Question for Vets: Does following the food rules ever become instinctual or automatic?

Hi there... I have a question for the vets...

I just blogged this morning, and I was wondering about something. Does it ever get easier?

I am not struggling with my food choices per say, but I am wondering if the idea of providing fuel for your body, by way of healthy food choices, does it ever become like second nature to you? Does it ever become automatic or instinctual?

I am on holidays and each time we go out to a restaurant, I look at the salad menu and then I start wanting something other than the flimsy lettuce...(especially when I know I can make something better & tastier at home)

And I was just wondering, does eating right and eating well, does that ever just become like automatic for you? Or is it something you struggle with daily or from time to time.

I am guessing that we are all different, so it's different for each person...but I was wondering about your experiences...

I have done well so far, and I am happy with my progress. I just wondered if I will ever just get over the luring of foods that are on the rest of the menus....those foods that make you dig a little deeper within, find your resolve and say NO, I deserve better than that crap.

Curiously yours,

Sort of.

When i look at a menu, my first instinct is to look for some proteiny kind of thing that's not too saucy (lol).

I find that i'm not too restricted at restaurants, actually. I'm really good at asking for sauces and dressings and things on the side, asking for starches to be subbed out, and veggies served instead. I often get a burger without the bun (which i used to feel silly ordering, but now i don't).

I am sensible most of the time. Which i think is key, to eating out in restaurants. Sometimes i have some fries, or chicken wings (baked, if they're available, rather than deep fried).

I seldom even LOOK at the dessert side of the menu.

and i like a glass of wine when i eat out. Because of the no drinking and eating thing, tho, it makes me slow down more. I drink my glass of wine, and then order my meal.

hope that helps.

ETA - i hardly ever order salads in restaurants. Not enough bang for my buck, i find, in terms of protein.

I concur with Monica in that most of the time I automatically make good choices.  But I also find that the old me is still there and sometimes pops out before I even realize I've swallowed somethign I should not have.  I really have to try to be conscious of everything I do.

Yes I find I do most things out of habit....3 + years of practice....


When I do make a poor choice it is conscious

I also - out of habit - take the stairs....park further away....move around at work more etc....

I still check labels at the grocery store....and order properly at restaurants...

This is my life....and I love it

I find it gets alot easier the further out you are. (2 years now).
I go into a restaurant and choose what i want, as long as it's not fried. I usually leave the bun and eat the insides, because i get full so fast, i want the protein and cheese etc.

I rarely if ever eat fast food anymore, just not good choices there. Oh I've had a chicken wrap from McD's. a snack wrap and it was delicious, but no batter on it.

And i will order a salad as long as it's full of protein, like a cob salad, or a chicken ceaser.

I stay away from pastas as they fill me up so fast i would end up taking 4/5 of it home.

I usually take over 1/2 my food home anyway. but i do enjoy dining out and i have more choices than earlier out.

it does get alot easier.

i always order water and drink before i eat, never with it, even if i'm celebrating, just get past the guilt of drinking when I eat.  and drinking makes me stupid anyway and i tend to eat things i shouldn't.

So yup, it gets easier and you are just more in tune to healthier living.

Enjoy

J

Toni...good question...I'm 4 years and a bit post op...and sometimes (just sometimes) I wish I could order a great ol' ooey gooey pizza, or....whatever...and then I think..naw..that would be stupid/silly....most of time its just habit...you have to do what you have to do...its the life we choose if we want to be successful with our surgery....but always make good choices...not matter what!!  (p.s. my mouth still waters at some commercials on tv, I just look away!!  )  Patti K.

doing as much reading on here as I can - question - what would happen if you did eat, ie an ooey gooey pizza - would you be sick?  I just wonder what the outcome is of making "bad" choices after surgery...

I'd either throw up or wish i would throw up with a really fatty slice of pizza.

I've had a slice of meat pizza.. a slice .. once since surgery.. it was just too fatty for me and it was just not a pleasant eating experience... I have no urge to try it again.

If pizza is the only option a thin crust veggie slice is usually okay but a really poor choice in terms of being a good food. I have had it once in a while (ie maybe 2-3 times since surgery) and to be honest I'd not miss it if i never had it again. Then again I was never a huge pizza fan prior to surgery either.

Starry...I would likely be sick from all of the fat...like the other poster said.  However...if I get really hungry for pizza, I make my own..from a 6 in low carb tortilla, sauce, and turkey pepp. lots of veggies and skim moz. cheese....it satisfies me!!  Bad choices would likely make you dump, or throw up!!  Patti K.

Oh my gosh, yes.  It's totally ingrained into everything I even *think* about eating.  It's quite funny, actually.  The other night my mother tried to give me a carton of strawberry milk (apparently it's new) and my robot - mechanical - voice immediately said, "How many grams of sugar is in that?" before I even said thank you. LOL!  Reading labels, checking menus, planning meals.... second nature completely.  It has simply become my way of life.