Question:
ANYONE EVER FEEL GUILTY AFTER TREATING THEMSELVES TO FAST FOOD

I AM 7WKS. POST-OP AND TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME I TREATED MYSELF TO FASTFOOD AND I FEEL SO GUILTY ABOUT IT. ON TOP OF THAT I WAS ABLE TO EAT HALF OF A WHOPPER JR. WITH ALL OF THE TRIMMINGS LETT,ONIONS,TOMATOES AND MAYO PLUS ABOUT TEN FRIES. EVEN THOUGH I'VE LOSS ROUGHLY ABOUT 60LBS. OR OS WHY WAS I ABLE TO EAT THAT MUCH? COULD IT BE THAT MY POUCH IS TO BIG? OR THAT I'M JUST PLAIN OLE GREEDY? I DIDN'T FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE JUST GUILTY. BY THE WAY I HAD OPEN RNY AND I HAVE NOT DUMPED SINCE SURGERY. I GUESS MAYBE IF I DID I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN ATTEMPTED THIS MEAL. CAN ANYONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME SUPPORT OR ADVICE? THANKS YOU GUYS ARE SO WONDERFUL!!!!!    — [Anonymous] (posted on June 29, 2001)

June 29, 2001
I don't let myself feel guilty. Sometimes I can eat a lot more than other times. I don't know why that is, but I don't let it worry me. By and large, I eat "good" foods, so when I sometimes eat something I maybe oughtta shouldn't, I don't worry about it. "Normal" people eat fast food, too. As long as it doesn't become a constant habit, I don't think an occasional journey to your local Burger King will seriously sabotage your success.
   — Suzanne B.

June 29, 2001
I am 7 weeks and 4 days post op and ate 1/2 a Whopper Jr. about 10 days post op. (I usually eat alittle less now). Sometimes when I can't get home to eat I'll eat out. I think it depends alot on what you eat. I look at a Whopper JR. as being nutritious. And I LOVE the veggies on it! IF I have fries, I'll only have "just" a few and give the rest to whoever's with me. I don't dump so I try extra hard to be careful. I will NOT give up all the "fattening" foods I like, but "I will" greatly limit them. I would NEVER eat a fat free hot dog before! God forbid! But I will now. I do that so "occasionally" I can have a Zeigles hot dog because I've been good the rest of the time. Now as you know we can say that and try to fool ourselves, so be careful. I for one do not intend to go through this surgery again so I MUST be careful now. But I could never get through this if I couldn't have some of my favorite foods "once" in awhile. (That is fattening favorites). Anyway, don't do it often and stop feeling guilty if you have to eat out once in awhile. I'm afraid guilt might drive us into old habits. ;) Good weight loss! At the 7 week marker I was down 40 lbs from surgery (54 overall). So you've lost 20 lbs more than me with a few less days! Great. I didn't have my protein to week six. Maybe that was my problem. God knows I didn't eat much. Keep it up!!!!! :)
   — Danmark

June 29, 2001
Look at it this way: Burger King flame-broils their burgers. So, actually, this was a better choice than say, McDonald's - who fries their burgers. Don't worry about it! You're doing fabulous!
   — Allie B.

June 30, 2001
Well look at the bright side. If your like me I eat a double whopper, with large order of fries, big shake and perhaps a piece of pie. Actually I am glad post ops can eat sstuff like that on occasion, I want to be able to eat small portions of good tasting easily available food. Now it wouldnt be good to make this a daily habit though....
   — [Anonymous]

June 30, 2001
Try to get past the guilt .... it is a useless and self defeating emotion. You didn't do anything wrong. Remember ... no more diets for us. Better nutritional choices .... yes .... diets ... NO. When I need a sanity check on what I am eating .... I compare it to what I would have eaten in a similar situation pre-op. Think about it ... pre-op half a whopper Jr. and a few fries would not have even been a SNACK for most of us. I believe there are NO bad foods ... but there are better choices than others. What you ate was maybe not the BEST choice, especially if you were to eat that all the time. But it was far from the worst CHOICE either. I think if you were to figure out the calorie count for what you actually ate, you would be amazed at how little it is ... especially if you compared it to your pre-op calorie intake for a fast food meal. For me, this surgery gives me the hope of being normal ... and that includes eating SOME fast food. I regularly eat things like egg McMuffin (usually throw away the muffin and eat the insides, but not always), bacon, egg and cheese biscuit (usually half if I eat the biscuit part or all of it if I just eat the insides), open faced Arby's roast beef (or sometimes ... just the meat), crispy tacos (OMG ... i can eat 2 .... but pre-op I ate 4 ... and a giant coke ... and maybe a burrito too), quesadillas, thin crust pizza and occasionally some KFC chicken tenders. I have lost 109 pounds since 11/17/00 and I feel wonderful. Along with the weight I lost high blood pressure, high cholesterol, reactive airway disease, gastric reflux, and urinary stress incontinence. Pre-op I took 12 pills every day ... now I take 4. I think the reason we tend to feel guilty for eating is that for years and years we have all been told that it is our fault that we are morbidly obese. IF ONLY we would eat less, eat right, not eat fast food and "junk food", get off our lazy butts and exercise ... then we would lose weight, be normal and live happily ever after. BULL!!!!!!! I never really believed this pre-op and I believe it even less now. The truth is .... medical science still doesn't really KNOW why some people get fat and others don't. Give yourself a break, forgive yourself for being human, and be proud of what you have accomplished. 60 pounds in 7 weeks is AWESOME. As long as you make good food choices MOST of the time, drink lots of water MOST of the time, get plenty of high quality protein MOST of the time, exercise MOST of the time, and take your vitamins and supplements MOST of the time ... you will be fine. You WILL lose weight and you WILL be a healthier person in the long run. Good luck and God bless you as you continue on your weight loss journey. (((((((((((BIG HUGS))))))))).
   — Lynn T.

June 30, 2001
I have a better question, "Does anyone not feel guilty after eating fast food?". I am sure that most of us posties, at one time or another, drove thru and got a fast food meal. We are still losing weight, don't plan to do it often, exercise and eat better than any other time in our lives. A "treat" every now and then is not so bad. I've even been known to (gasp) eat less meal (ie: protien) so I have room to taste dessert (ie: fat and sugar)...shoot me now fat police! Hang in there and just be sure your good decisions outweigh (literally) your bad ones.
   — Andrea P.

June 30, 2001
I eat fast food AT LEAST once/day. I can eat part of a sandwich and a few fries. Or a taco. Or part of a Wendy's small chili. I do not eat milk or sugar. As an RNY, I am going to malabsorb part of the fats. So, in that case, why would I feel guilty? I get my basic nutrition supplementally, so the bases are covered. The sandwich & fries have a tiny bit of nutritional value, of which I will get very little. But why not? What's the different between a tiny portion of meat, with a tiny portion of salad with a part of a piece of bread? If you put it on a plate, you'd not feel guilty, right? Break it down, piece by piece. How many sugar g were in it? So, the need for food is very human. Unfortunately, in the 2000's, for many of us, the meal in the lap is the way we have to eat.
   — vitalady