's just pure sweet that I am out of control about. So my only sweet for now will be protein shakes and I have to practically gag those down so that shouldn't be a trigger.
I think part of the problem is a I say "Oh but it's sugar free so it's okay" and excuse it. Excuses like that are what got me to my all time high weight of 330lbs earlier this year. Even if it's hard or not fun I have to make myself accountable, there is no more excusing it.
So that's me saying my piece for the day, hope everyone has a sage and Happy New Year, I'll be watching my favorite VSGers on Youtube (Kstar, Lauren Losing, Mellie May etc) and having crystal light shaken not stirred with my fur babies.
Remember if you drink please don't drive you can call for a free tipsy tow from AAA even if you are not a AAA member (info here: http://newsroom.aaa.com/safety/holiday-safe-ride-program/) or call an uber/lyft driver or a cab. The consequences of a DUI are too high, better $20 for a cab, making it home safe, then potential death to you or someone else or a DUI charge.
on 12/31/15 6:49 pm
I agree with you about the sugar-free substitutes. They're not sugar, but they're close enough if you have a sweet tooth like mine (and it sounds like yours too). I occasionally use Splenda when I have a hankering for chai, but other than that, they're verboten for me.
I've never been much into food porn, probably because I don't much like to cook. Way too much trouble for me to make anything elaborate. And I looked forward for months to a beignet and coffee at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Took a few bites and decided it wasn't worth the calories (the pigeons loved the rest of them). And like you, I've developed a real taste for simple, healthy foods. A gently scrambled egg with a perfectly ripened piece of fresh fruit -- mmmmmmm.
Already safely tucked in after my New Year's Eve dinner. Feliz Ano Nuevo! from Nicaragua.
psychoticparrot
"Live for what today has to offer, not for what yesterday has taken away."
Hmmm...I've been doing the same thing..watching food shows, but also pinning all kinds of recipes on Pinterest that I will never make, and never eat. I figure it must be satisfying something in me. I have had no problem following the post op diet stages, no cravings for forbidden food, especially carbs..but it's almost like I'm visually hoarding food. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. This sleeve thing was the smartest thing I've ever done for myself.
Silver, I also pin food I will (probably) never make, and look up countless recipes. Visually hoarding food is a good way to put it. It's like going to a strip club in a way, you can look but not touch lol. I want carby naughty things if I have too many carbs so I try and keep them as low as possible. Also ditto on the smartest thing I've even done. I wish I had done it a few years sooner but other than that I regret nothing about this decision. I guess it took me getting over 300lbs to get a bit of sense about my health. But I'm down 11lbs 2 weeks post op so no complaints here. Happy New Year!
I have done the same thing with watching Food Network!! I did change my thinking a bit and started considering how I could make whatever it was and make it healthy. ( except the Paula Deen butter hell!). I also changed my recipe searches on Pinterest to weight loss surgery recipes and have found several things that are worth trying when you can. When I started watching the shows I wondered if anyone else did that. I thought I am eating puréed food why am I watching people make something delicious that I wouldn't chose to eat now. Made me a little depressed at first, mostly watching the cookies and cakes! I have the carb demon too...evil evil evil! Thanks for sharing your experience because I was wondering if I was completely crazy!
Rick
Rick you're definitely not crazy! I have 2 girlfriends who had vsg really close to me, one about a month before and one 4 days after mine and they both do it too. Actually the sweet stuff isn't what I want (unless I eat it then the carb monster comes out) I want savory so badly. I want hot wings and pizza and Chinese food or what I think I want most is a huge salad with chicken and mushrooms and peas in the pod with just a tiny bit of sesame dressing. But at least moving to puree' stage I can have more savory food. Food porn doesn't actually make me depressed or sad (sorry that it was effecting you that way) it helps curb cravings for me. When I watch Paula Deen put a literal pound of butter into a di**** just kind of makes me sick or at least have an aversion to that type of food/cooking, for goodness sake the women made lollipops once and put butter in them.
Hi Flo, I'm assuming that is what will happen to me too as I am farther out from surgery. I think it's gotta just be something psychological for us. We obviously had psychological issues that made us gain weight (with the exception of maybe a few people with a hormone imbalance or weight gain from medicines) we used food as a crutch in some way. Seeing foods we think looks good prepared or that were our favorites before surgery must trigger the same part of our brain that was triggered when we actually chose to eat those foods. Or maybe it's a hold over from our way back ancestors, maybe seeing food comforts us because our ancestors used to have such lean pickings back when they had to chase down a mastodon for the village to eat. I'm not a doctor or a dietitian so I don't know.
