RE: carbs...are you "normal" I say yes...and NO! I'll explain......
On March 12, 2011 at 1:38 PM Pacific Time, jimbovsg wrote:
On March 12, 2011 at 9:51 AM Pacific Time, Michelle F. wrote:
For me, I will never be "Normal" (in any way you look at it!) 
Carbs are my crack, mostly refined carbs, but even healthy carbs. If I eat whole grains or too much fruit, I will slowly slide into a binge that can last for years. I'm jealous of the people, before or after WLS, who can eat just one cookie and be satisfied with no cravings for me. One cookie is fine for today, tomorrow it will be two cookies and a banana, then some donuts with my coffee and hell, back up to 275 pounds!My daughter is one who can eat carbs in moderation, but she also eats really healthy, is thin and is a competitive dancer...I hope she can stay that way. My husband on the other hand is thin except for his belly and neck...that is where you can see all the years of eating macaroni, sugary drinks and cookies/ice cream, donuts, etc. He may not be obese but he's certainly not healthy...he takes blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds and if he got himself to a doctor I'm sure he would find his sugar high as well. He takes in way less calories than I ever did but they're not healthy calories and his health has suffered because of it.
The only way I was ever able to lose weight and maintain it is low carb. I have never forced what works for me on anyone else, but I know that the only way to make any weight loss permanent is to stay away from refined carbs and sugar, and limit even healthy carbs, otherwise I will be on a downward spiral. I'm a carb addict, it affects me the way crack affects other people, So for me, keeping them out of my house and out of my life is the only way to stay healthy and sane!
Too many years people have been told to eat less move more, and as a society we just keep getting bigger and unhealthier, so that's obviously not the answer.! I truly believe that for most of us WLS people, low carb is.
It shows that thin doesn't always mean healthy. The man is only 170 pounds but his neck is 17 1/2" He doesn't eat a lot of protein or fatty foods, his diet is mainly comprised of carbs. Growing up in an Italian family, it's hard to give up the macaroni and he's not even willing to try. So for the past 2 years, when he wants it, he cooks it himself...if I can't eat it I'm not cooking it!
Band to Sleeve Revision 3/1/11
Yup but I won't comment on it to him because I know how it feels. When he's ready to get healthy he will. I have my own eating to deal with! And now that I'm sleeved I finally feel normal again after over 2 years of pain and problems. Being thin was NOT worth all the pain from the band.
Band to Sleeve Revision 3/1/11
Okay here I go jumping in again where I don't belong. From before I had surgery I have had people on here (oh, not the sleeve board specifically) jumping up and down and telling me that I wouldn't lose my weight, wouldn't maintain, would end up fatter than I started.. All because I have said from the beginning that I would eat normally through my process. How many carbs do I eat a day? Well, I don't know because I don't count anything.. But I do know that I eat carbs with every meal and snack.. And not even mostly the "healthy" kind. I eat white bread, chips, cookies- hell I am a baker.. I also eat full fat everything, blah, blah, blah.. I NEVER advocate that this will work for anyone else- but it is working for me, and I get frustrated at still being told I am naive and destined for failure. I do not fool myself into thinking that because I have maintained my goal weight for almost two years means it will stay easy forever.. But for ME.. So far, so good.
I am still loving life with my sleeve! Been maintaining at or below goal for over 4 years!
"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within." - Ramona L. Anderson
On March 12, 2011 at 9:14 PM Pacific Time, Still Fawn wrote:
Okay here I go jumping in again where I don't belong. From before I had surgery I have had people on here (oh, not the sleeve board specifically) jumping up and down and telling me that I wouldn't lose my weight, wouldn't maintain, would end up fatter than I started.. All because I have said from the beginning that I would eat normally through my process. How many carbs do I eat a day? Well, I don't know because I don't count anything.. But I do know that I eat carbs with every meal and snack.. And not even mostly the "healthy" kind. I eat white bread, chips, cookies- hell I am a baker.. I also eat full fat everything, blah, blah, blah.. I NEVER advocate that this will work for anyone else- but it is working for me, and I get frustrated at still being told I am naive and destined for failure. I do not fool myself into thinking that because I have maintained my goal weight for almost two years means it will stay easy forever.. But for ME.. So far, so good.
