When will I ever learn?

 So my mom is in the hospital for severe vomiting.  I had to take her wheel chair and walker up to her tonight to the hospital.  It was dinner time and I hadn't eaten in several hours and I was starting to get hungry.  (Must be nice all you sleevers that say you never get hungry!)    So I have the hardest time trying to figure out something healthy to eat when I'm out and about and want something.  I stop at Hardees (which is right near the hospital) and think maybe I'll find something that isn't TOO bad for me.  I get 3 chicken tenders with some BBQ sauce.

I get up to the hospital room and start eating my dinner not thinking much about i****ching t.v. with my mom.  Next thing I know I'm done my 3 tenders and shortly thereafter I get the foamies.  Dull pain in the chest/stomach area and my mouth is just full of saliva.  Here we go again!  

When am I ever gonna get my mind used to eating slow?!  I know I'm supposed to but my mind just isn't there yet.  Lord help me when I have to go back to work on the paramedic unit.  For 18+ years I have inhaled my food .. sometimes on the way to my next run we are so busy we never stop all night long.  How the hell am I supposed to take 30 minutes to eat slowwwww when I live this type of lifestyle?  ugggg.  Just really frustrated right now trying to get used to all these changes and how I make myself sick all the time because I just won't slow down.

Sorry for venting but thanks for listening!  

 I am so sorry you have to go through that!  I am sure there are things that we all have to Live and learn! Keep your chin up and just make it a priority. It is hard to make yourself a priority when you have a family and kids, but we just have too! 

Hey!! How did your surgery go? 

 I hope you are on a PPI or have at least tried it for the "hunger". Took me 3 months to figure out my "hunger" was acid - if I eat a couple tums now, usually my "hunger" goes away. 


I'm going to give you my brutal opinion here but there are two ways of doing things at this point, now that you have had the surgery. You either make some accomodations in your life to allow you to be able to eat properly, or you make excuses and continue on with poor choices. 

There will be a lot of ups and downs, but you need to be able to put yourself first. You probably shouldn't be eating chicken tenders at 1 mo post op (from what I can tell) let alone 3. If you can go back and evaluate HOW you can do things differently, it may help you in the future. 

The first thing you absolutely need to learn and master ASAP is having a plan. If you know you have things to do, if you know you will be at the hospital, and you know you are prone to feeling hungry, you need to pack an ice chest/cooler with foods that are appropriate at your particular stage. It is a pain, takes time and advanced planning, but it is a must. 

Second - even if the cir****tances dont allow you optimum eating conditions,  you still have choices to make. One thing that really hit home for me during an OH conference was the concept of mindful eating. Turn the TV off or step out of the room, or do something so you can focus on eating. Your meal time is about eating, no****ching TV.

Honestly, I'm a fast eater. I never chewed my food (except the first 2-3 weeks of eating) and I never took 20-30 minutes to eat. But I rarely if ever eat with TV on or while doing something else. I take my 5-10 mins and focus on eating. You can do this even with the busiest of life styles if you are committed to making yourself a priority.

Plan ahead, stop making excuses, and you wont have to deal with the nasty horrible foamies!!!! ( i know it sucks, ive eaten too quickly on occassion and suffered the consequences, but its always a good reminder to start thinking again).

*like*

 this is why i enjoy reading posts of veterans! thanks for being super honest and straight up-you have been very successful-im sure i will have plenty of questions in the future(if you dont mind)-thanks, art

We've all been there and done that!  

My go to grab and go food is string cheese - it's nice a toteable and 2 sticks are 16 grams of protein.  Best part is that peeling the cheese slows you down!

With time you will get a better hang of it - trust me! 

Hope your mom is ok.

Khess - I'm sorry to hear about your mom and your pain.  I'm glad you're talking about it in here - it'll help you in the long run to hear the feedback.  I know you CAN do this!  Try again tomorrow.  One day at a time.  Hang in there!

No advice here, as I am still preop, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry about your mom, and that I hope she is better soon. Honestly, it makes sense that we would be more prone to slipping when something stressful and time consuming like having a loved one in the hospital comes up. Please try to forgive yourself and move forward, just using this as a reminder that retraining our minds takes time and effort. This isn't easy. If it was, everyone would reach goal and no one would regain the weight.

*hugs*

 Thanks everyone for the support .. I do appreciate it