What do you do differently?

After weight loss surgery it's inevitable that we must make changes in our lifestyles  What types of changes have you made that have helped you and might help others to hear? For me I set a few rules for myself  that I now live by-  No more drive-thru's, If I can't get off my arse and walk in then I don't need it. Drive-thru's were a daily thing for me before surgery, Breakfast almost every workday, we even have drive-thru donut shops here!  Sometimes dinner too. I stop on the way home and order up and get extra fries to eat on my way home, those along with the fries I'd eat with dinner. I'm actually not even much of a fry fan ... strange! Before WLS I used to ask people to get me things, now my rule is I get up and get things myself. I used to say hey honey, will you get me a soda, will you get me some cookies, will you get me whatever ... Now my Husband knows to say no if I ask, it took him awhile but he very easily says "get it yourself " with a smile of course, to me now. It makes me think, do I really need that? So let's hear what you do to help yourself now ...

Im a slow learner But the main thing i have learned is i am important to that i matter.Before i always put my self on the back burner(not anymore) it has given me my voice back also to stand up and be accounted for. E,verytime we went to town we got fast food or a cold soda. Now i take my ice water with me and the boys take some to and we eat at home. Also my whole family needs to lose a few pounds so they are starting to eat as i am. Ive now realized i m the one who brings in the soda and chips(even though i dont eat them anymore).they are teenagers and they like to eat so we are all eating the same i went to the library and went thru the cookbooks hunting for recipes we could all eat as a family. I sat om my big hiney and didnt exercise and now i watch my children do the same thing so we are doing exercise as a family, I did this by leading as an example to my family now that i ve got a new lease on life im correcting my mistake. My family now eats better and exercises and have saved a few dollars with no fast food. now to get my hubby to quit smoking.lol

The biggest change I've made is just how I think about food.  I do my best not to eat when I'm not really hungry, and I am thinking about food more as a necessity for life, instead of my main daily goal.  Its a slow change but I definitely don't think about food as much as I did early out from surgery, and I'm not so obsessed anymore.  I finally realized feeling hungry or missing a meal isn't the end of the world, and that my body really does have cues and that I can listen to them and be happy and satisfied.  My emotions do not have to be tied to food after all, they can be separated.  I still love food, I always will, but I'm not sad about that anymore.  I strike a decent balance most of the time and enjoy good food without so much guilt. 

It amazes me, but I used to crave fast food so bad ... now when I think about eating fast food never enters my head. I guess my brain has been retrained to want protein. I think about Greek yogurt, cheese, turkey pepperoni stick or jerky. I actually reach for healthy foods now!

I didn't know they had drive through doughnut shops in So. California?  Ya'll just got Krispy Kreme in the last 5 years or so right? I still eat fast food.  I'm not a great meal planner. However, I eat a grilled chicken hold the sauce thank you!  I eat gallons of Wendy's chili, lots of salads.  I have to make that work for me and it has.  I see so many similarities between our lifestyles.  I was also guilty of the "will you get me..." syndrome.  Not any more. Exercise is the biggest thing that I have changed in my lifestyle.  I wasn't sedentary, I was in hibernation.  I would drive around parking lots for 10 minutes looking for the closest spot.  I would calculate how many steps I would have to take and try and map out the shortest route.  I abhorred any type of physical exercise and would make any excuse to avoid it. But now, I bound out of be no later than 6:30 every morning and work out for 50-60 minutes M-F.  I used to sleep in until 8AM and then rush to get to work.   I am working on making that wake up time 6AM so I can add more cardio to my routine! I approach eating differently.  You hear people say all the time I eat to live.  I truly do.  Rarely does something pass my lips that doesn't provide a good nutritional return for my investment.  I used to wake up thinking what I would eat first.  I'd get to work and start focusing on what I would eat for lunch or when could I slip out to get a fast food meal (yes, I was a former McDonald'o'holic).  I too would eat fast food 2, sometimes 3 times a day.  There would be times I'd order 2 meals so the cashier wouldn't think I was eating all that food...but I did. Yuck, I am disgusted thinking about how I used to eat  and hide that eating.   But today is a new day, and I am a new person!

Man, I've changed so many things that sometimes I don't recognize myself or my habits....  I do have some "rules" for myself though, including: 1.  I weigh myself every day.  Only exception is that I do not take my scale with me on vacation.  I allow myself up to a 5-pound "window," but my weight goes up more than 5 pounds, I cut back on calories and bump up exercise until it comes back down.   2.  I use a daily food journal.  I realized just how easy it is to eat more calories than my body really needs, especially through mindless nibbling and grazing.  So keeping a journal makes me mindful about what I put in my body and how many calories it has.   3.  Like many others, I used to "sneak eat" at fast food places.  Now, I really limit my consumption of fast food.  I'll eat at fast food joints when I'm traveling, but I choose chili or a grilled chicken sandwich.  And I'll occasionally get chili from Wendy's for dinner during the fall/winter when I want chili but don't want to cook it!  Other than that, I avoid fast food - too much of a trigger for me.   4.  I work hard not to say or think negative things about myself.  Before surgery, I engaged in a lot of negative self talk, and it was damaging to me on a number of levels.  When I have an automatic negative thought about myself these days, I try to interrupt myself, think about why that automatic response is not true or valid and move on.  Almost like saying "thanks for stopping by, but you are not welcome here anymore" to that negative energy.   5.  When I find a shirt that fits well and looks good, I no longer buy it in every color!  When I was SMO, there were so few places to shop that if I found something that fit well, I'd buy one in every color.  I have more options these days, and I make myself exercise them!  Same rule does not apply to pants, since it's so hard to find pants that are comfortable with all this excess skin around my middle!!! That's all I can think of for now, although I'm sure there's more.  I'm interested to see what other folks have changed -  Kellie

Good questions and something I think about often. My mom is always commenting on how much I have changed and how she is always surprised by my food choices - it's totally different from before, I actually want to eat good foods! Before the surgery I hid when I ate - there is no way I would eat in front of someone unless we were out. I would hide food all the time especially with my family. My mom was always pretty judgemental about what I ate so I just started eating in private. I know that was part of my problem and now I vow to not hide what I am eating. If I want to eat something, i eat it. Sometimes my choices are good, sometimes not. But no matter what I will not hide those choices from anyone. I allow myself treats - before my entire day was treats! Now I actually plan them and that works really well. Like Kelly I plan everyday and plan to do that forever - it helps keep me accountable. I also weigh everyday - at this point it's not an obsession, it's a necessity to keep me on track.  I like to ignore problems and me not stepping on a scale is me avoiding the possibility of any gain. I want to confront things head on and weighing every day is the best way for me to do that. My limit is 10 pounds - if I gain in that area I kick it into gear to work on losing it again. Other than that it's a day to day thing. I tend to obsess about things and so my goal each day is not to obsess about food, exercise, weight, etc. I want to find a balance and that is the hardest thing for me. That's why I don't have too many set rules, just enough to keep me accountable but not allow by obsessive personality to take over.