Question:
Do we still have to diet for the rest of our lives.
I'm 6 weeks post op and I'm introducing foods very slowly. I'm finding myself sticking with the soups and stuff unless it's fast food. Man the smell of it makes me miserable. My son is a junk food junkie. Any way. I feel like if I sneak a pinch of meat of his big mac - then I am cheating on my diet. But I'm having alwful cravings. Everything on TV is eating. I don't have a problems dumping - not so far anyway. Its just I don't want to press my luck. How do you fight the cravings. And I don't want to live this way for the rest of my life. If I have to use all my will power all the time and I don't have that "tool" what is the difference between this and every other diet I've been on. I am feeling very cheated that my surgeon didn't bypass enough for me. Since day on, I have platueaed. I have an appt. with a nutritionalist but I have to say, I'm begging to get very discouraged. — K T. (posted on October 9, 2001)
October 9, 2001
I know what you mean about the "plateau"...i'm beginning to think
i should make that my middle name *L* What i can't stress enough is measure
your inches...they seem to go even when weight doesn't. And no...i don't
feel we did this surgery to be on a "diet" the rest of our
lives..we did it so we can finally eat "normal" If we spend our
lives saying "no no" to everything we want we will end up wanting
it all the more ( murpheys law*L*) An OCCASIONAL part of a big mac or a
cookie or whatever is not what made any of us overweight..it was the whole
bag...the TWO big macs...day after day. If you eat sensibly daily it is not
going to hurt you to add a treat here and there as long as it doesn't make
you ill. The trick is moderation and to be able to control yourself to
stick with that small treat occasionally...such as i do not go out and buy
a bag of oreos simply cuz when i am feeling down or such i know i may not
have the willpower to not eat them. I never let myself eat sweets or snacks
without someone with me...because i used to eat SEVERAL candy bars when no
one was looking. I refuse to do that to myself again. Find alternatives to
things you crave. I have been craving sweets horribly...and today i
discovered fat free sugar free pudding and reddi-whip...what a blessing
that was. It took care of my need for sweets and i could barely tell the
difference between it and regular. I wish you luck and hang in there : )
— paula B.
October 9, 2001
I'm sure you did your research before deciding on having this surgery. Any
kind of change takes time to adjust to. I have read alot on here about the
"head hunger", and that it does eventually go away. Until then,
moderation is the key. We plateau because our body feels it is starving, so
it holds on to what it can. If you increase your food intake, just
slightly, the weight will start coming off again. But increase it with good
choices. And only increase the intake slightly. That is all it takes to get
the scale moving.And like the previous poster said, you may be losing
inches which does not show up on the scale. As far as your son goes, maybe
this is a good time for him to learn to eat more healthy also. Fast food is
nothing but FAT. This will help you also so the temptations aren't in front
of you. And once the scale starts moving more, that in itself will be a
great incentive. You didn't mention whether you do any kind of exercize.
Try taking a walk when these cravings start. You don't have to walk a mile,
just start out by walking down the street and back. This will help with the
weightloss also. And you will feel better. Another great thing to do is
attend support group meetings! They are so fun and you get to talk to
people face to face instead of on a computer. You can ask questions and get
advise first hand. This website is really great, but there is nothing like
going to a support group meeting. Maybe there will be somebody who lives
close to you and you guys can take walks together and build a wonderful
friendship. It always helps and makes things more fun if you have someone
to do things with. I hope this has helped some. Feel free to email me if
you'd like. Good luck..
— Kim B.
October 9, 2001
I know how you're feeling. I had such cravings for food at first. But now
that I'm 9 weeks post-op, it's gotten better... just in the last week or
so. Hang in there. I also had a plateau, but when I started eating more,
it started coming off. BTW, I don't think a pinch of meat is cheating. I
tasted all kinds of things in the beginning that I "wasn't suppose
to", but it passed. It'll get better!
— mom2jtx3
October 9, 2001
One of the most valuable pieces of advise came from this website. That was
use that remote control - do NOT watch any food commercials , cooking shows
, or read cookbooks. That really helped me. We do not need constant
reminders of food. Also remember the enormity of what you have been
through. You are early post op give yourself time to adjust and heel. I
reciently heard of a woman who is about 7 weeks post op who is in the ICU
because she ate a chicken Mcnugget and it blocked her so severly that her
organs began to fail.Would you throw away your life and health for a
Chicken Mcnugget? Of course not. You are intelligent enough to know that
things can go wrong on there own , I know my health and well being will not
be thrown away for any kind of food. Food is not my friend , and it is not
yours. Look at what it has done to you. I personally gave my self a year to
heel completely and re train my eating habits. Now if I want a little
something I have it . Yes I eat fast food , but not on a regular basis , do
I diet ? No. Do I watch? yes, like a hawk. Remember the weight watchers
mantra " Nothing tastes as good as thin!" It is true and in time
you will learn this. I hope this has helped you. I am not perfect , but
these are a few of the things that helped me get through the first year and
has enabled me to wear a size 8! And there is nothing that tastes that
good! God bless you, and good luck.
