To Carb or Not to Carb..... Frustrated!

Some people refer to me as "the food police" or "food nazi" because I am so strict with foods.  I lost mega weight before surgery a few times going from obese to skinny and super morbidly obese to overweight on the two most successful attempts. I even kept it off for a couple of years the first time, through starvation. The biggest cause for weight regain was always junk food. This time around I know a lot I didnt back then ;) Most importantly I know the difference between having a diet and being on a diet. I have 1 cup of ice cream everynight, its NSA and helps my bowels move. I also eat 120 - 160 grams of protein a day. I eat "everything" with my focus on protein first. I didnt have wls to get skinny, that happened by accident. If I regain some weight eating normal foods, so be it my goal weight was actually 26 pounds ago and thats not including the 15ish pounds Im about to lose in plastics.. I didnt take this drastic step to cripple myself with food obsession, I had that in plenty supply pre op :P Thanks for the words of warning though I do understand where you are coming from ;) HUGS PK

I had the DS, so I eat that way (more or less) anyway.  However... My DH just told me that he'd like to lose about 10-15 pounds (I swear, some days...).  I've heard great things about the South Beach Diet, and since I'm the cook in our family, I went out and bought the book today.  From what I read, it is healthier than Atkins, fairly liveable in the long term, and relies heavily on the Glycemic Index where carbs are concerned.  I think it would probably be a good option for you.  The thing I liked the most was that it basically "detoxed" carbs from your system so it reduces the carb cravings that get us all.  There are a bunch of great-looking recipes in the book, too, complete with suggested meal plans. I figure, for me personally, that I'll eat South Beach for dinner, since I don't feel like preparing anything extra (once again, I'm the only one who knows how the stove works...grrrr), and eat my high-fat/high-protein regimen for breakfast & lunch. Good luck getting to your goal!

Once I got rid of the white carbs, rice, sugar, bread, i began losing again.  I an up a few lbs, and had to cut back on carbs again, some how they snuck back in.    Like other have mentioned, we need to do protein first, veg's then carbs.  Best of luck. MaryLyn

I am over two years out now but I still have to do a high protein/low natural carb diet or the weight starts creeping up again. I weigh every single day too.  I know some folks say that's not healthy but honestly, if I'm going to start gaining again, I'd much rather know it when I'm only 3 lbs up as opposed to 20.  Plus I used to have a major fluid issue prior to the surgery, if I'm holding/generating fluid then this is the first step to knowing that too.  But the more important issue here to me is why are you wanting to go back to eating in an unhealthy way?  I mean processed carbs at least for me, got me to my pre-surgery weight of 350 lbs.  I met my goal weight of 150 this past Nov.  And I creep up a few lbs every single time I think it's okay to have alittle pasta or a slice of bread or a half serving of potatoes..........every single time. Obviously my body does not want/need those kinds of carbs.  I eat plenty of fruit/veggies fresh only to meet my carb needs.  I think what we need to do is choose healthier carbs.  Not processed carbs.  I still do my protein shake every single morning for breakfast and I figure I will do that until I'm past the 5 year mark at least.  Not a big breakfast person, never was.  So that lets me take my handful of vits before going to work:-)   I think the further out we get, we wanna mentally fit into the "normal" way of eating, what the rest of the world seems to think is okay.  Like the fast food meal on the way to the soccer game mentality, you know what I mean?  Mentally we think we can eat like the rest of the world because we're closer to "looking" like what we think is normal. And we get pissed off, at least I do, when I try it and gain a couple of lbs.  Plus I have a blood sugar problem now which I did not have prior to surgery.  So it's still a mental struggle for me.  I hope that you're able to find a diet that satisfies you mentally as well as physically. Carol J HW-350/GW-150/CW-150