Honest Question - Post Surgery Do You Get Sad or Mourn Not Being Able to Eat Large Amounts...

This is an honest question.

Tonight I sat and ate my Salmon Burger and my salad and wondered how much of this dinner would I realistically be able to eat, a year out, let's say, from surgery. I stared at my plate and for a brief moment I felt sad. I almost felt like I was in mourning.

Has anyone else felt like this? Maybe prior to surgery but is it different after? Do you miss it?

Am I crazy?

I have seen a lot of members on here have had a 'Food Funeral' before starting Optifast. I think it's normal, especially if you used food to get through hard times in the past. Youre doing great, and you are strong for sticking to healthy choices!

I have definitely gone through so many emotions, more so since starting slim time. I've been happy, excited, angry, sad and so forth... it really is a loss and like all losses we should mourn our old relationship with food.

Great question.. my boy, my bff and my sister asked me this vary thing this week.. wow.. deep .. I have about 6 months to think about it...hmmm

It's a great question and I'm really curious what ppl further out than me will say. I am 20 days post op today, and since surgery, my relationship with food had just changed. I actually took a picture of a piece of fish a some refried beans I made the other day, because I was baffled when I looked at my plate and thought the portion was big and how was I going to eat it all. I put a fork on the plate for concept purposes! I did eat it... and was satisfied.

I never could have imagined this in my life!!!

Oh, and am I sad about it... no. I accept it for what it is. My new way of eating. I assume portions will grow a bit, but never to what they were, which is why I did this. So in that sense, I am eternally grateful.

I hope that helps??

Very very nice oneatatime. Your visual and post really puts things in perspective. One poster reminded me of her small after surgery grocery bill. Nothing can beat a meager grocery bill!

Enjoy the small amount you can eat now. Trust me that you will be able to eat a lot as the years go by. Willpower becomes very important.

I can eat a large amount of slider type foods, but still no more then 4 oz of dense protein. If I sit down to 4 oz of chicken I'm stuffed. But if I sit down to fruit, veggies, crackers and bread, yogurt then look out I can eat just like a normal person.

This is why vets stress eating your dense protein first. Or try 3 bites of solid protein with one bite of veg.

Best advice I can give you is to race to the finish. Get to goal fast. Make sure goal is enough, that it's a weight that is normal. By year 3 things change and you absorb more.

Save treats, bread, crackers, pretzels etc etc for goal and then incorporate them slowly.

You only get this One big chance. No do overs

Good luck

Actually, today was the first time I was wistful for bigger portions. We had ribs for dinner, and I had a passing moment where I wanted a big bowl of coleslaw hahha.

im just over a year out. It was just in passing, and I wouldn't exchange what I've accomplished in the past year.

I never go over a 1 cup serving, but I'm sure I could eat more. It's just a choice I need to make, every meal time...

Very good advice OAAT and Birdiegirl.

I have definitely been sad on and off about never again finishing a big plate of Christmas Dinner and following it up with a piece of pie. It's not going to be the same. But I think the key take away is, neither are we!! There are a lot of people out there who can eat normally and even occasionally have those big special occasion meals and manage their weight. I know I'm not one of them. The struggle has been real. I'm so tired of watching the scale go up and up with ease and fighting tooth and nail to get it to move down

Eill I miss eating out or polishing off a full plate? Sure I will, but it wasn't working for me eating that way. So I think the key is to remember we are in need of a major shift to get to where we need to be. Is it fair? Nope. Not really but is having any health issue fair? All we can do is the best with what's available and for us, right now, that's WLS and with that comes discipline, portion control, and restraint. It would have been a life long battle either way but hopefully this tool makes winning the war much more attainable!