A few things to "think" about......

I pretty much don't have a horse in this race anymore....... do what your going to do........

After you been here a while you see "trends"..... it's kinda cyclic really.....it's like boot camp...... every few months a new crop......

Again..... do what going to do....... your body..... your brain.... your mouth.......

If you don't agree...... that's totally fine !!!!

No biggie..... I already got mine.....

What is unsettling is to answer many many many PM's about not being able to lose the last 10-15-20-30-40lbs.

Just a guess..... but it is probably safe to say that less than 10% make goal.......probably way less......

So, with that said......

During WL do we really want simulated cookies, cake, ice cream, fudge, reeses cups, pie, candy, ho ho's, zingers and screaming yellow zonkers?????

Or do we want to get off of those things in WL simulated or not...... cake is cake, fudge is fudge...... if it looks like cake.... tastes like cake.... it's cake.....

Was I perfect during WL..... no way.... but I wasn't searching out the next simulated cookie either....

Just to keep it real....... well into maintenance......I eat cookies, cake pie and candy.......the real stuff.....just in portions that fit in my daily numbers and normally planned for and I seem good with it and I was a major "sweets" eater pre-op.......

The other thing is oils/fats........ I may be way off here...... but, I use my fats for flavor......

I'd rather use full fat mayo than adding oil to my protein shake....... I'm using real butter on lobster and crab......I'm using EVOO when I saute .....I'd rather have fried chicken.....most any salad can use some oil.......

Most oils are about 120cals a tbsp. use them wisely !!!!

Just a few things to "think" about !

frisco

I agree Frisco.  Eating something that is "fat free" or "sugar free" because it tastes like something you LOVED before surgery just prolongs the addiction in my opinion.  Which is why I never got into eating stuff like sugar free fudge pops.  If I taste chocolate, I want more chocolate.  

 

I agree.  I have numerous reasons why I don't eat foods with artificial sweeteners.  I have a very limited food selection due to another illness that has nothing to do with weight loss.  I have not eaten anything that has carbs or sugar for 15 months.  Once i reached a weight I felt comfortable at and figured was my goal, I tried to add some foods to see if I can handle them.  I tried protein bars.  Simply bars which have 16 grams of protein, 3 grams of sugar and no sugar alcohols.  At first they were okay.  Then the obsession started.  Had to stop them.  I also tried skinny pop.  I bought the 100 calories bags.  This was good at first, then not.  I am not sure if I was so rigid that I now can't handle anything.  Honestly, I just didn't want anything off of my food plan  and didn't think I was missing anything.   Sorry I got a little off topic , but I see more and more that others add foods and fit them into their food plan and are okay.  Feeling conflcted.

Amen. After all it is our life and what we make of it. No one is twisting your arm to eat anything that is sugar free or fat free. It is our choice and good or bad we have to live with it. I was an extreme chocoholic and thought that after surgery I would still be able to eat a piece of chocolate now and then. WRONG, my stomach now decides what is right for me not my brain. I would not have it any other way either.

Another problem with reduced fat and fat free items is that they often substitute starch or other carbohydrates to keep flavor in there.  I avoid those items for that reason unless I can verify that I am not taking on more carbs in order to avoid fat.

Exactly!  I gave up all of that stuff after the early postop days because I did not want the added carbs in my daily plan.  Still don't.

Ugh!  I've been trying really hard to follow my plan, and one of the things was sugar free fudgcicles.  I didn't have them for about a week and was fine, but today I had one and it's been a problem.  I guess I'll give that up.  I'd rather do that then sit down and eat 6 or 10 of them and lose all control.  thanks for the post.  These are the things that help us newbies out.  I didn't think anything of it honestly until I ate my fudgcicle and then this post.

 

I'm thinking about alcohol. My weight loss in the last month has slowed tremendously.  Why?  Because on more than one occasion I've had many more than one drink. Too many empty calories but, I know how it affects my weight loss. I can forego the sweets and the fats. I "treat" myself to a good drink and a equally good cigar every now and then.

The important thing to remember is to not deprive yourself of the things you enjoy but also remember to do them in moderation and continue to stick with the plan. Use you're sleeve as the tool it is.  

I'm back on track. The weight loss is back on track. Goal #1 of sub 200 pounds is close at hand.  Thank goodness there's no substitute for a good scotch!

Bingo.  

A lot of the exotic stuff - "replacement treats," oils in coffee, etc, are probably best left to maintenance. In my most humble opinion.  I love playing around with all of that, but I left it alone during the WL phase and followed the lead of people that made it to goal.  I noticed that they didn't do stuff like that so much until after reaching their goal.

I'm doing a LOT of experimenting in maintenance.  But I played it pretty straight in the weight loss phase, and you can see my results in my profile in graph form.

And I will also echo what one of the commenters said above - i did the quest bar thing and got really hooked.  They taste (to me) GREAT! But they do not satisfy my hunger any more than a snickers bar used to.  I guess as a way to get protein in they're fine, but frankly they taste a bit too good.  I think I've finally kicked the habit (used to have a subscription service where quest sent me 2 boxes a month - I stopped that and have had a few sitting around that I haven't eaten in weeks). At times i could have eaten 6 a day... they ARE junk food. Sorry.  But it's true.  I tried a lot of junk food replacements - coconut fiber pancakes and almond meal bread, etc.   It's all great!  None of it helped me make it to goal.

I've just hit the one year in maintenance mark, and I'm doing most of my experiments around real food now, instead of simulated junk food.  I just found that for myself, the simulated treats are too much of a crutch.

And I'm loving it! That's the thing...I had to let go of the "junk" mentality to realize how great REAL food like roasted beets (red and gold), new kinds of greens, and seafood taste... stuff I didn't eat much of before, but is on everyone's "most healthy foods" lists, whether you're primal, paleo, pesco/vegetarian or just a healthy eater... there's a lot of overlap on foods that everyone agrees on - once you get to maintenance.  Once I let go of the junk, the real stuff started tasting better.

Until you hit maintenance, my advice is to keep it as simple as possible.  If you're bored with the choices, well, be bored for a while.  Use that as a motivator to get done and to goal quickly rather than perpetually hanging at 10-40 pounds above goal.  

It's been pointed out many times, but needs repeating... there's a limited "honeymoon period" with the sleeve... from 6-12 months.  Use it wisely, keep things simple, be boring, get the job done and move on into maintenance and THEN play with your food.

As Frisco says, do what you wish - I sure don't have all the answers, I only know what worked for me, but consider the advice of all those who DID made it to goal: keep it simple (and maybe a little boring) during weight loss and hurry the F up, it gets harder as time goes on.

-Tom

 

Agree.  My "sweet" comes from the Truvia I put in my tea every morning or the Torani SF syrup I put in my occasional cup of coffee ... or from the protein shakes, which fortunately aren't trigger inducers for me.

Just don't want to plug those numbers into my plan and give up GOOD stuff like my dense proteins in order not to exceed my allowances.  The feeling of being at 167 pounds is way better than any damn artificial treat would make me feel temporarily!!