What IS food to you??

During my losing phase, food became just fuel to me.  I obsessed about every calorie and every carb.  I don't feel the need to do that anymore.  I no longer journal my food intake, and I eat more intuitively.  However, I still look at food as mostly fuel.  I eat the food that will help me feel better physically and psychologically most of the time.  I block foods in and out of my diet depending on my daily weight.  I keep a hawks eye on the scale and eat according to what I see there.  I do allow myself to enjoy my food, and many of you would be shocked at the things I allow myself to eat somewhat regularly.  However, I am always ready to give them up and go back on "program" at a moments notice if I feel that I need to buckle down.  I have done this a few times already and within a few days I am back to, or even below, the weight I want to maintain.  Except for a few days a month, I feel mentally in control of my eating.  This was never the case before surgery.  I was always starving, ravenous and out of control.  Even when I lost weight by myself without the surgery, I would feel desperate to control my eating.  There was nothing relaxed and natural about my choices, I was always white knuckling it.  I believe that the reduction in ghrelin and the smaller stomach have allowed me to just eat the way my skinny friends eat, mostly for fuel, but occasionally for social, cultural, or pleasurable reasons.  The one thing I no longer do, is eat for emotional reason.  That is why I now always check in with myself before putting even one bit of food in my mouth.  Some people pray before eating anything, I have a dialog with myself.  I check in and make sure I am eating to relieve hunger not thirst, not boredom or any other emotion.  I also make sure that I am not eating to please someone else.  In my culture food pushing is an art form.  I have had to train myself to automatically refuse food that is offered to me long enough to do my own assessment of my hunger and the foods appropriateness for what I want to eat now.  I had to learn to take the control back.

I absolutely agree with everything you said! You just wrote my story!!

FOOD IS MY FAVORITE DISH!!

Well Jimbo I can see why you have successfully "halved" yourself because you certainly have developed a winning attitude with respect to food and eating. And I have often posted that its really important to be mentally prepared before having this surgery and to accept that one's realationship with food can never be the same. So often we see posts from people a few weeks out that are depressed and miss their food comfort and these are folks that maybe weren't quite mentally prepared. Not that they can't change their attitudes and be successful; just gotta do it though.

I used to be a foodie and a seriously good cook. Subscribed to Gourment Magazine and had lots of cookbooks. When I was single I often cooked elaborate items just for the fun of doing it. Would eat the entree for a couple of days then pitch it. I did this when I worked in the business world and I believe it was my artistic creative side trying to come out and go something with my hands.

When I made the decision to have surgery I had to wait about 8 months for various reasons before getting on the op table so I used that time to prepare myself both physically and mentally. I reminded myself of all the fine eating experiences I had had over my life and all the great sweets and desserts I had consumed and kept telling myself it was time to move on to another phase of life where art, health and other activities take center stage. Psyching myself into this and starting some protein shakes and slightly healthier eating habits pre surgery really helped a lot.

I now cook simple but healthy low carb meals for myself and my husband though he finds a few extra goodies to eat that I don't have. I kind of don't like cooking much anymore to the chagrin of hubby as he used to love my cooking. But he is a good sport and knows its for the best and he is obese so he knows its for his own good too, even though i find a few fast food wrappers in the trash from time to time. And I love going out to dinner even though all i get is an appetizer. just the dining out experience is so nice for a change of pace.

It wasn't horribly difficult to make these attitude changes but I think I was just ready for it. At age 58 I had the benefit of some travel and life experiences. If I had been 25 I am not sure I wouldn't have been yearning to still have some of those experiences. And I was facing some health issues and decided I was not ready to begin a death spiral due to obesity so that motivated me to accept the changes.

I don't think I have become a food nazi except for myself as I don't get too upset over what others eat though I do wish hubby would have vsg, but I can't make him.

But hey Jimbo, CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE!!!!    Trader Joes has low carb sugar free chocolate bars that are pretty low in calories and quite good. I have a square or two of it once in  awhile and its good. The amazing thing is that I have several bars of it that I have had for four months and have only consumed one in that time and shared it. Thats the beauty of the sleeve. Just don't get those howling cravings like i once did.

