once in a while foods
Instead of talking or thinking about "good" foods and "bad" foods, or "no no" foods or "forbidden" foods, I've been trying to think in terms of "everyday" foods, " sometimes" foods and "once in a while foods." To me, this makes a lot more sense and it keeps me out of that old diet mentality.
Unless you have a serious food allergy of some kind. there are few if any foods that will hurt you if you eat them just once in while. Now, if I eat half a cake, it would make me dump, even if I only ate that once a year. But if I eat half a slice of cake, a couple times a year? Even if I eat half a slice of cake once a month, if I love cake, it's not going to hurt me. No one ever got fat eating half a slice of cake.
Now, if I eat half a slice of cake every hour on the hour, yeah, I'll be huge. And sick. But cake is not an "every hour" food or even an "everyday" food. It's a "once in a while" food.
And I know some people have trigger foods and I have some of those, too, and it's easier for me to just avoid them. But that's because I cannot eat them just once in a while, not because they are going to make me gain weight if I eat them just once in a while.
What do you all think?
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I think most people want something even more if it's forbidden. But beyond that if it's a choice - I can choose to eat cake if I want it - then I also have the choice to choose something else. I can choose to eat cake or I can choose to eat a banana right now and eat cake another time. I'm not controlled by the cake.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I love this explanation - and that's how I try to explain food to my small children. I don't want them to worry about fat or calories or food being good or bad. I want them to have a healthy relationship with food (unlike my own) and be educated at an early age that you only have one body and you are responsible for what you put in it. If you fill it with junk - you will not look or feel well. If you maintain a healthy "balance" you will look and feel balanced. That is one of the main reasons I had this surgery. Now, they see me eating healthy foods and drinking water all the time. I buy fruit instead of dessert and when we go to a birthday party, we eat a small piece of cake (I have a small bite). It's all about balance. I wish I learned this when I was young!
Remember WW years ago when they had "red light", "yellow light" and "greenlight" foods???!!!
This is EXACTLY how I view food-I vowed that I would change my thinking about food when I had surgery, and I was successful at it. I'm so excited that you are getting to this place-it is truly liberating! I find that I really don't crave the bad stuff as much knowing I have the freedom to have what I want.
Last night I was hungry around 9:00. I eat when I'm hungry, regardless of the time. I thought I wanted Cheetos. I had Cheetos in the house. I went to the kitchen, and as I reached for them I passed the peanut butter. I decided two Ritz with PB would be a better choice than Lord knows how many Cheetos I would've consumed....so I didn't feel deprived, I simply changed my mind.
I swear that is one of my greatest accomplishments in this journey!
I think this is a very healthy mentality as well. It's like making and sticking to a budget....it's just a way to record and HELP you stay disciplined. I am off to enter my foods on my "once in a while foods" list!!! :) (I'm going to also incorporate a time line ...like 1x month etc) Thanks for sharing a great idea!!!
you're right, the slope can get slippery. Some people choose just to stay far, far away from the slope forever to make sure they never slip. and I'm not saying that's the wrong choice, if it works for you. It doesn't work for all of us, though.
I think the question of "how often is once in a while?" is an important one. And if there are a hundred foods that are OK once in a while, well, I could eat each of those foods just once a year but I'd be having high calories treats twice a week (which I don't think is necessarily bad if I eat them in small enough amounts). It's not black and white and that can be scary.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
