Getting back into the mindset?

One last thought that is often said in the support group that I attend, and I have seen it other places:

"Fail to plan, is a plan to fail."

Many years ago I worked at KFC and it was a long long time before I could eat their chicken again due to the "yuck" factor of seeing it made - though it is certainly cleanly prepared. 

But until you get to that point, you need to find some items that don't need heat or refridgeration to take. I often rely on tuna in a pouch or single serving can which is very satisfying. String cheese is vacuum sealed and is fine kept all day at room temperature though I wouldn't keep it any longer without refridgeration. (have often left this ovenight in my purse and then tossed it). When I felt the urge for sweets when I was in weight loss phase I turned to grapes which tasted so sweet and are low calorie and filling with your restriction. There are all kinds of jerky that need no refridgeration. Almonds are good. You can also take a single serving container of sugar free pudding and stir a spoon or two of protein powder into it. Gets some protein without tasting bad. Fresh berries will keep all day. You can also get single serving containers of peanut butter and bring an apple or celery to spread it on. Some people like canned sardines or canned smoked oysters. You can get canned chicken though I have not seen it in single serving cans. I make "roll ups" from low carb flat bread spread with almond butter. ONe piece of the flat bread has about 7 carbs. And hard cheeses in cubes get a little oily but can last quite a while at room temperature.

Once you find a good routine few items i bet the bakery stuff is less and less tempting.

Diane

 

I'm just gonna guess here...... 

4-6oz meals is probably well over a thousand calories a day........

those last pounds "normally" takes a 600-800 calorie program.

And ultra low carb 40gram or less (I see you mentioned bread!)

Hope this helps...

frisco

Good to know Frisko, I'm doing 800-900 calories with under 25 grams of carbs.  Maybe I need to drop the calories to 700-800.

Thank you all again for all your input!  I must be doing it wrong because every time I pack my lunch it won't stay cold longer than lunch time.  I have a thermos that I put soup in and that's worked, but I can't use it for both lunch and dinner, so that's why I'm trying to figure this out.  Tonight there was chicken and dumplings on the menu, so I skimmed as much chicken as I could into a bowl and didn't eat any of the dumplings.  Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have something like this in the hot case, but sometimes the special is something like lasagna which I obviously can't have!  Those are the days I have the real problem. 

I mentioned that I can eat bread but I do not do it on a regular basis.  I might have it once a week.  I'd say I get about 1000 calories a day (which is what my surgeon recommended) and about 70g protein as long as I have a shake for breakfast. 

It really all comes down to the mindset, though.  I have only been working there for 2 months now so I'm hoping I get sick of looking at all this stuff very soon.  I think it's on the brink.  The fried stuff, yes there's definitely an ick factor there.  I clean the fryers, it's disgusting!  The sweets is what's getting to me.  I love baking and have been a cake decorator for 18 years.  I'm surprised I've never grown tired of it, but I haven't.  I will definitely work on viewing it differently!

Wow, I cannot think of a better place to work other than a grocery store, Choices Choices Choices Galore, and also temptation galore.  

I agree with others that having a small cooler with plenty of ice packs is a good idea.  I have to carry a small cooler with food quite a bit because of a severe wheat allergy.  Even in the heat of summer in Texas, my food stays good all day with enough cold packs. 

We were out all day yesterday, in the woods getting our hunting area ready.  I packed, cooked chicken breasts, Fage yogurts, raw almonds, fruit, and cheese.  I stayed on diet all day, and my food kept cool just fine.  I also had several water bottles and a camelbak.  All you would need is one water bottle because you can refill it.  It's all about mindset.  Just do it.  If you have the right choices packed, you will eat the right choices when you are hungry.

This past summer, I packed a cooler for a trip to Florida, because I cannot eat fast food and don't want to pay the price for sit down restaurants with gluten free menus that could make me sick anyway because they might not know much about cross contamination, I did not want to risk being sick or dying on vacation of anaphylactic shock.  So, I ate out of that cooler for a whole week, I simply got cups of ice from drink machines to put in my ziplock baggies to replenish  ice.  You can live out of a cooler.  It can be done.  Where there is a will there is a way.

If you have access to a microwave at work, it would even be better.  Hot food is always better than cold.

Hopefully the gross out factor for the bakery/deli food will kick in fast.  That is a whole lot of temptation!  But kudos to you for having a job and being in school.  Keep up the great work! 

But you don't HAVE to eat what is in the "hot case." There are tons of other choices. For some reason you seem kind of focused on the hot case. Is this the cheap food or does it somehow call to you the way other choices don't call to you?

Maybe you need to use a hard-sided cooler to hold your food for the day if it won't stay cool in what you have now. Also, if you have a thermos of hot food mixed in, that will make the ice pack warm up faster. If you want hot and cold food for the day, you may need two lunch coolers.

Good point about the hard sided cooler.  I forgot to mention that I use a small hard sided cooler.  I use the small one for daily use, a big one for travel.  The hard sided traditional cooler really works better then the soft sided ones.  The food stays cold much longer.

I can really pack a lot of stuff into those little ones, even though they aren't much bigger than a soft sided lunch bag.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I'll have to see if I can find a small hard sided container.  What I'm using is an insulated lunch box.  I mentioned the hot case because the only thing in the cold case is things like potato salad, coleslaw, chicken salad and ham salad (full of mayo!!)  We have an incredibly limited amount of cooler space but I'll have to see if my boss will let me keep cottage cheese or something like that.  I can find something to work.

My main thing was getting into the mindset that I was at the start of the surgery.  I'm not there anymore and because I have no issues eating anything (though I still have very good restriction) my brain thinks it's okay to eat anything.  I haven't gained, in fact I'm still losing though slowly. I just need to get "fired up" again, know what I mean?  I have a support group that I go to twice a month if I can get off work and that helps.  I also talk to these people on a daily basis, I just have somehow lost the spark.

I understand what you're saying Lisa.  I actually threw in the towel last week and decided I was at goal.  Then Lee (the one who posted in this thread)  talked to me about going on Atkins with her.  So, I did.  She motivated me to not give up and I somehow got back into the mindset. I want to lost 20 more pounds.   I am  low carbing and am actually down one pound this week.  How do you feel about dusting off that old Atkins book?  I'll bet most of us have a copy laying around the house...LOL!

Meat, low carb veggies, berries, and dairy.  Keep it simple for better success.

I am now detoxed from gluten free carbs, which have a higher Glycemic index than wheaty carbs because most of those products are made with rice flour.  It was hard though.  You might want to start when you have a few days off.  I had the Atkins flu for 3 days....the headache was bad!!  But it was worth it, I am no longer carb's *****!

Maybe this can work for you?  What do you think?