Pasta, bread and rice

Do you EVER eat it?  I've avoided all 3, for the most part, for the past 6 months.  I've eaten very little of each and found they sat ok.  I know these are carbs that I want to avoid, but I can't see NEVER eating them EVER again.  So, do you ever eat them?  If so, how often do you allow these into your life?

Thanks!

Sure, I eat them.  Pasta feels very heavy in my pouch so I don't like to eat it, really.  When I do I only eat a small amount, like no more than 1/2 cup.  Rice and bread feel OK to me.  I try to eat no more than one serving of starchy carb a day, and some days I don't eat any.  I would say I probably eat something starchy like bread or rice about three times a week, on average.  I try to stick to brown rice or whole grain bread if possible.  And I make sure I'm getting my protein in.

Now, I'm also four years post op and I have room in my pouch for these foods along with my protein and fruits and veggies.  I ate them less often the first year or so.

Thank you, Kelly.  I feel like if I eat them I'd be "cheating".  Maybe I'm a little too anal?  LOL.  Right now, I can only eat about 1/2 (a smidge more depending on the food) total food at a time.

Cheating who?

Really, we all get to make our own rules.  The rules I've decided on say I can eat anything I want, in moderation.  I choose not to eat certain things, like foods high in sugar, because they make me feel very ill and I don't want to feel very ill.  I choose not to eat other things, like Cheezits, because I find it too difficult to eat them only in moderation and I don't want to eat half a box at a time.

What do you think would happen if you ate a little rice or bread or pasta?

I think you think carbs are bad because as an obese person we've always been told carbs were our problem...too many of them.  But carbs aren't the problem....it's the over indulging of them that is.  Like Kelly said, this is your own personal journey and you decide how to take it.  I know, you see people on here who are carb nazis and say if you eat them you'll gain your weight back.  BULL!!!  I, personally, have had a tortilla chip here and there, a cracker, a tiny piece of bread.  I refuse to not EVER eat carbs again.  This is not another "diet" we're on....it's a lifestyle.

I have two crackers each night as a snack. Other than that I do my best to stay away as I tend to over do those things. I love pasta and would eat it everyday but that is what got me here so like booze I don't do it anymore, for life. I can live without it. I plan on putting rice back in my plan sometime down the road when I am at goal. But I know I will have to watch it and weigh it every time or the big fat boy will come right back.

To be honest, I eat all 3.  I eat pasta the least out of the three,  but I eat wheat bread and brown rice daily.  Haven't had any problems losing.  I started eating them at about 5-6 months out.  Pasta I only eat about once every 2 months or so.

I eat 2 Melba toast cracker things with smoked salmon and melted cheese about 2 times a week... I totally get what you are saying, when I fist added this to my meal plan, I did feel a little like I was cheating... But the further out I get, the more I realize moderation is the key.... Not forbidding carbs from my life :)

For me it's a health choice because of diabetes, but I can't remember the last time I had pasta (it still upsets my pouch) I eat brown/wild rice maybe once every few weeks and 12 grain bread a couple of times a week.

This is an individual journey and you will have to choose how you are going to live it.   Early out you will only be able to eat a spoonful or two but believe me, this will not always be true!!!  White and processed carbs are often a lot easier to eat than dense protein and it's when the proportions start to get skewed that people find themselves in regain trouble a few years down the line.

Very easy to talk about moderation in the first year or two - not so much in the longer term if these things are trigger foods for you!

Thank you, everyone.  I think I must be in the mindset that carbs are bad and will cause me to not lose weight or even gain.  None of it is really a trigger food for me.  (My trigger foods are candy, chips and peanuts. I can't seem to control myself around these foods!)  So, I will allow these back in, but in strict moderation.  Thank you for the insight!