Does Costco make you fat??
I think you hit the nail on the head, Kim. I took the honeymoon period following surgery to re-learn how to eat and cultivate healthy habits. Once the malabsorption ended, I had to carry that new ability to choose foods wisely along with me.
Yes, the food industry has the fat, salt, and sugar amounts that (literally) cause addiction down to a science. But this whole WLS process is a learning experience in identifying issues with food and dealing with them in spite of that. The food industry is not in business to help me lose weight, their interest is to sell me more of their products.
In the end it's all about balance. Sure, if I want to taste that sample I'll give it a go. But it goes into my food log along with everything else and that keeps me accountable.
Long-term post-ops with regain struggles, click here to see some steps for getting back on track (without the 5-day pouch fad or liquid diet): http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/bananafish711/blog/2013/04/05/don-t-panic--believe-and-you-will-succeed-/
Always cooking at www.neensnotes.com!
Need a pick-me-up? Read this: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/it-will-be-sunny-one-day.html
I don't think Costco makes you fat, but it is clear that the food industry - Costco included - doesn't care about you or your health. All they want you to do is buy and consume ever-increasing amounts of their products, hence the pushing of the samples. The problem they run up against is what they call "the fixed stomach" - people can only eat so much. So they just amp-up the calorie load with fat, sugar and salt as much as they can. If that makes you fat, sick or whatever, so be it - they just blame you for buying it.
I am not saying it should be banned by a law or anything, but I wonder if the people that create and sell this stuff ever think about the devastation that it creates. It might be the case that you can buy a large quantity and then eat it in small portions over time, but that is not what most people do. If you use the products the way their creators intend, you are likely to get sick.
Costco is the ultimate expression of this idea. I look at the quantities of food people buy there and I am completely amazed, especially post-op. Huge, bulging shopping carts filled to overflowing with tens of thousands of calories. Sometimes people have two carts and the put stuff under the cart(s) as well. They seem revel in over-consumption like it is a good idea.
