YoYoing Right Now and a few bad days

It's all about finding that balance so it might mean up it, or play around more, you never know...the proof as my mother said is in the pudding...what's his life like 5 years from now because he's figuring out today ya know?

Oh, it's absolutely worth is to me to avoid that one bite of cake.  Avoiding it is LESS stressful to me.  The sleeve is a decision, and I personally don't want to cancel out my decision by eating the way I used to eat.  It is absolutely worth it to me to avoid overtly carby foods in these days when I am trying to reeducate my body and my palate about what to eat to achieve the level of health I seek or perhaps even exceed it.  That's my choice, and I apologize to no one for it.

One can fill one's sleeve with 800 calories' worth of carby stuff just as easily as one can do that with dense protein and vegetables.  That is also a choice.

I don't see where anyone was attacking Keith.  He brought his situation to the discussion table, and he and others are expanding the discussion.  One of the things that I greatly admire about Keith is that he willingly helps people clear their own heads about how they're eating or exercising when they bring their own issues to the discussion table.

I didn't say anyone was attacking him. I just see that theme a lot on these boards. Oh you're hungry? Craving carbs?  Eat less. Exercise more. I don't think anyone who does a ton of cardio should eat even less than 600 calories a day regardless if it is protein or carb. It's plain unhealthy. MFP tells me I should be eating 1500 calories a day and 178 grams of carbs. I eat less than half that and it tells me constantly that what I am doing is unhealthy and my body is in starvation mode hence why everyone is always stalling, the body is protecting itself.  

My point all along was not to hate yourself for being human and that in MY opinion eating less will not help cravings. I am not advocating eating a ton of carbs or anymore carbs than he does now.  If eating a bite of cake makes you want to eat the whole cake? Well, that's an individual issue but I know that on my kids birthday and mine I will have a piece and not hate myself one bit for it. I didn't have this surgery to be on a hardcore mega diet the rest of my life, I had it to change my focus to a new healthier life and that's exactly what it's doing. 

Keith, I know you finished this post steering it in the direction of satiety, but if I may I'd just like to make a quick comment about "substitute cookies" and such, just from my own POV.

For me food is not just a taste, but it's an aroma, a texture, a visual.  To me a substitute lemon bar is going to look and smell very much like a traditional lemon bar, and a substitute protein peanut butter cup is going to look and smell very much like a traditional peanut butter cup.  So far I personally have been able to deal with the smells and sights of the carbs I encounter both at home and in my travels, but I have no doubt that if I cross the threshold of putting something like that in my mouth, especially in this early WL phase, I'm going to have a struggle on my hands to avoid doing it again.

I know people are doing that all over these boards, with varying degrees of impact on their eating.  We read so many stories about people who let the carbs back in and have sorely regretted it.

Okay, back to satiety ... :)

 

You know what I don't like about all of this substitute stuff?  It only makes you want the real thing even more.  It may look and smell like the real thing, but the taste, texture and satisfaction are not real at all. 

It did not have that affect on me even a little bit. I had a yearning for something sweet. I ate one bar and was satisfied. If it had been a real lemon bar I would have wanted a 2nd or 3rd. These substitutes do not impact your blood sugar/insulin levels and there for do not drive cravings. Mentally/emotionally yes it could drive you to want more. Specifically for the lemon bars I found the taste and texture to be very much the same as anything similar I have ever had. It is the only substitue I have made thus far so I cannot speak to the rest.

Its a good argument, but here is how I see it. First if you over eat on substitute lemon bars it does not impact your blood sugar/insulin levels like a real lemon bar. If I had put on my MFP log that I ate a handful of almonds, an egg, and a cup of tea with lemon and stevia. Nobody would raise an eyebrow but because all of those things get blended together and baked into an oven everyone loses their mind.

It is not the same thing. Now mentally/emotionally you make a strong argument but saying that it has the same overall impact is simply not the case. You could eat an entire pan of these things and barely put a blip in your blood sugar/insulin levels. One bar of a real lemon bar would spike your blood sugar and cause further cravings driving you to eat a 2nd/3rd lemon bar.

Physically they are very different things. I have only made one substitute sweet and that was the lemon bars. I ate less than 1/3 of the batch before they went bad and I had to toss them. They are prohibitively expensive as are most of these substitutes. I am just saying they are good to have around for when you do crack because the net effect is minimal at worst.

Obviously, I'm not a great source for advice, But when it comes to cravings there is definitely advantage in keeping the Carb Monkey locked up. In MY case I am also beginning to recognize the myriad of habitual and environmental situations that trigger head hunger. When I feel hungry, I'm hungry. I'm learning how to avoid, conquer, cope with these situations.

For the past three weeks I've been reading books from the library on this topic. While none of them are definitive, they each have useful information and applications that I thoughtfully consider. They have helped me identify trigger foods, stresses, environments, times, smells... etc. and given me ideas to cope.

About a month ago I was struggling bad. I am better now. Just an idea.

Well,you are coming up on the end of yourhnjbbbbbbb 6 month"honeymoon". I don't know whether to believe in that or not,but it sure happened to me. after the first 6 months it has definitely been harder to lose a pound than it was before,and I have always been a slow loser.

 

No advice,for you,but just to say i feel ya. GL

Keith, how many grams of protein have you been getting in these days?