JIMBO... 350lbs! lost!..... TRIPLE CENTURY CLUB!! HELL ...YEAH!
MY VSG......KICKS ASS! 
I am 6' 2" 
I get that I am lucky- that is why I never preach that others eat the way I do.. I do jump in to give the opposing perspective though, because for every twenty people who this won't work for, there may be one who it does, and why should they feel alone or wrong either. I am ever vigilant for the fact that all this is fluid, not static, and what works may stop working at some point.
My brain is a wacky place btw.. you would def be ready to trade back quickly, lmao..
My brain is a wacky place btw.. you would def be ready to trade back quickly, lmao..
I am still loving life with my sleeve! Been maintaining at or below goal for over 4 years!
"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within." - Ramona L. Anderson
On March 13, 2011 at 2:29 PM Pacific Time, Still Fawn wrote:
I get that I am lucky- that is why I never preach that others eat the way I do.. I do jump in to give the opposing perspective though, because for every twenty people who this won't work for, there may be one who it does, and why should they feel alone or wrong either. I am ever vigilant for the fact that all this is fluid, not static, and what works may stop working at some point. My brain is a wacky place btw.. you would def be ready to trade back quickly, lmao..
JIMBO... 350lbs! lost!..... TRIPLE CENTURY CLUB!! HELL ...YEAH!
MY VSG......KICKS ASS!
I am 6' 2"
Kudos Jimbo for such a provocative post. My 2 cents is that refined carbs can be really addictive and invariably caused the derailment of every previous diet and weight loss attempt I made before having vsg. I had given up and decided never to do a traditional diet again because I always regained and then some. Its as though some tiny computer inside my fat cells remembered every carb and calorie I had passed up and began screaming for them until it became unbearable.
So I still journal all my food and keep the carbs low and expect to do this for life. It would be ineresting to know if there are studies on whether the average daily carb consumption by Americans has increased over the past 30 years in step with the obesity epidemic. I suspect it has though I am sure calorie consumption has similarly increased. Seems like someone would have studied the issue of whether some individuals are more sensitive to carbs or more prone to carb addiction or maybe there is a carboholic gene or something.
Anyway, great topic. Much more to be discovered on this topic I think.
Diane
So I still journal all my food and keep the carbs low and expect to do this for life. It would be ineresting to know if there are studies on whether the average daily carb consumption by Americans has increased over the past 30 years in step with the obesity epidemic. I suspect it has though I am sure calorie consumption has similarly increased. Seems like someone would have studied the issue of whether some individuals are more sensitive to carbs or more prone to carb addiction or maybe there is a carboholic gene or something.
Anyway, great topic. Much more to be discovered on this topic I think.
Diane
Join US On The VSG Maintenance Group Forum!!
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/
Good point and I don't doubt it and I bet a lot of it is high fructose corn syrup which seems to do worse things to blood sugar and insulin levels than cane or beet sugar. And I really do think some individuals are just more suceptible to negative impact from carbs. I know that Native Americans from the plains tribes have rampant diabetes and its believed this is because modern diet is so different from historical diet of meats and gathered fruits and seeds.
Since I am of Swiss ancestry I believe I am geneticly programmed to eat chocolate and cheese. Such a burden. But somehow managed to avoid the urge to wear leather shorts and yodel! Diane
p.s. set clock back tonight eveybody!
Since I am of Swiss ancestry I believe I am geneticly programmed to eat chocolate and cheese. Such a burden. But somehow managed to avoid the urge to wear leather shorts and yodel! Diane
p.s. set clock back tonight eveybody!
Join US On The VSG Maintenance Group Forum!!
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/
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