Maybe that wasn't the right title for this thread but keep with me.

I would desperately love to have a normal relationship with food. I worry that I am just swopping one version of a dysfunctional relationship for another.:confused:

Now all I think about is how many calories/grams of fat/ Protein whatever that I have eaten today against how many calories out.

Is this just the after the divorce backlash so to speak, will I ever be able to not think about food?

Are we all still obsessives, is it just that we swop obsessions??

or even more worryingly is it just me.......:faint:

Nina x

Nina

I would say yes, I have swopped my obsession with food for another, but this is a healthy obsession i believe! We have no choice food is all around us, we have to think about it.

I am much happier and healthier with this obsession! :confused:

Swapping addictions, or "addiction hopping.". With very rare exception, it happens all the time.

Look at anyone who has lost weight "naturally." And who has maintained the loss for let's say 5+ years. First of all, you'll have a hard time finding someone because they addicition didn't hop for very long. Second of all, you're 99% guaranteed to see a significant change in behaviors. E.g.:

A smoker stops smoking, and begins to overeat instead. How many times do you hear "I stopped smoking" without hearing, "I gained weight"?

An overeater loses weight, and implements a crazy/"obsessed" workout schedule instead. They maintain their loss, but few people can really make the life change of 6 hrs exercise per day. How long do you think the weight stays off?

A hard core drug addict "sees the light," stops taking drugs, and becomes a religious fanatic instead. (I watched a loosely related family member go thrugh this And...yep, the drugs are starting to creep back into her life.)

Oh Lord, I am doomed!!!

I do have friends who 'eat to live' - grrrrrr and I guess what I was hoping for was eventually getting to that point, where food wasnt that important to me.

Oh bugger, thats me then, I suppose it is a much more healthy obsession, is it a personality thing I wonder?

Are we more likely to be obsessive people in general then? I know that I am, but I dont have a very long attention span, which to be frank doesn't bode well....

What about everyone else?

Nina x

i agree with everyone who has posted ... i've seen it happen in so many people.

for me it has been exercising (granted not 6 hours a day, but 1 hr - 90 mins a day 6 days a week minimum). and now it's running and finding races ... i am obsessed with finding a good 5K race i can start. i dont care if i come in dead last, it would be an accomplishment just to finish!!

I just posted on your other thread!! I am so in awe of you losing! I am trying to build up to 10 minutes aerobic a day, I am great with weights I just have no puff IYKWIM!!

Nina x

I first started on the t-mill for about 6-8 mins so I know where you are coming from....

If your personality is prone to addictive behavior- I agree with all who state that likely something else will be substituted. Unless you figure out what causes that trait, then maybe you can break the cycle.

for me its exercise and shopping. They are taking over where food did. Ugh. Still haven't figured out what triggers stuff (other than stress, duh)

I definitly consider myself a food addict. One of the benefits of losing weight slowly is that I am able to work through this. When I was first banded it was really hard to deal with things that I would have smoothed over with food. Over time I find myself dealing with "issues" in more constructive ways. I would have easily swapped shopping if I had zipped through clothing sizes like I had hoped. There is still time to pick up the shopping habit when I get to small for all of the various sizes in my closet.

I was totally obsessed with calories, carbs, calories burned, etc. but now that I've reached goal I'm not nearly as bad. Actually, I wish I was. If I put forth no effort I don't gain and I don't lose. If I put forth effort I lose. I want to lose another 10lbs.

I'm not missing two hours of running daily either.

I worked very hard not to do this and I think I was successful.

I really lost weight very slowly compared to a lot of other bandsters, its taken almost 2 years to lose 40kg, many many people have lost that in one. But I refused to diet, count calories, Protein grams etc. I really believe that most of this is mental and that if you're still counting calories and worrying over everything you eat some years down the track, then you've not won a huge part of the battle.

BUT - this is personality dependent. I know that's just me. That's what I most wanted to be free of. My mum lives on weight watchers and she doesnt even need to lose weight, she just loves the discipline and routine.

So, what do you want? How do you want to do it?

In the months immediately post banding I did spend considerable time relearning my food habits and, yes, this did consist of examining prepared foods for their calorie count as well as the nutrition info. I am still in the habit of checking this info while grocery shopping. A lot of what I learned during this time really shocked me. I never became meticulous or obsessive about calorie counting, though. I was simply eating much, much less and I was anxious that the foods I ate were loaded with nutrition and relatively devoid of sat and trans fats.

I don't think that a post-banding obsession with calories is necessarily a bad thing. Working with the band is a technique; the band cuts your physical capacity to guzzle but you in turn must learn which foods are calorie-laden and you must also learn which foods are nutritious. As an example: I got into quite a groove of eating avocado with a home-made vinaigrette: an avocado is a fatty veg but it is rich in nutrients and I figured I could handle the calories if I wasn't eating too much more during the day.

You say that you have a short attention span, Nina, so enjoy your current obsession with calories, use it in order to learn about 'em, and then you will know this stuff and won't have to obsess about it.

I have read things about this as well and saw the Oprah show on it.

I wonder if it's the same for people who had the lapband as it is for those who chose gastric bypass. I've wondered about it, I've have had times where I was exercise obsessed, did 2hrs of aerobics daily but it always would end along with my diet and the scale would go back up.

Some addictions aren't necessarily bad & I believe exercise can be a healthy one. What about booze? Does anyone drink more since they have been banded? I'd be really worried about throwing up(hung over) the next day to drink too much with the band. In my 20's I was driving the porcelein bus ALOT on Sunday mornings....luckily I grew out of it with marriage & kids.....but man those were good times!! :bandit

I wish I could get addicted to exersize. I hate it =/

Nina

I would say yes, I have swopped my obsession with food for another, but this is a healthy obsession i believe! We have no choice food is all around us, we have to think about it.

I am much happier and healthier with this obsession!

Did you mean to say: "We have to drink about it"? Ha ha

I`ve traded, now it is exercise and counting calories. But i sure look better! Donna