Season's Eatings?

Beth (Melting Mama) posted this on her blog! I thought I would share ;o)


Season's Eatings?
 

And so it begins.  The season of over-indulgence or FREAKING THE HELL OUT IN CAPS!! over food.  Where do you stand?  I sit firmly in the middle, here, eating my half bagel with butter, while I write this post.   

I noted something interesting online at the beginning of the week.  

Everyone was on a diet.

(Disclaimer, because I gets The **** for what I write, including the use of profanity:  Not YOU, Not EVERYONE, dear.)

Curiously, lots of WLS'ers were discussing the "plans" for the week's eating's, the Season's Eating's. 

And, I know this coming Monday, I'm going to see the "OMG! I GAINED 3-4-5-6-7-8 LBS! over the holiday!" posts. 

Followed by, "I've got to gain control before Christmas!"  so I can:

• Eat ___________
• Drink __________
• Generally Be Merry in front of friends and family

Lots of WLS'ers were talking about how they might just cut back to save calories for the holiday, others by dropping a few extras here and there, and more than a few, were liquid dieting this week, in preparation for Thanksgiving.  A couple, fasting, cleansing, or forgoing food.

I wondered why? 

Since we have weight loss surgery, especially in the earlier post op stages, it isn't really possible that we can physically do that much caloric damage to truly undo good work that we have already done.  You cannot undo 100-150-200 pounds weight LOST in a single turkey dinner.  You can't even undo your good work in your whole DAY of turkey carcass destruction.

Consider what you ACTUALLY ATE in the course of the special day.   (G'head write it down.  I'll wait.)  Here's my day, by memory, at 8:45pm the day after, so forgive me if I have it wrong:

• 6am-11am - Coffee, soy...
• Breakfast 11am - Deli Chicken Breast
• Thanksgiving Dinner - Coffee with cream, Pumpkin Bisque, Peas and Mushrooms, Turkey with Gravy, Ham and Mustard Sauce, Coffee with cream, plain whipped cream (in lieu of the desserts because sugar kills me and I had already had enough in the bisque, I can tell at this point when it's too much!)
• Thanksgiving Evening, at the in-laws - Over several hours, creamed onions, 3 small chocolate chip cookies, Cranberry Wine, Sugarfree Cheesecake
• Home, late - Wheat bread, ham, mustard.... bed.

Even with the decadance of some of those foods, the "damage" was hardly any worse than any other day that I simply ATE without "diet head" thinking.  In fact, if I might add it up, it could be a typical day.  Just saying.  Now, I was OUT to dinner, at a restaurant, where I was not tempted all day to pick at ANYTHING, so I did not get my paws on my usual pre-dinner noms.  This would have been olives, pickles, cheese, etc., which would have led to no dinner.  That's my usual routine. Truth.  I don't know if this changes anything overall, but I did enjoy having dinner OUT instead.

Now, realize you cannot gain that much FAT that quickly.  You have gained fluid, you have gained salt.  You have gained um, poop.

Relax. 

You won't continue eating Thanksgiving day meal-style forever, will you?  Then, you should be back to your normal weight in no time.  Go to the bathroom would you? Come back.  Feel better?

It really isn't such a BIG DEAL.  In fact - WHY are you ON THE SCALE the DAY AFTER YOU HAVE EATEN more salt, fat and, well, butter than your stomach as likely seen in six months anyway? 

Certainly it is more calories than you might allow in a regular day, understandably, most of us wouldn't typically have indulgent foods around all the time.  (If you often have pecan pie, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, stuffing with sausage and apples, you may be concerned... but really?)

Is it really necessary to stress for a week or more for one meal or one day of indulgent over-eating? 

Yes, if you're planning to cut back the food prior to that day, you I suppose I think that you must be planning to truly out-do the limitations of your stomach and your weight loss surgical procedure.

I read recently of people removing the liquid from their gastric bands for holiday eating, just to enjoy eating MORE and more variety.  Taking a band-holiday to overeat.  That is, interesting? 

But the thing with a gastric bypass, we can't take a break from our surgery.  We OWN it. 

The only way you are going to cheat and overeat your bypass surgery is to graze and constantly push the limits.

• You CAN physically overeat in a single sitting, but that's absolutely ridiculously uncomfortably painful for many of us. 
• You CAN physcically overeat certain types of foods in a single sitting, but it can cause super cool side effects like dumping and late dumping for many of us.  (For those who do not dump, it can be hard to gauge when to stop eating.)
• You CAN overeat anything if given enough time.   One bite at a time.  Believe me.  It CAN be done.

I'm an idiot, PERFECTLY NORMAL even at almost seven years post op. 

• I dump all the time by accident. There isn't any warning in some foods.
• I overeat and I don't realize I am full until, I am walking around hoping not to spit up.  It comes with owning a bypass.  A few bites of lettuce today and I was nauseous.  It just happens sometimes. 
• I graze.  I snack.  I forget that I should probably have a meal, and instead, it's a meal of... cheese.
• I fail.  ALL THE TIME.
• So?

But, Thanksgiving was just another day.  Just food. 

And, the upcoming holidays and four thousand parties?  They are just that, just parties, and just food.  Food is not a big deal.  It does not and should not predict my behavior.  I eat when I am hungry, not because it's a holiday and there is a meal.  OMG BUFFET!?  No.  Not really.  There's the cheese and here I am.  I will take what I want and have fun doing something else.  (Like, realizing there are six different choices of TEA over there!) 

The food is NEVER worth the feeling afterward.  Ever.

I wonder what it would be like if we just let it go -- and relaxed a bit.  Eating in moderation, within our limits of our diet plans but not restricting and dieting like crazy so that we are GOING crazy all the time around the holidays.  How about it?

 

I try to eat moderately all the time, not just on holidays, it's working for me so far.

Jane

It just goes to show that even us veteran's can freak out over a few pounds during the holidays.  I know I didn't get in 64oz of water or 80g of protein and lord knows I didn't exercise! All those factors (including poop) prove my 3 pound gain.  I was down 1 pound this morning. 

This will be a life long battle......I cant change my fat girl mentality!

Ash ;o)

I always enjoy reading her posts, and I love your comment "can't change my fat girl mentality". I never realized I had issues or addictions with food, but I now know that I do. After my Thanksgiving gain, which is already gone, I have already started thinking about Christmas. I should be thinking about what I should do differently to eat better, but instead I started thinking I need to lose a couple of pounds before then in case I gain. I'm so glad you posted this, because I need to change my thinking about eating when I can't be at home in my normal, safe food environment.

Beth is a hoot! I know some people dont care for her but she's been a great supprot system for me going on 4 years now. I like that she's blunt and doesnt sugar coat anything. Shelley (theworldaccordingtoeggface) is another one who's helped me in my journey.

I'm not sure I can every change my food brain.....lol

i likeBeth too and i loveeeee shelly i use so many of her recipes thanks for posting