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Goalie,

Please do NOT forget. We all have learing experiences. This is one of yours. You own it and I KNOW will learn how to plan for the future from it.

Remember this DID not make you "fail". You can only fail if you quit!

(hugs)

Thank you!

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I do not intend to scold or be condescending... this is tough ass battle and we all make mistakes or do things we later regret. I am not going to enable however by somehow saying it is okay and that "rules" don't matter because they do matter.

I have now lost 160 from the start of my preop diet (and 184 from my lifetime high). I am so far maintaining. I have learned some things along the way.

for example, I had times during my first 3 -6 months when I could eat more than I thought i should. That is when i came up with the mantra that "just because I can, doesn't mean I should". I suspect that the nerves weren't fully healed and I didn't actually feel how full I was. My tummy still has very good restriction 2 years out because i make it a habit to not "pack that pouch". I eat till no longer hungry, stop before full. Have I slipped up, absolutely, but most of the time, I do good with this one.

I am insulin resistant/carb sensitive so I know that simple carbs (ie junky food) and even fruit triggers hunger and snacking. Crackers, Protein bars etc etc - i think I could eat a huge quantity of them so i just don't have them around. I KNOW I can't eat a huge quantity of lean meat and veggies, so that is what i keep around.

So, for people who are still figuring it out and fine tuning their sleeve, be thinking about the long run. Here is a sad fact that nobody ever told me... I have to eat a pretty dang small amount of food to maintain my goal weight. I think this is why the surgeon sort of encourages high BMI people to be "okay" with a higher goal weight, he knew that at a normal weight/size my caloric intake would have to be very restricted.

For me, I am okay with that because food was a bad friend to me and I don't want to use it the way I did before. I do go out to eat and stuff, but i eat an appetizer or share a meal or something like that. I think I have finally accepted that this is my life now. :) I have also found myself hanging out with people who are smaller eaters... they are out there... they just figured this out without having to have surgery. I love being with someone who eats like I do - my best friend Mary and I spent a day together. Protein Drink for Breakfast, some veggie Soup, cheese and bread for lunch and another Protein Drink for dinner because that lunch was "a lot" of carbs. Yes, she eats that way too.

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Yes, I measure out 1tbls uncooked and cook that with 1/4c. of Water. That is actually 1/3 of the full serving size.

Uncooked grits?? Why?!


Lol I think she meant that's how she measured them, not ate them like that :) hopefully.

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I really think one of the biggest mindblowers involved here is how little we really need to eat to survive and thrive. I shared my food diary with a friend who is thinking about the surgery and she freaked out. "How can you eat that little?!?" And the thing is, her habits (doesn't eat Breakfast, lives on coffee or a latte until mid-afternoon, comes home and pigs out) are certainly not working.

Why is it that we don't want to realize that our bodies require so little? Is it conditioning, or emotion, or what? I have been wondering about this since the procedure. I have always wondered about friends who seem to live on white wine and green salads and very little else; now I know why it works. Somehow they're getting their calories in. They're not good calories, all of them, but their bodies adapt.

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We're hard wired to eat, just like any other animal. But we clever humans have managed to make our foods so dense in calories that we don't need to graze all day, yet our brains tell us we do. And for some reason, those of us who got fat think we have uniquely failed at this eating thing. Yet look around. There are more and more fat people and they are getting younger and younger. The problem is with the food, not the eating.

I've been quite dismayed by how little I can eat. Sure, I'm glad to be losing the weight, and if that's the price I have to pay, then so be it. But I agree, it is unbelievably tiny!

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The original post I made about "cheating" was making reference to skipping the post-op liquid phase & moving up to soft foods.

Hi!

These type of posts usually end up being therapy for many people that post in it and many more that just lurk and move on without posting. Or fights as Laura-Ven pointed out too.

I'm 7 weeks post op and fully appreciate the context of this...I always walk away with a new piece of knowledge or realization that's more important than I ever imagined it would be.

:)

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The original post I made about "cheating" was making reference to skipping the post-op liquid phase & moving up to soft foods.

The OP was deleted (at least on my end, there's nothing there but a period), so I think it was left up to interpretation based on the title.

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I did not skip any phases or cheat. It took a bit to come to terms with having surgery and did not want to sabotage myself as I had in the past. Some people skipped phases with no issues, and others suffered consequences. Good luck to the OP.

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The OP was deleted (at least on my end, there's nothing there but a period), so I think it was left up to interpretation based on the title.

Yes, though i note the OP has now been edited with a new entry added. I responded initially based on the OPs later post where she said

It started on Thanksgiving. I had a taste of all our dishes. Didnt have problems, so I just continued. No raw vegetables. Just a little Peanut Butter & crackers, yogurt, some chicken meat (well chewed), pizza (cant eat a whole slice). I have no real excuse other than boredom on the liquid diet, I guess.

I don't know how others plans work but mine didn't list crackers, chicken, or pizza as 'soft' food unless they were blended first.

To each their own I guess. The only one I am accountable to in my diet, nutrition, and health is myself and I consider it the same for all adults.

Edited by LouiseC

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wow I feel like Im on trial!! smh!

You are not on trial. It is possible you are overreacting a little bit here, perhaps a bit sensitive on the issue? I wonder if you are reading in to the responses a level of emotion or antagonism that I am not seeing?

People have been courteous and helpful throughout this thread which is a good thing as these sorts of threads often don't go well as others referenced earlier. People responded to the title of the thread as you had deleted your OP. That, plus your later posts, was all they had to go on. Therefore it is understandable that there has been confusion. If you delete your OP, what else do posters have to go on but the title and later posts?

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If I knew how to delete the title, I would!!! I was curious if other sleevers had done the same thing I did. Since this is "basics for beginner sleeves post-op". #beginners #sleeves

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