Poll: Vets...do you defy convention?

For some reason, I prefer Hershey's Dark chocolate over other American brands of dark chocolate... hershey's milk chocolate is not only yuck, but it actually causes a physical sensation akin to pain. Of course even as a pre-op I had to avoid a lot of sugary foods (even though I'm a sweets gal) because most sugary foods if eaten in any quantities, would ulcerate my mouth. One hard candy - okay, two and my mouth ends up cut to ribbons, three and I'm cursing life for the next few days.

I wonder if there are good-yummy chocolate brands I should consider purchasing when I'm in Australia next February, or in New Zealand?

"HOWEVER, something I eat every day that is not on most people's plans is ...  CHOCOLATE!!!"

I knew I liked you!

Me, too!  Some days the small treat is non-chocolate (usually a spoonful of strawberry Haagen Dazs or maybe a small, plain cookie or a couple of chips), but most days it is a piece of dark chocolate.

Lora

 

 What, you can't find Cadbury's in Colorado???  I can find them here in California and send them to you if you want.  Now Smarties, that's what I love!

But I love dark chocolate, and there are many great brands, especial belgium that I can find here.  So there's never a day with out dark chocolate, almost.  I mean, I'm smack in the middle of peri-menopause, what's a gal to do?  

I reckon you must have more Brits in California than are here then if you are enjoying our chocolate  - I've probably not met more than 3 in the last 4 years I have been here - we're a rare Coloradan commodity LOL!!!

We have a World Market here that sells Cadbury's but most of it's manufactured in Bahrain for the Middle East and Asian markets and so the melting point is different to that in the UK - they do occasionally have the real stuff but it costs an arm and a leg!!!!   I honestly worry that I would eat more of it, if it were Cadbury's and not Hersheys LOL!

I love Smarties too and Flake and Mint Aero and Curly Wurly's and  ...

I miss my Flakes!! My husband's Mum is from Oxford and turned me on to them (luckily, we could find them in the specialty food's isle at our commissary). It's been a long while...

I think my diet is less strict than some post ops.  I don't eat meat, and I avoid large amounts of sugar, and I only drink raw milk from a local farm... so OK, my diet may seem weird in that respect.  But I go out to eat fairly often, I eat food like pizza (maybe once a month or less, not all the time), It's not unusual for me to eat a cookie, stuff like that.  I would say 90% of what goes in my mouth is healthy, but I guess that also depends on how you define healthy.  I don't necessarily think one slice of thin crust pizza with veggies and cheese is unhealthy, at least not if it's something I only eat occasionally.

Last Christmas, I stayed at my sister's for a couple weeks and we ended up with tons of cookies. She made some, she was given some, there were all sorts of fantastic cookies around.  I was careful not to dump,  which means I only ate one at a time, but I ate quite a few over those two weeks.  Because it's so unusual for me to do that, I decided it would be OK.  I was not going to get fat eating cookies once a year.  It turned out I didn't even gain any weight, but I had thought I might gain a pound or two and I was OK with that if I did, because I figured it would come off easily enough.

So I eat pizza, I eat cookies, I bake, I go out to eat, I do things that are normal for me (and the raw milk, no meat stuff is normal for me).  And I'm still maintaining.

I have never once worried about fat. I gained 200 lbs trying to live a low-fat lifestyle, I refuse to consider fat a bad thing. In fact, I deliberately choose full fat options.

I also allow myself small chocolate indulgences. From about 8 months out onward I allowed myself dark chocolate daily if I wanted it. Permission seemed to be a turn-off, and even though I continue to allow myself "A chocolate a day" I go months without it. But yeah, I eat chocolate daily. (just small quantities)

*Note - I am dealing with a small issue of regain, but I'm pretty sure it's more a question of moving my body rather than too many calories.

For me, it isn't anything quite as dramatic as baking 100 cookies (I could NEVER bake 100 cookies and control myself!), but for me it is the combination of eating almost anything I want (in portions adjusted not only for the size of my tummy but also for the level of calories, carbs, and/or fat in the food), having a small treat every day (except on rare occasions when I just have no desire for one), and having the occasional "free day" where I don't worry at all about what I eat.

That means that I have a piece of chocolate (or 2 Hershey's dark kisses)  almost every day, and that I eat small amounts of pizza, sandwich halves, cookies, full fat & sugar ice cream, and even occasional potato chips or half a bagel... and I am still maintaining my weight (even with very limited exercise)!  (I am impressed and amazed, even if no one else is! ) 

Now, granted, that means only eating 2 bites of pizza with the crust and then just eating the toppings off the rest of it... and not eating some of the bread on a sandwich... and limiting the ice cream to what is probably about 1/4 cup, and limiting chips/CheezIts/pretzels to what easily fits in one handful, etc. AND being diligent about making the bulk of what I eat as healthy as possible to offset the occasional less healthy items.

Since I am very limited in exercise because of my bad knee, it also means that I have to be diligent about maintaining my portion sizes of everything (although I never measure anything). It might not work for everyone (or even most people), but as someone *****cognized the HUGE role of the deprivation part of the diet-deprivation-regain cycle in my ever-increasing obesity, I knew that moderation had to play a much larger role in keeping my weight off than deprivation in order for me to be successful.

Now, we just won't talk about the two servings of NSA vanilla ice cream and SF hot fudge sauce (and the one Thin Mint) that I had Monday night after having to put Khan down.  Hey, nobody's perfect.

Lora

 I have to admit that at Christmas they came out with eggnog ice cream and I couldn't resist buying it.  But a tablespoon a night satisified me and it lasted over two weeks, which is the longest ice cream every lasted for me before.  No one else really liked it as much, or remembered it was there.  Otherwise, I love my weekend frozen yogurt treat with chocolate chips on top.

Always knew you were a soul sister.  How are you doing?  I am so sorry about Kahn and I would have had a lot more than what you ate deary.

Jan