Hi I had my surgery in the end of December. My doc still has me on fluids and Protein shakes bc they want me to get my liquids in before I try food. I am getting much better at the liquids. But every night when I make dinner, I try a tiny a protion (teaspoon size) of what I made even though I'm not on solid foods. The first bite tastes great but the second bite hurts going down. I dont' want to do this yet I do. I need help. Any ideas ?

So you're only eating two teaspoons of solid food a night? You are far enough out that unless this is sharp stuff (like tacos) or things with seeds, you really aren't going to kill yourself or substantially hurt your sleeve, particularly if you are chewing it to a mush. Past that though, little bit of tough love, do you want to be thin or do you want to be fat? You can easily eat around the sleeve once you are heeled and regain any weight you lost very quickly. My sleeve hates sugars, oils, fried stuff, and randomly meat, but it loveeessss Wheat Thins and crackers. I can easily eat a box or two a day and if I let myself I would not still be at goal 9 months after I hit it.

Ultimately, you need to want to make the changes and the only person who can do that is you. If you thought that eating was going to potentially hurt you and you still did it, then what happens a few months down the road when technically you can eat anything you want with no restrictions? The only person who can fix you, is you.

Put down the spoon and go drink a Protein shake.

Rachel you are right. I was just reading through old posts. I do need some tough love. Thanks and great job on reaching your goal weight !

I"m gonna stick to the soft stuff until my doc progresses me. I don't want to undo my weight loss. It's been years since I lost 13 lbs. I need a mantra -- something to repeat in my head. Any ideas anyone ?

Another thing -- sometimes I get this weird feeling in my stomach at night ? Can I be hungry ? My doc said I would not experience hunger after this surgery. During the day I'm fine but the dinner hour I feel a yearning to eat and I get that weird feeling in my stomach. Any ideas ?

Have you identified why you're doing this and what it will take to get you to stop? It sounds like you know the food probably won't physically hurt you, but not being able to stay on plan this early out is a problem.

You could try wearing a surgical mask while you're cooking dinner, as a constant reminder not to put food in your mouth.

Also, that weird feeling for me is acid. I'm on omeprazole every day. My surgeon wanted me to try to wean off it, but after two days without it, I've got the weird feeling plus acid reflux.

for the front page of my food journal i made a sign, in great, big letters(36 i think)"BECAUSE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT..." Are you tracking those"bites"?... just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD... any food that goes into my mouth, i must be sitting at a table, eating from a plate, with silverware. no standing in the kitchen munching from a pan...no sitting in front of the t.v. munching from a bag. you're starting some bad habits that could kick you in your it's-not-as-small-as-i-wish-it-was butt. just be careful and good luck.

Thanks for answering and the advice. I think I've been doing this at night because it's stress. My family stresses me out ! At night the kids unload all of their days problems and then my husband has his turn. It's hard, I end up becoming the sponge that takes in all of their stress but then I am stressed ! Also my husband is a very picky eater and often is dissatisfied with the dinner I"ve prepared. That stresses me to no end bc once I've put in the effort I don't want to have to make a second meal! I'm going to have to speak to him about it, but it always gets heated so I avoid the issue bc I don't want the angst.

These issues have been an ongoing for me with other weight loss efforts and so far I haven't found a good solution. So as soon as I get stressed, I run to the food and that's how I ended up here. I badly want to break the cycle but I need a solution that works.

For now, I am going to get a food journal and keep it in the kitchen. Also, I'm going to limit my eating to the table, sitting down, with silver ware. I think that is a great strategy to start with. I want to change my sabotaging habits and I want to get healthier.