WHY NOT FRIED OR DEEP FRIED FOOD

Cosidering where you live, I'd think you'd like to splurge on crabs.  Just be careful with the drawn butter.  A reasonable substitute (when at home) is "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" in spray form.  Same great taste and hardly any calories.  If you really must have fried chicken, peep off as much skin as possible once it's done.  You'll find you can't eat like you used to.  I enjoy going to a buffet restaurant, but I usually only eat cooked shrimp, crab, and salmon.  I figure I'll get my carbs and veggies in at another meal.  On another note, I continue to promote Walden Farms sugar free and fat free salad dressings and sauces.  I get mine at www.netrition.com but they are available at many online food and nutrition stores.

All, congratulations.  What you are going through is normal and you are dealing with is your addiction to unhealthy food head on.  This might sound horrible to say, but go ahead and eat it.  You will get sick enough and feel horrible enough that the memory will be so vivid that it helps you kick it.   Pizza was my food of choice.  I loved pizza.  Now pizza does nothing for me 6 months out.  Why? because I tried it a few times and it made me sick.  Now when I see it advertised, my stomach gets queasy.  I'm still stupid sometimes and try it when it is the only thing in the room, but I always pay for it.  Now it doesn't even taste the same.    Spend enough time in a fetal position in bed, dying on the toilet or worshipping the porcelin altar and pretty soon you won't feel so bad missing out on what everyone else is eating. Hope this helps. Greg

 

Al, 2 answers at opposite ends of the spectrum- First, - You Can eat fried foods. Even Bread. It may not digest with the same comforting feeling as before, but, it is do-able. At 4 years out? I eat sautéed and fried stuff fairly often. And, with none of the "Evil-BM" issues that some mention. Bread? That one has remained a fairly rare item on my diet ever since surgery. Why? It gums up and swells in my pouch and leaves me feeling a bit ‘icky.’ Now- Second- I don’t know about you, but for me the loss of some foods compared to being able to be ‘normal-sized?’ For me it was a case of- "You can Keep the Cheese! Just let me Out of the Trap!!" Yes? The big trick is using these first months to re-establish New eating patterns/choices and a new "Relationship" to food. If you find yourself using it as a "treat?" Then that only serves to reinforce those old eating habits that got us to the point of needing surgery in the first place. Don’t feel that you’ll "Never" have fried foods again….Just don’t "Ever" let them have the hold on you that they once may have. It’s not an "All of Nothing" sort of formula, but one that has a very long-term learning curve. Many folks don’t try adding back in "Bad-Foods" until they reach goal-weight. That accounts for the large number of folks on the Grads-Board complaining about "Bounce-Back-Weight" or Re-gains of 10 to 20 lbs at 3 years out…. Keep your eyes on the prize! And accept that there aren’t Black & White Hard edged rules. Just consequences for everything – good and bad. Yes? Keep at It! Best Wishes- Dx

Nicotine addicts get the shakes. Heroine addicts sweat and feel physical pain. Kicking the addiction of wrong food choices is painful, and humbling. Sometimes it is socially humiliating. The point is that we have to remember it is often an addiction we're dealing with. A complete psycho-social network of history running throughout our chemical and emotional biology. It ain't easy. When I find myself choosing rationally sound explanations for why I ought to eat some cheesy-fish crackers I remember what my sober friend told me after going to rehab for Oxycontin and other pills: Addiction is your own voice telling you it's ok when everyone else tells you it's wrong.

Best of luck, mate. Keep to the program. Keep to the boards. Keep to your word. You promised yourself you'd do it, didn't you?

I am 3 years out and I eat bread sticks, fried clams, wheat toast, fried chicken, anything I want. I also eat a drumstick, a wing and half a thigh, or 1/2 of a small order of fried clams. The amount is much less than before surgery. You will be able to eat like a "normal" person in time. I even eat chocloate and ice cream occasionally. I buy a large bag of M+M's (tear and share size) when I start work on Wednesdays, and I will eat it by the time I leave work on Saturday. I have been the same weight since I had my panni removal 13 months ago. It does get better, but you need to take advantage of the "honeymoon phase" of the process to get down to your goal weight. Best of Luck.