once in a while foods

I think it's great if you are someone that has self control! I do not!!  Had I been one of those people that could have a once in a while foods, I would not have needed the surgery.  I am so scared to even eat anything that is not on the list of food to eat!!  I know and read here all the time that people can eat whatever they want and never have a problem.  I am so afraid that I will lose all my fear and gain back weight I've not even lost yet!!!

I am just now 5 weeks out and lost 28 pounds.  I've got a long ways yet to go!!!  I love the idea........but I think it's something I need to be very careful with!!

but if you were someone that could avoid a long list of foods forever, you wouldn't have needed surgery either, right?

I'm not telling you to eat cake.  But you've got to be a different kind of person now than you were before surgery, one way or another.

Yep, one way or another!

Lora

I agree 100% with you, I really do.  HOWEVER.......I've not figured that out yet!!!  I want to be that person that can eat ONE cookie and stop.  I've never been able to do that my whole life.  I always looked for ways to sneak back in and get another serving of whatever.  I see these post all the time where people are gaining back their weight.  Its something that scares me!!  I hope that I can work through all this and be someone that can get to my goal and stay!!!  That is why I come  here and read post so much!! it helps me learn from those of you that have been there done that and are a success!!!

I think it's important to be honest with ourselves about that.  I can eat just one cookie.  I cannot eat just one serving of Cheezits.  Therefore I don't buy Cheezits.  It took me a while to realize I need to just not have them in the house.

Hi Kelly, Can you be too old to change your mindset? I mean I'm facing 70--I've spent probably 50 years dieting--I'm almost 6 months out from surgery and I'm in trouble all the time with my PC and my surgeon because I'm not eating enough. I'm getting in about 70-80 grams of protein (mostly because of protein shakes) I do eat some meat but hardly any veggies or fruit--I don't know if I'm afraid to eat, afraid of dumping or getting sick ( done that a few times) or if my mind says to lose weight you don't eat. I so admire all of you that have taken control of your lives, established new ways to eat and are winning this battle. I wish I knew how to do what you are doing !!!

And, unlike Kelly, I can eat a few Cheez Its and walk away but CANNOT control my cookie consumption... so if you inspected my pantry on any random day, you would find Cheez Its, various kinds of small chocolate treats, but NO cookies except RF Nilla Wafers.  I have to keep my annual Girl Scout cookie purchase in my mom's freezer.

Lora

I think you've found some really creative ways to deal with that.  Keeping the cookies at your mom's so you just take home one or two at a time is a great idea.  That way you still get to have the cookies you like, and you don't go overboard.

Until I go to stay with Mom for a week after knee surgery, LOL.  

Last night I ate the last cookie from the box of Samoas that we opened last Saturday after I got here from the hospital.  Mom had 2 or 3 of them, but I ate the remainder of the 15 cookies in the box (at 70 calories each).  Those are about the only snacks I have had other than a couple of Hershey kisses, but still...  

Good thing I am going home tomorrow or Sunday.

Lora

That's great if it works for you.  And, I'm sure it does, since you've been very successful.  I really do think that we need to think about food differently than we did before our surgeries.  I think your idea of food itemization is a good one.  The diet mentality is not one I plan to adopt!

I don't have such a list. I'm not sure what I would put on a "once in a while" list since I only eat the same 20-30 things, mostly because I really don't look at food the way I used to. I eat more because I have to than because I really want to have X for dinner. I can eat the same things for meals for weeks to months on end.  Some might think that's boring, but I know what I like and what I can tolerate and I don't stray much from those foods.  Once in a while I will shift what I eat -- for example, I ate salads with veggie chili or some kind of beans on them almost every evening for dinner for close to four months until I finally got sick of them, now I only eat a salad once or twice a week and it usually is without any chili or beans.  I have been eating the same breakfast every day for about two months now -- Greek yogurt mixed with Fiber One original -- and I will until I grow tired of that!

But, for my trigger foods I have a short list of foods that I've labeled as are "never to once in a great while" because I know they are triggers for me.  I will really try to stick to "never" on some of them, but I know "once in a great while" is probably a more realistic way to look at them.  To me, once in a great while has to be once every few months to once a year, and then it has to be a very small quantity.  I had one piece of dark chocolate at Christmas last year.  (I prefer milk chocolate, but I figured that was as good as I was going to give myself!)  That was the first time (and last time) I had a piece of chocolate since my surgery in April 2012.  My reception area at work always has a full bowl of chocolates.  If I were to tell myself it was okay to have one once in a while, I know I would eventually be having one a week, one a day, a couple pieces a day.......  I really don't want to go there.  So, instead, chocolate (and most other sweets) are on my  "never to once in a great while" list.