Question:
How many of you, prior to WLS, ate out of compulsion?

I love food, love to eat, eat when I know I'm not hungry, but because it taste good. How will I handle this? (especially when my husband is eating foods I love?) This is probably one of my main concerns. Will I be able to handle it and how? Especially first 5-6 weeks when I am on puree,soft foods.    — Judy P. (posted on April 18, 2001)

April 18, 2001
Judy, I am 19 days post op and I have a fiance who can eat anything and not gain a pound...(I hate that), but anyway, when I first came home from the hospital he would not eat anything in front of me, so after about 3 days I told him that he did not have to eat in different rooms, because it did not bother me...I can watch him eat anything and not get tempted, because as far as i am concerned I did not go through all of this to fail myself by eating a cheesesteak..(and we have the best cheesesteaks here, I live in Philadelphia)...So do not worry too much about this because you will not really want too much of anything the first week or two, but after that, just think to yourself that you went through a lot for this surgery and you have to try your best to stay focused on the big picture...(you being thinner and healthier) Good Luck
   — Ang B.

April 18, 2001
i find that during the healing prosses it is hard enough to get down all the things you have to have in your diet, that i don't crave the things i can't have often, but when i do i try to eat things that are sugar free, that helps, and the good thing is your pouch is so small that even if you crave some things you cant have much. hope this helps:)
   — sandra M.

April 18, 2001
We don't "lose" food. Our relationship with it changes, in that we become the boss. WE call the shots. If we will eat, when, how much, exactly what. We become much more tuned into our bodies, too. WE don't waste pouch space on insignificant foods. Why eat a crouton when I can have a tomato wedge off that salad? My husband is 1 yr behind me and he watched very carefully. When I was about 9 months out, he asked me, "Do you still enjoy food?" Intersting question, because I had not realized that I enjoyed it SO much more than before. Being forced to eat slowly, taste, savor, enjoy the textures------ the difference between a gourmet meal & a PBJ sandwich. Eating now is pleasurable, but not compulsive at all. Do I eat too fast now & then? Of course. Do I want to eat more of a certain thing than I can have? Sure, now & then, couple times a year. But day to day & hour to hour? There is no more fighting with food going on. I won the battle 6+ yrs ago.
   — vitalady