Eight weeks post-op and counting....

You're going to get blasted for what you ate but here's what I'll tell you and every other sleever:  Just because you CAN eat something, doesn't mean you SHOULD eat it.  

I can eat sandwiches...and chips...and ice cream...and candy...and chocolate.  All day long...but should I? Are carb-heavy sandwiches (my favorite lunch food ever) something that I should be putting into my tiny little tummy, which is now prime real estate?  Is it the most nutritionally wise choice so early out for you?  No, not really...

I applaud you for the 87 lbs. lost, that is fantastic!  If you want to maintain that you will have to take a more serious look at your behaviors (using food to "treat" yourself) and the foods you choose (bread is never a good choice).  

Why are you rewarding yourself with food still?  Are you swing a therapist?  A good one should be able to help you learn and figure out healthier ways to treat yourself - ones that don't involve food. 

Wow. Maybe my using the word 'treat' wasn't the right word to use. You know what I find ironic here on OH, if I had posted over the holidays I went off the normal intake and had some turkey and a few bites of mashed potatoes or stuffing, there would have been barely a response other than well enjoy your holiday, tomorrow is a whole new day. I enjoy a sandwich spread out over an entire day and it's like I shot someone's dog or something equally heinous. Amazingly enough, when I stepped on the scale this morning which I do everyday, I was half a pound lighter. I hardly think my intake yesterday sums up my existence. My normal intake is still protein shakes, yogurt, tuna salad, chicken salad or crab salad. No not at all the same time, just as my pool of variety to pull from. As to one who asked, my surgeon stated that starting yesterday which is the start of week 9, I was free to introduce whatever foods I wanted to as tolerated, I don't take that as a license to go wolf down whatever I want in whatever quantity I want. 

Early out you can pretty much sit on the couch and eat candy and still lose weight. That's why it's called the honeymoon period. It is a bad idea to start eating random bread and other crap early out. It sets you up for the notion you can eat anything and maintain--you can't.

If this was a post over the holidays about stuffing and pie, I would tell you the same thing. Your surgeon's advice is bad. As tolerated is a pretty broad range. He should have said protein and a few vegetables as tolerated.

^^^ This ^^^

So what you are telling me, is that my surgeon who does nothing but weight loss surgeries doesn't know what he's talking about? Also a sandwich split up over an entire day does not translate to that is my every day routine. Am I going to start eating pie or donuts or whatever else is bad for me? Nope. I pass by garbage food every day and don't even think twice about it. Actually I don't even think once about it. My normal day of intake consists of a variety chosen from protein shakes, yogurt, and either chicken/tuna/crab salad, my zero calorie sobes for my fluid goals make up the mix. Today for example I have had one protein shake and some chicken salad. So how is something out of the ordinary make me set me up for failure? As others have replied, that I am going to end up gaining all my weight back and so on. Haters just have to hate I suppose. I'll be sure to post at my 12 week mark and marvel at the fact at how much I have spiraled downward from my single sandwich yesterday. Yes that is sarcasm for those who don't recognize it. To those expressing genuine concern, it's appreciated and don't worry. To those who just want to point their fingers and judge, your opinion is just that, yours,  and Kate, I am not saying you are in that category just to clarify.

Surgeons are good at surgery but most are not well versed in nutrition, even those who perform wls. For us, protein first is very important. It is dense and leaves less room for other things and does not cause blood sugar fluctuations.

I do not mean that half a sandwich today leads to hoovering a cake tomorrow. It is easier, though, once simple carbs creep back, for them to bust through your defenses like the Kool Aid Man.

Edited for spelling

Very true if you allow it to, I however have no intention to allow it. I am normally a picky eater, my weight issue came about as a result of a physical impairment secondary to a staph infection 10 years ago. It basically stopped me in my tracks and over the last 10 years had me increase in size by about 80% more or less, in 2014 I had surgery to fix the impairment (well at least partially fixed, still one more surgery to completely resolve it) and realizing I had gone so far south weight wise did the sleeve surgery 2 months ago. Even now I am more active than I have been in a very long time and it's absolutely exhilarating. The sky's the limit and I intend to climb up on afterburners on full.

I do think you make a good point that is often times forgotten: We were/are not all obese for the same reasons. Some people's triggers are emotional, some physical, some carb-related, etc. For example, I do NOT like candy/sweets/soda or even really carbs. Those things have never appealed to me and there is no chance that having a sliver of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving will ever spiral into an unhealthy habit. I have always eaten a protein-forward diet, with my obesity more related to long-undiagnosed thyroid issues (I gained about 100 lbs. in the span of 3 years), and the emotional impact of falling in love with a very, very unhealthy eater (for which I consistently cooked). 

Very true if you allow it to, I however have no intention to allow it. I am normally a picky eater, my weight issue came about as a result of a physical impairment secondary to a staph infection 10 years ago. It basically stopped me in my tracks and over the last 10 years had me increase in size by about 80% more or less, in 2014 I had surgery to fix the impairment (well at least partially fixed, still one more surgery to completely resolve it) and realizing I had gone so far south weight wise did the sleeve surgery 2 months ago. Even now I am more active than I have been in a very long time and it's absolutely exhilarating. The sky's the limit and I intend to climb up on afterburners on full.

Intention.  I love that word.  It's so dirty.  

Do you think any of us intended to become obese, morbidly obese, super morbidly obese etc.? We all have reasons be they physical, mental, emotional.

You are saying that the reason you almost doubled your weight in 10 years was from physical impairment.  So why did you not just restrict your calories after say the first 5 years of weight gain?  Not so easy is it?

I think you feel you are different from the rest of us because you have a physical impairment.  Better then the rest of us fatties that just couldn't control our eating.  Time will tell I guess.

I really do wish the best success for you.  I hope that you can continue to eat small portions of whatever you like and continue to lose weight.  I know many surgeons look at the restriction from surgery as being enough to accomplish this.

My surgeon was very blunt in his post op instructions.  He basically said that if I carry on with the same eating habits albeit in smaller portions I am very likely to be unsuccessful with long term weight loss.  My post op diet really emphasized a high protein low carb approach. Carbs should be primarily from vegetables.

 I think that all of the advice from the experienced members of the forum is well meant.  They are trying to help you avoid the pitfalls of poor dietary choices.  

As a relative newbie it even struck me that you said 'treat' when making a food decision.  I know you said you misspoke, but it is a common mindset to reward achievement with food.  That's a huge hot button here I find, 'cause in the past most of us used food in that way, as emotional support.  Right back to childhood when you skinned your knee and got offered a cookie to ease the pain.