What's New, Wednesday Edition....

It's almost 8 am here.  Where is everyone????

Grabbing coffee.  Be right back.

Candy

Good Morning

First of all, I have to thank Jani for the tip on enlarging the font.  Sometimes especially early in the AM these old eyes don't want to focus, and the bigger font size (so easy to do!!) is a wonderment!

I've been keeping busy the past few weeks, setting up some volunteer situations.  Helping at the Food Pantry and the local church clothing Thrift Shop weekly.  Plus, the gardens look better than they've ever looked so early.  Combination of good weather, a helping friend, and just plain more time.  Today I've been elected to accompany a friend to look for new furniture.  I warned her that it took me 3 years to choose my last sofa, and and six more hours to select fabric, but she insists.  I'm thinking I'll bring coffee and a book, and let her make her own decisions.  'Cause if it comes home and she doesn't like it, it won't be my fault that way.

The weather's been nice and warm, calling for mid-80's today.  Air conditioning in the car and the stores.  And iced coffee...lots of it!

Tomorrow is my 4 year post op WLS visit.  I'm hoping the labs remain good.  I struggle every day to remember vitamins and cacium, and to continue to eat "right", instead of "fast".  Wish they could have operated on my brain at the same time they did my innards.....

Everyone have a great day.

Candy

Morning from southwest Michigan.....
Not much going on here, another day in the mid to upper 80's.  The heat just saps my energy.....I need to weed my flower bed before planting new plants, but just don't have the get up and go.....besides I can't be in the sun for long....guess it will wait till nex week.

Going to go away this coming weekend for a couple days .....looking forward to that.

Off to work shortly -- have a great day.

Pat R.

Good morning OFF family,
Sounds like everyone is busy and trying to stay cool. It's hot in Michigan and I'm going to take a walk shortly with working out my arms with the bands.

Joint Commission is here again today at the hospital I work at, so it's tense.

Going to spend the weekend alone with my 8 yr old granddaughter. We will go to the beach, ride our bikes and jump on the trampoline. I will take her shopping, she needs some shorts for the summer.

Hugs...Eileen, good luck with your new job, moving and selling your house. Debbie

I'm down 63 pounds this morning.  BUT

That said, this past week I’ve really struggled with head hunger. It’s really the first time I’ve had what I consider a real battle with it. I haven’t eaten anything that I shouldn’t, but the temptation has been tremendous! I think I feel hungry more often too, but I’m convinced it’s just head hunger. I’m so afraid to eat something I’m craving for fear that it would make me fall completely off the wagon. I know that once the weight comes off I can have the occasional treat and will still maintain. But during the losing stages, I want to keep losing at a good rate.  I don’t’ want to sabotage that.  But this struggle is exactly the reason I quit dieting in the past and gained my weight back. That’s why I’m afraid to let myself slip even a little bit. 

Does anyone have any tricks that have worked for you?  

I keep telling myself that if I feed my small stomach healthy foods, the stomach will remain healthy too. I sure don’t want my stomach to be harmed in any way.   Right now, even that isn't working.  I'm craving all kinds of foods.  Why can't surgery fix this?!

Sometimes cravings come from your body telling you she needs something...like I get intense steak or hamburger cravings sometimes.  I think my iron needs boosting at those points and so I indulge. 

When I get intense cravings for candy or chips though ... I KNOW that's a head or psychological craving.  That I have to deal with by working through the issues that caused the cravings to come about.  When I didn't have surgery, I could eat an entire bag of chips or a quart of ice cream or a pound of M&Ms in one sitting.  Now I can't and it makes me sick if I go to far with indulging so I *have* to do with the pain that's going on.

The in-between type cravings...you feel hungry but not sure exactly for what --  I try to make sure I've got protein in that snack.  If I'm craving crunchy and it'll be satisfied with celery, I'll also add peanut butter.  If I want sweet and raisins or a handful of M&Ms will do, I'll throw in nuts.

If I MUST have something on the "no" list, I go for the smallest amount possible.  Like, I buy the smallest bag of M&Ms or chips instead of the family size like I used to.

How do you like protein shakes?  Because they're always good in a pinch.  You can make fruit smoothies with them and stuff especially now that summer's on its way.

Best wishes!

I like your idea of adding just a little treat along with the protein.  Like you, I could eat the entire bag of chips (along with a container of dip) .  I have never had a terrible sweet tooth, so the whole bag of M&Ms would take me a few days. LOL  But trust me, I would eat them all!

We have been camping the last couple of weekends and the food that our group prepares is unbelievable.  I think that's part of the problem.  Once I eat my protein, I'm satisfied, but I sure do want to eat some of the other things.  I did take a couple bites of potatoes. 

I'm not too crazy about the protein drinks.  I drink 1 every day, but otherwse, I would never consider it a treat. LOL

Thanks for your suggestions!

Wanda

Struggled with head hunger...ask yourself if it's really head hunger or if you are hungry.

Here's one of my tricks: Drink 8 oz. of water, wait 20-30 minutes during that time if you can go for a walk or do some type of exercise to get your mind off food. Hungry after that, then eat. Use portion control and mindful eating. Don't be afraid of food, you have to eat.

Really the occasional treat will NOT make you fat. Sit down and enjoy that treat, savor the taste. Concentrate on every bite. Now...stop eating when that treats loses it's fantastic flavor. Really after 3-4 bites your taste-buds are satisfied. We should not let food freak us out.

Went to my MIL 87th birthday party, I had a small square of homemade cake and it was wonderful. I was satisfied and I walked away from the cake/treat table after my very small piece. Ate it just before we left the party so no further temptation. That one small piece of cake was tasteful and I was in control and it was my treat for the day.

I'm still taking off some regain and it's almost all off.
I don't diet, I practice mindful eating. No food is off limits for me now. Just small portions and exercise. I eat real butter...all the real stuff for me. I don't feel deprived...just small portions.

Remember we will be eating this way for the rest of our lives, we can't go back to large portions and just eating what we want when we want. It's a new way for us how to deal with food, we eat crappy food, most likely we will feel crappy.

Thanks!  I have been to a couple of celebrations and did eat a small sliver of cake and you are right - it was enough!  I guess I'm just afraid that I'll slip back into old habits.  I know that I can't eat those volumes, but I'm afraid I'll eat something, find out that I can eat more of it than I should, then lose control.  Oh why doesn't the surgery take care of head hunger too?!  Then it WOULD be the easy way!

Thanks so much for your help and words of wisdom!

Wanda

You got good suggestions, my thought is depending on what it is you are craving, to see if you can come up with creative ways to please yourself and stay on track, ie, pizza and the mock pizza recipe with spinach, egg substitute, lowfat cheese, tomato sauce, it's feeds the tastebuds, does away with the hunger and at minimal caloric and other damages. . .  Wanda, you can get a handle on this, it's day to day for all of us, as been said many times, the brain is where the surgery was needed, but alas, minus a lobotomy, it's the stomach's they reworked, leaving us to come up with creative ways to maneveur around what got us fat in the first place. . .  food tastes good, comforts and creates warm feelings in us, we need to find the ways to replace that. . .  all this being said, I still struggle and as a result I am up 7 lbs. on my ticker weight, but I am not without hope that I can do this, just for today. . .  making right choices come hard for us. . .

Wishing you acceptance and the ability to change what you can. . .

Laureen