Great topic. You have wonderful insight Jimbo. Thats why you are the success story you are.  Diane

For me food that tastes too good is dangerous.. if I enjoy eating it too much, regardless of the carb content, I want to continue tasting it. It becomes about pleasure for me and I want to prolong the tasting as long as I can, which means eating as much as I can. I don't find that post-op I feel any differently when it comes to that, it's just that there is a hard stop physically for what I can eat.

But many soft proteins I can fit in a lot of calories so that is an issue for me. So "yummy" recipes tend to be bad news for me. I need mediocre non-exciting recipes. I'm often looking at a recipe thinking how I can make it a bit more boring.

I also found that pre-op many years ago I changed my relationship with food, and began eating food for fuel, nutrition, etc. So this shift for me was something I learned from a mentor of mine many years ago, and once that switch was flipped I could never look at food the same way again.

I tried to make my food as unexciting as possible to keep myself from wanting to eat it for pleasure. Nothing all that exciting about broccoli right? But I still have struggled with the desire to eat continuously, and I think part of that is allowing some yummy foods back into my diet.

For me this would be cheese, nuts, sugar-free chocolate and other things normally allowed on a low carb diet, but that are too tasty for me and make me want to eat for reasons other than hunger and prolong eating. So after a talk with Elina, I've decided to put a hard boundary up for those foods until I get to goal.

I have struggled with that decision for a while, because I recognized those foods were causing issues for me in terms of overeating, but I also didn't want to go overboard with rigid boundaries that set me up for failure. But I did this in the past for 3 years and managed it, and it was very peaceful for me, so I am doing it again. It's also much better for my health.

I also find that eating the same thing over and over, as Brandilynn does, really helps me have peace and not think about food all the time. I know this would be the opposite for some people, but it really does help me. It makes it a no-brainer to eat, plan my meals, etc.

I have eaten the same chicken salad for days on end, and love not having to think about what ingredients I need to get for some new recipe all the time, etc. I know what I need to get at the store each time, what I am low on, how much to put in, what to put on my food log, etc. It takes a lot of the stress out of eating for me.

My love, YOU are a fire juggler extraordinaire. Anything you can do to take a little pressure off and make something less for you to think about is a GREAT thing.  And no yeabuts - just cuz its what you do always, and have always done, doesnt mean its not stressful (good and/or bad) it just means, you've been on that pot of boiling water a while, my froggiefriend!  :}

You are also great at the cost benefit analysis and appreciate the peace more than the mouth fun for a moment.  That is an exceptional tool that you use to set yourself up for success, and I am always glad when you share about it, because it doesnt OCCUR to everyone to think like that.  I am glad you and E got to have a cementing the peace conversation!  Two heads and all!  :}

*squeeeze*

Thank you miss ginger B!  It might seem as if I am being hard on myself, but ultimately I'm not beating myself up.. I think I'm doing OK just want to keep making progress! 

I like to be in action because it makes me feel as if I'm doing something and indecision is hard for me.. I get stuck trying to figure out which path to walk when I just want to start walking!  So now I have something to do so I can go juggle it. :D 

Those nuts were making me nuts!

Thank you my love!

 
Hmmm...... Food as fuel.....

Most times I run on "regular Unleaded" I have my core sets and combinations of food.... I try to mix, match, spice and prepare differently. But it can be as simple as a can of tuna fish.

Sometimes I like a shot of "Premium Unleaded" In most cases this is a restaurant meal, stuff I don't know all the ingredients, breading, sugars and added salts and fats.

Than rarely I need me some "Full Race Leaded Aviation Fuel" yup 110 octane. Birthday Cake, Moms Apple Pie, My fav noodles in Tokyo, Pasta made by the Team Suzuki Chef in Europe.

I love and appreciate food more now than ever..... even simple foods seem to have more flavor. Food is still number one on my needs..... It's just a mindful approach now.
I'm about quality over quantity now and enjoy most all aspects of eating. When I was pre-op it was all about eating massive amounts of any kind of food by myself in hiding.

Now.... I'm in control.... the control I'm gonna have to have forever....

Will I slip up occasionally..... Yes

Will I maintain my weight long term........ can't answer that..... I will try like I have never tried before....

frisco