— Rose A.
October 10, 2001
Well I decided I would TRY a bit of anything VERY well chewed, and not feel
guilty at all. This took care of my cravings. If a small amount of a big
mac burger takes care of your craving, and you chew well and tolerate it
fine then why worry? Besides it protein. Incidently I found I tolerate
seemingly everything at around 4 weeks post op. I feel its bad to fixate on
food.
— bob-haller
October 10, 2001
K--I know where you're coming from. I had terrible food cravings for the
first month even though I was not hungry. I found that as I introduced more
"normal" foods into my diet I didn't have as many cravings. I do
not "diet" but do eat a high protein/low carbohydrate diet mainly
because I need the protein and bread/sugar make me dump. I do not feel
deprived and have been known to eat hamburgers from time to time. I rarely
eat more than 3 oz of anything (if I do I am immediately sorry :). My dr
told me to eat when I am hungry and that I can have anything I can
tolerate. He told me that I will lose the weight because I eat LESS. This
is a tool and you can't keep your body healthy on a steady diet of junk
food, but if you are sensible (and by that I also mean that you allow
yourself to enjoy food too so you can stick with the program) you will be
ok and still lose the weight. Your BMI is not so much higher than mine was.
You can do it. The weight will come off. If you can tolerate solids you may
not have so many cravings. The soup goes through fast and you get hungry
again more quickly than with solids. If you're a soup addict try chunky
soups. Try thin sliced deli meat. Cheese. Find those things that are
enjoyable and stick to your ribs. Hang in there, K, it will get better
and--slow or fast--the weight WILL come off!
— ctyst
October 10, 2001
Hang on! My "head hunger" is mostly for mexican/italian type
food. I get the leanest hamburger meat possible. I brown it and crumble it
into tiny, tiny pieces as I do. I drain it (mostly water comes out of it,
not fat). You know, you can actually BOIL it to get rid of fat. Anyway,
then I put it back in the teflon skillet and stir in fat-free cheddar
cheese and put a little catsup on it and VOILA: a cheeseburger. No bun. I
am talking a couple of ounces of meathere. Scramble an egg and then put in
a little of this meat and some fat-free cheddar and some picante as an
omelet and VOILA: McDonald's Breakfast Burrito, without the tortilla. (I do
the hamburger a pound at a time so I can just pull it out). Cook it with
some Ragu spaghetti sauce, top with fat-free parmesan or mozzarella. All of
this gives you protein, not very much calories, and is as good as junk
food!!!! I saw someone's post one time to just put a little parmesan cheese
and some basil in your tomato soup and it would taste like pizza. There are
lots of things you can do like that and not cheat. And I agree with
everyone else - have a bite. I started craving soda earlier this week - no
pop for nearly 2 months. I took one drink of my daughter's Dr. Pepper - and
it did not taste good and I think the craving is over.
There is always an alternative - one of them is to make your family eat
right if they are going to eat with you!
From your profile and journal, it sounds like you are doing well. Don't
beat yourself up over a little bite of Big Mac; keep asking questions and
getting help. You can do this!!!!
— mskarns
October 10, 2001
I would venture to guess that that Big Mac would not taste nearly as good
now to you as you might imagine or remember that it did. I really find
ground beef kind of yukky now post-op and that includes burgers. Plus, like
everyone said if you have a small serving it is protein and you can have a
few bites maybe without the bun. You won't be able to eat much anyway. I
think we all have to use our common sense post-op. I read and described to
my family that the RNY surgery was purposefully restrictive calorie-wise,
but also mal-absorptive as well which helps if and when we do eat carbs and
fat, etc. Good luck and your plateau will break..they are so frustrating!
— Molly S.
October 10, 2001
I think you have to think about what you really want out of the
surgery. Do you want to be thin? If you do, then you'll have to
diet for the rest of your life. Or do you want to lose a lot of
weight, improve your looks and your health. But still remain
slightly overweight. If you can accept that, then once you have
stabilized, you can eat like a normal person and just monitor yourself
to keep from gettig out of control. That's the route I took. I can't
see being a slave to diets and the scale for the rest of my life.
No way!!! Some folks in my support group would consider me to be a wls
failure. But, I feel like a success story. I'm a rubenesque size 16
who eats like a normal person and doesn't have to worry about the scale.
I'll never be thin. But, I'm far from the size 28 blimp I was. I'm healthy
and I look good. That's all I ever wanted anyway. I never had visions of
thong bikini's or slipping into size 6 jeans.
— [Anonymous]
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