I don't dump, so now back to pre-surgery hell?

Please help!

B4 my surgery I would read here with disbelief how people would eat all the no-no- food after their surgery. I couldn't understand why they would do this after being so fortunate to have the surgery.

Well.....here i am today having spent the last 3 days eating no-no foods. I was depending on my dumping as my deterrent, but guess what.....I DON'T DUMP!

So, now I feel like i am back in the exact same position as I was prior to my surgery.....

Curiosity seems to have killed more than just a cat.

I am 6 weeks out and 45 pounds down.

Any comments welcome PLEASE......Thanks!

Ok, well I have a question I guess. If you've read about folks eating so-called "no no" foods, have you NOT read where we say again and again that you can't depend on dumping to keep you from those foods? I know SOMEONE says it every single time (see...I just did).

But it bears repeating. Don't rely on dumping to keep you moderated with less than ideal food choices. That's a part of the "surgery is the easy way out" mentality in my book. Because this process is hard whether you dum*****t.

DO dump...on sugar and fried foods. But not on tortilla chips. Or peanut butter. Or a bunch of other things that, if I eat too many of them, can cause me to gain weight. But I don't want that for myself. So I have to learn to deal with those foods.

It's a learning process. You are six weeks out so the best advice I can give is to take it one day at a time, moment to moment, second to second if you have to. But once you get past a certain point in surgery, the weight is not going to fall off anymore and the LAST thing you want is the "coulda, shoulda, woulda's."

Be kind to your body. Be kind to yourself. Do what you know you need to do to be successful. This isn't the easy way out but you're worth the hard work.

Most people do not dump.  You are normal.

You have a tool that you can choose to use and learn new eating habits along the way....or you can choose to abuse it and set yourself up for failure.

Stay away from foods you know are garbage.....follow your surgeons plan and get active which will keep your mind off of mindless eating.

You have been sucessful so far....don't ruin it!

Thank you Lori and Cleopatra,

Just reading your posts makes me feel better. Thanks so much for writing. Everything made sense. Clearly I cannot rely on dumping.

Do you allow yourselves occasional no-no foods or do u cut them out totally?

I just feel better when I avoid "white" carbs so I just mostly do not eat that stuff.  If I am making something for my hubby that I want a taste of, I will have one bite...that's it.... a bite of rice or potato and that is enough.   I do not snack on any carby stuff.   I do dump on simple sugars....so that is a no brainer.   My snacks are cheese sticks, yougurt and now fruit because I am in maintenece. 

I think one of the first things you need to STOP doing is calling foods no-no foods. That sets you up for a bad mentality. Food is food. Some choices are better than others, even within the realm of healthy foods (for example, on most days a cup of berries fits into my plan WAY better than a banana but I wouldn't call a banana a no-no food).

Eventually you'll get to the place where you can introduce treats in moderation. Right now, no, I wouldn't say it's a great idea to eat the things you used to eat as treats before surgery. This is a time to learn a new way. There are TONS of recipes for healthier variations of nearly anything you like. Research some and get to experimenting.

To answer your question, I eat what I want, when I want. What I want has changed. I don't want chips (most of the time...and on the occasion that I do I have some). I don't want grease, I don't want sugar, I don't want a bunch of the stuff that I thought I could never live without. That's mostly because of that time after surgery when I focused on being super compliant. You sort of wean yourself. And yes, it is hellish, but SO worth it in the end.

I'm not a slave to bad food choices. Neither are you. You just don't know it yet. But you will. I have faith in you.

It's funny you should say most people don't dump, because I was wondering that myself. I do vomit when I eat too fast, which I hate, so I always presume that dumping is vomiting. But it doesn't fit the definition.

I can think of only one time that may fit the definition: once I had V8 with calcium powder added- this is while I was on either the liquid or puree stage - and I came down with horrible chills for about 45 minutes. But no diarrhea or vomiting. Was that dumping?

It could have been....that is an icky sounding combination....v8 and calcium powder  

Well, at the time I was experimenting with ways of getting enough calcium. Boy did that not work! But if it was dumping, I don't understand why. There was no sugar in that V8, which was the low-salt kind recommended by my nutritionist.

You have to have some self control. Just don't go there. I am six weeks out too; and I have found that I can probably eat minute portions of things I should NOT but I wake up everyday determined to stick with the plan and not go there. Even if you DID dump you probably wouldn't dump forever and the weight would come back if you depended on that. Its just a tool, remember...a very effective one, I am finding. Portion control is the mother of all goodness in weight loss. I've always known that but could never practice it.