Eating Normally Ever Again?

Stole another one, about WLS, but actually captures the notion of making forever changes in our habits! When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu
“Living Normal” by Kaye Bailey - Friday, December 16, 2005

It is common for new WLS patients to ask,
“How soon after surgery will I get back to normal?”
This is understandable.
We’ve spent a lifetime dieting for the short-term –
the 30-day diet,
the six-week program,
the lose-ten-pounds-over-the-weekend diet.
Remember thinking,
“If I can stick with this plan for just 10 days,
then I can go back to normal.”

The diet industry has conditioned us to think
long-term lifestyle changes are unnecessary to accomplish weight loss.
We are impatient and demanding, we want a quick fix.
Expectations are unrealistic and result in failure,
disappointment and self-loathing.
But weight loss surgery is for life.
To that end, we must re-define normal.

Normal is living without co-morbidities:
asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure,
high cholesterol, sleep apnea, heartburn,
and knee and back pain.

Normal is feeling your body in motion,
walking up stairs briskly,
and bending to tie your shoes.

Normal is playing children’s games on the floor
and getting up without struggling.

Normal is hearing compliments about how great you look.

Normal is ACCEPTING compliments about how great you look.

Normal is fastening an airplane lap belt and pulling it tight.

Normal is the thrill of amusement park rides.

Normal is living without the incessant distraction of food
and the relentless hunger.

Normal is feeling proud – not ashamed – of your body.

Normal is savoring food one bite at a time, not ravaging it.

Normal is having the power –  to control eating behavior.

Normal is eating for Fuel, not Comfort – and doing just fine.

Normal is feeling discomfort when too much food,
or the wrong food is consumed.

Normal is drinking adequate water.

Normal is enjoying exercising!

Normal is boundless energy.

Normal is a positive outlook,
not fearing the doom of an early,
miserable death from obesity related health complications.

Normal is being able to decline doughnuts or pizza –
and not feel deprived!

Normal is making healthy eating and behavior modification
a lifestyle for the whole family.

Normal is quality food, not gluttonous quantity.

Normal is taking responsibility for your own health and wellness.

Normal is respecting the science of your body, 
and respecting yourself.

Normal is feeling compassion for others,
rather than exclusion and denial.

Normal is seeing, for a time, a stranger in the mirror.

Normal is freeing yourself from obesity’s prison.

Normal is understanding that the pre-surgical behaviors and habits were unhealthy, destructive and abusive.

When a fellow patient asks,
“When will I get back to normal?”
the answer is Never-Ever-Never.
Your surgery is a one-way ticket to health, and better living –
(If you so chose)
the new normal!

Re-define your own normal!
Chose your path into bariatric maturity.
Embrace the new healthy you!

Welcome to your new life: You have arrived!

~ KAYE BAILEY~

I might be the first living human to say so, but I prefer my eating style now to anything I have ever done. I get much flavor and don't feel like hell--- here's an idea of The New Normal here-- Breakfast today, since I am running around, is a protein milkshake. I make it with 8 oz skim milk, 1/3 frozen banana, 2 tbsps powdered peanut butter, 4 ice cubes, and a big glob of SF chocolate sauce. It's think and rich like an ice cream milkshake--- delicious!!!! (I only do shakes on Sundays.) Lunch is a gorgeous fresh burger patty from the Amish Market--- they grind bacon into the meat-- with a slice of ff cheddar, and a half cup of sauteed mushrooms. NOM NOM NOM! Dinner? A big piece of cashew-crusted oven fried chicken, with a side of italian green beans. Dessert tonight? A bowl of cheesecake cream cheese pudding, topped with fresh berries, and drizzled with bittersweet chocolate sauce. Because I have a cold and sore throat-- add in the three slushies--- lemon/raspberry, grape, and cherry limeaid.  All sugar and (almost) calorie free. And a couple of SF coffee caramel hard candies-- on accounta I just like them. You don't have to be deprived-- but  you have to be smart and plan ahead a little. This whole day? 901 calories, 27% carbs, 31% fat, 42% protein...100% tasty! From watching your daily posts, I eat a bigger variety of tasty foods than most do-- and I am not malabsorbing all that much anymore. I'm 10 months out now, and down 175 pounds-- and enjoy the New Normal quite a bit, believe it or not. It's really all in being dedicated and creative.

THAT is a bee-you-tee-ful post!  It's true...the New Normal does not have to be romaine and lowfat italian. There are some pretty amazing sugar free and better quality lower caloric nutritive foods available. A term i see is Nutrionally Designed...love that. The protein powders are nothing short of amazing. To sip a frothy creamy cup of hot cocoa and know it is 80 cals and 15g protein, nearly zero carbs? I can do that anyday. Even the Food Porn Network has some pretty amazing lower carb recipes - tre gourmet and stylish and most important, good for us chubbettes.  The New Normal dawned on me one time during a road trip where DH and I had to eat what was available. I could not wait to have a simple bowl of kale, or one crisp apple cut into slices or a piece of grilled beef with bleu cheese on it....then it hit me. I was surrounded by forbidden foods and I did not really want them. I saw it for the garbage it was.  great post, shari. i too feel much better for a multitude of reasons eating the way I do now. Folks, if your _____ food plan is helping you to lose extra weight, and helps you accomplish the things in that poem, you are doing something right.

I agree Neecee...

I have outright told my family that if I even LOOK at buying Mc D's (even the low fat stuff) they are to tackle me to the ground.  I am always sorely disappointed and the food is revolting.  I look at the fries and cringe thinking about the grease soaked into it... even on the very rare moment when I pinch one off fry off the kids I honestly don't even like them anymore.

Those foods can stay in the forbidden forest at the bottom of my mountain journey!

I LOVE wholesome healthy tasty food now.  I like food that nourishes my body.

I LOVE my new normal.

Thanks for that post Neecee.

Em

Normal is eating for Fuel, not Comfort – and doing just fine.

Normal is feeling discomfort when too much food,
or the wrong food is consumed.

my two favorites! i think back to earlier less head-healthy days and could cry when i think of the hours of exercise that I *thought* was undoing my overconsumption of food.....NOT.  And just changing my head to know that I need to give my body what it needs more often than what I want has changed my palate.

What a great post.