i cheated :(

I'm 3 weeks out, and I cheated :( to make a long story short, i've had a rough 'emotional' day with lots of surprises. Stupid head me turns to food since dh didnn't stick around to vent with me and he went to work out;while i stay at home with his son. SO, i had one meal left for today, and ate the red sauce from a can of chef boyardi ravioli. the puppies ate the raviolis, but i had the sauce it was packed in. my only problem "so far" with my mistake is i'm having reflux and gas. i don't know exactly how much i ate either. :( I'm ready for my slashes! and any words of wisdom. Amanda

Doesn't sound that bad, especially since you didn't dump.

Don't feel bad, not everyday is going to be perfect, if ur gonna feel bad everytime you eat something bad, ur gonna have a hard time. You can still eat the other things but in moderation and not all the time. This surgery wasn't to make you perfect, just healthier.

ahh Amanda, you did nothing bad at all. Do not beat yourself up over it. We have all cheated it is part of this wonderful journey. I would consider what you ate like tomato soup. Have a good one and keep up the good work. ~Diana~

I won't go off on you for doing something you were told not to do, I'm not your doctor. Here's what I can tell you: Eating some chef boyardi sauce one day won't completely derail you. Do be aware though that certain tomato sauces, especially the kind that comes in cans of chef boyardi are much higher in sugar then people realize, so I guess you are lucky you didn't dump - or did you? You mentiioned that you were then having reflux and gas - sometimes dumping symptoms take wier d forms. Although, to me that sounds more like a symptom of a three week old pouch - mine didn't really heal completely until about seven weeks out. I promise you the physical part of eating will get easier then.  The thing that is a little bit worriesome is that you mentioned that this was a response to "a rouch 'emotional' day." Without trying to sound to much like a psychologist - cuz I'm not - I would just say that maybe that is an issue you will need to work on. It's awesome that you realized this was a case of emotional eating - now let's do something about it! Obviously the surgery you had is a great tool to help limit your food intake and absorbtion - but it can be defeated if you allow head hunger to cause you to overeat - not that I'm saying that is you, just mentioning it. I'm glad you mentioned it. Drag that nasty thing out into the open and shine a big light on it and squa**** now before it becomes too easy to succomb to all the time. Just keep in mind that how you choose to approach coping and stress management is your choice. Here is something I found from my psych. group conseling session at three weeks post-op: Coping & Stress Management: Coping refers to the behaviors we engage in during periods of stress. Sometimes these behaviors are helpful in reducing our distress; however, sometimes the coping strategies people chose can actually make the situation worse. So let's consider some positive and negative forms of coping........... Some more adaptive possibilities include: Relaxation Pleasant activities Journaling Talking with a supportive friend Do something distracting Exercise Prioritize your tasks Pace yourself..... --- For me personally, I find exercising and journaling (in the form of OH) to be the most effective. I think it would be helpful for you to try to identify an alternative that works for you. You have tried the food route, and that didn't seem to work - it compounded things, it left you upset enough to post about it here..... Just some advice, definetly not trying to be critical here, only supportive. Remember you are doing well, getting better everyday, it WILL get easier as you heal and get used to things - it's ALOT to adapt to, but YOU CAN and WILL conquer it! Hey, if I can, anyone can!

Oh it could of been much worse! Just understand that you want to eat when things like that happen and maybe turn your emotions into something else. Painting, Working Out, Sudoku, Cleaning. That's what i do! I hope you have a better day today!

That will probably happen - what is really important for you to remember at this point is early out if you "cheat" you can cause damage to your healing pouch.  Your surgeon has the post-op eating plan that he does for a reason.  The others pretty much covered everything I could think to say.  We all are rooting for you!