How easy old routines are to continue

Its funny how we all have different struggles.  When I work from home food is so much easier than when I am at the office.  

The hardest thing for me is to not eat when I am bored, pre-surgery I would munch on things all the time just out of boredom. During the week when I am at work and on a schedule it is fine but on the weekends when I am home it is hard to not want to grab things from the kitchen out of old habit.  I have worked on diversion techniques like cleaning the house more, coloring, reading, etc. but it is not always easy.  I will say though that my house has been cleaner since surgery then it has been in years! lol 

Pre-op lap band 2009, I always ate late at night since I'm a night owl. At about 8 pm, my emotional and mental hunger kicked in. After the lap band I was able to stop. Main reason was I couldn't lay down after I ate or it would sit in my throat all night and make me miserable. I had to finish eating a few hours before I went to bed. Weight came off, I hit goal, kept it off for many years. My surgeon suggested I revise to the VSG because I was showing signs of future problems with my band. They removed all my fluid. For months, without a tool, I soon got back to night grazing, my longtime foe, and gained some weight back. I still ate relatively healthy but the extra calories at night was a definite detriment in my attempt to maintain my weight.

After revision to sleeve in Sept. 2016, I made a new commitment to never fall prey of my nightly emotional/mental hunger ever again. I set two app reminders to remind me to watch out for emotional eating. My most difficult times for some reason are at 9 pm and shortly after midnight. Once I get the reminders, I get involved with a hobby, movie or exercise... Etc. to keep me busy. 

Congrats on defeating your bad habits :D. Cheers!

When I'm having those moments I chew gum. I was never a gum chewer before but now I have lots of it in my purse.

I stocked the car with protein snacks and shakes, so if I need to eat something, it's still part of the plan.

I also grab a couple of cheese sticks on my way out the door.

What I really need to do is find a good substitute for stress eating. That might be knitting.

I cannot keep certain trigger foods in my house when I'm trying to lose weight. Tootsie Rolls are my nemesis! HAVE NO IDEA WHY THAT CANDY...it's not even real chocolate! Cookies too, but not just any cookies......Ohhh nooooo it has to be the thin chocolate chip cookies from walmart...not the expensive ones, but the walmart brand ones. They are thin (but not too thin) and really really crispy. SOOOOO GOOD.

I eat when I watch TV. Constantly. From the time i sit down to almost the time I get up. I never addressed this prior to WLS or after WLS or even now. I had a surgery that lets me kind of navigate most of this without issue and still maintain my weight. When I'm trying to lose weight, I replace carbs with protein snacks- hard boiled eggs, burgers with coleslaw, chicken crack (yes it's a thing), Wasa bread with mayo and turkey and cheese.


Scott