I just got back from a vacation this week and it reinforced for me that I can occasionally eat things that are not on my plan and be okay. I ate a lot of my favorite foods in New England (where I was visiting) including blueberry pie, fried clams, clam chowder and a lobster roll! The difference this year is that I ate 5 fried clams...not a huge plateful with french fries and coleslaw like I would have before surgery! I ate the lobster off of the lobster roll without eating the bread and didn't even eat all of that. My crab cake was shared with hubby and the piece of blueberry pie was just a sliver.

Before I left for vacation I decided that I was not going to indulge but when I walked into a restaurant and smelled the fried clams (a personal favorite) I told my husband that I was going to spend the $18.00 on a plate of clams that I was going to barely touch. He agreed that it was special treat for me. I would have shared with him but he doesn't like them. The poor waitress couldn't imagine why I ate such a small portion and wanted to box them for me but I told her I was staying in a hotel and couldn't reheat them. In reality, they were very tasty but I have probably eaten my last fried clam because the fried food didn't sit as well with my stomach. I didn't get sick but I also didn't feel like they were as good as I remembered and worth the calories. I wouldn't have known that though had I not took the few bites and tried something that I craved.

The important message for me was that I didn't feel deprived and ate all of my favorite foods but just in portions sizes that were appropriate for my new little tummy. Going on vacation worried me a lot and I was afraid that I'd feel badly about not eating foods that I love or that I would eat them and get sick or possibly even gain weight during the vacation. I was reassured that I got through a vacation without easy access to my staple foods, continued to lose weight and did fine! :whoo:

Good for you on making it through vacation and doing well! I'm with you on eating old favorites and they just don't taste as good as before. I was on a family vacation last week too and had a few old favorites but only small amounts compared to what it would've been in the past. Good to know we can still do that to some extent. I didn't gain that week but I didn't lose either.

That's awesome! I'm glad you had a great vacation and enjoyed some of your favorite foods, gotta love that sleeve

Yay for your great vacation!

Your story is exactly why I decided on this surgery. I want to be able to enjoy the flavors of things I like without going overboard on them. The sleeve is a tool that helps me do that--one can't physically overeat without consequences! I'm a week behind you and am just starting to feel really comfortable expanding the types of food that I eat, so it's good to hear that you are able to "get through" a vacation week without your staple foods--I'm about to do some more traveling this summer, and I'm looking forward to enjoying my trip without worrying about the food issue.

Thanks for posting and way to go!

Meg

What a great experience!!! Yay for you!!!! Your post is so helpfull. It's nice to know we can get to this point! Thanks for posting and congratulations on a great success!!!

and thats another reason I ADORE THE SLEEVE! U go girl, u are doing really amazing:) and btw fried clams are my personal fav too:)

Thanks ya'll! I do LOVE my sleeve and I am happy that my new way of eating is starting to feel normal.