Weekly Maintenance Post

I think I missed last week - sorry.  Sometimes my weeks seem to run together.

Hope everyone has had a great two weeks.  There have been a lot of post in the last few weeks about people wanting to know how to deal with maintenance issues.

I can guarantee you maintenance is much harder than the weight loss phase.  There are choices that you have to make each day.  Some days I do good and some days I do really bad.  But we all still have our tools that we can use and it has been so much easier to get back on track than it ever was when I was on a diet prior to WLS.

I thought this week we could share atleast one thing that we are still doing that our surgeon had on their list of things to do to be successful.

I also thought we could share something that we have done that might hinder our success.  Something that might either could or already has gotten out of control.

I guess I'll start!!

I still wait atleast 30 minutes usually 45 minutes before I drink after meals.  This is a requirement on RNY.  I'm not sure about DS or VSG - could one you please tell us if it is required for your surgery.  I know it is also a requirement for lapband.  I also do not eat out like I did before surgery.  I actually ate out 3 meals a day almost 7 days a week - no kidding and most of it was fast food, this is a habit that I do not want to start back so I really try to avoid fast food.

Now for the bad - I have a terrible sweet tooth - I LOVE cookies and unfortunately where I work someone is always bringing something sweet.  Some days I can resist but most of the time I have a hard time resisting.  I try not to  buy sweets because neither I nor DH need to be eating these.  I have to eat a good bit before it affects me so I can eat a cookie every hour or two and before I know it I have racked up a lot of wasted calories and then I don't feel very good.

Hope all of our friends that are in maintenance or close to maintenance will join in our post.  Together we can all help each other.  If you have a great tip for the sweet tooth I would love to have it!!

Here is to a very successful week next week!!

Linda

 Thanks Linda.

I guess I'm in maintenance, though admittedly not handling it very well lately.  I'm trying to unlearn some bad habits I've picked up.  The old saying "the honeymoon is over", let me tell you after 4 years no truer words have ever been spoken.  My issue is carbs.  They are my demon.  But I'm making better choices now and packing my meals with more protein these days.  I've decided I think I can eat cold grilled chicken any time of the day or night so I've been grilling it up on the weekends for the upcoming week.  Several days this week I had 1/2 an English muffin, a couple ounces of cold grilled chicken and 4 or 5 cherries or 2 or 3 strawberries for my breakfast.  I think I can do better than the English muffin but I'm making changes and that's a start.

Something that I heard this week that really resonated with me is this...STOP EATING WITH YOUR HANDS!!!!  I was watching an interview with Carnie Wilson and her WLS surgeon on the Doctors.  They were asking the surgeon what he felt were the most important things one could do to be successful and one of the things he said was stop eating with your hands...Superbowl food, fast food, chips, cookies, etc.  This really made the light bulb go on for me.  When's the last time you ate a chip or even a cracker with a fork???

So that's my 2 cents!!  I'm a work in progress and the definition of progress is moving or going forward, so I think that's a good start or should I say re-start!!

Julie, I followed your trip this summer on Facebook.  It sounds like y'all had a great time.  When I retire I want to camp up the East Coast all the way to Maine and back.  I have never been that far up.

Carbs can catch up with you in a hurry.  They are so easy to go down, digest and most of them taste really good!!  Congrats on making better choices.  I bet when you get back to work and back on schedule you will be fine.  Do you have to put a sauce on that cold chicken???  I could never eat cold chicken without some type of sauce - it would get stuck and be bad....

I was eating with my hands when I read your post-LOL!!  But I was actually eating something good - Pizza Chips with lots of protein in them.  That is a good tip and I will have to remember that.

We are all a work in progress having some good days and some bad.  Glad to have you back with us!!

Linda

Forgive me Reverend Mother for I have sinned. I worked from home all week and grazed like a cow. Back to the office this week to atone for my sins.

--g
 

Gina, that was what I was talking about when I retire and stay home.... I even talked with DH about it this week.  I am so afraid I will eat anything I can find and gain weight.  He says we will stay active and travel and do more things together.  I don't know.  I can do a lot of damage on the weekends if I'm not busy!!

I'm sure when you get back to work and on your routine schedule you will be back to it!!

Linda

My surgeon wants us to wait 45-60 min after eating to drink. It's about satiety for sleeve and DS whereas with RnY it's about that but also I believe it's about  not stretching your stoma, or so I've been told.

I actually don't think maintenance is that hard after a while. You get into a groove and you learn to trust yourself and the signals your body gives you. It's way easier than trying to keep your weight off after losing it on a diet, that's for sure!

I agree that it is way easier than keeping your weight off after a diet!!

It is a lot easier for me to get back on track also.  Before WLS, it I got off track I would just give up and end up gaining more than I had lost on the diet...

I do good at waiting to drink after eating.  That has never been hard for me because I grew up with no liquids on the table ever.  My grandfather was a Dr and insisted on no drinking with meals so you couldn't wash your food down.  I also am really good about my vits/mins. 
I get plenty of fluids in almost always because I do at least 20 oz between each meal (4x a day).

I think my sweet tooth is every bit as bad if not worse since surgery.  DH keeps chocolate around and I do grab a piece every so often (like daily or ??? a day).  I used to use my chocolate calcuim chew and that would take care of my need but if there is real chocolate in the house, I will eat it.  He also keeps pastries and that kind of stuff but I can resist that.  I do love deserts and just don't cook them or buy them. 

I also find myself trending back towards being a volume eater.  I have been measuring lately and that helps.  I know I can't eat like I used to and what I want to volume eat is veggies so it isn't horrible but it still is more than I need. 

Other than cutting out all sweet anything, I don't know the answer to your sweet tooth. 

I was afraid the drinking with meals would get to me, but it hasn't bothered me much.  I used to drink 2-3 glasses of tea with my meals.  Atleast my grandmother used to make sacchrin tea.  My mom makes the real thing with sugar - I never drink that anymore.

I love the carmel calcium chews, but I noticed when i used them my sweet tooth went wild and I was really craving sweets after chewing them.  I changed back to the raspberry and they don't have that affect on me.

I could not have chocolate or pasteries in my house.  DH will go and get potato chips every now and then and they drive me crazy.  I can't just eat a few...

Good for you eating veggies to finish filling up.