Do you notice that once we get relaxed in our weight loss efforts, the same old food demons sneak back into our lives? I have certainly learned how to eat around my band when I want to! It really is sad what we do to ourselves when we need that little pick me up.

I for one have to keep myself in check on a regular basis, or it is curtains for me. It amazes me to see how many people struggle with the same thing-food. Sometimes I wish this addiction could be taken from me, but this, I fear, is something I will fight my whole life.

I feel the same way Para. I was having problems with lack of restriction and then I just let it all go to heck during the holidays. I still can't believe I managed to gain almost 20 pounds back since last July.

But I'm here again, continuing the fight. I do think if you put up a successful fight long enough, it does get easier.

I've just never been able to keep up the battle that long.

Seriously, everyone has been there at one point or another. Just keep your goal in mind and you'll do the right thing. :mad:

Yeah, I hope I don't do that.. My banded friend told me last night that when she drinks water with her food she doesn't get stuck as much and she can eat more.. granted she's lost 100 pounds, but I hope I don't think I can just drink water with my food and have the ability to eat more, ya know? Sometimes having that knowledge can cause one to sabotage themselves... I just hope I can be strong. :mad:

For sure. I battle this on a daily basis. I think the best thing is to just accept it will be there to some degree for the rest of your life. You dont have to annihilate it, just control it. There is room for slip ups and periods of not being perfect.

But I have to remind myself every single day to choose those foods that fill me the most - because they tend to be the difficult ones to eat and I avoid them, steering naturally towards the easier foods. That leads to too much hunger and appetite for me.

Jacqui has a great point about the good for us foods being harder to eat. Sometimes I get so frustrated with not being able to get things down that I say screw it and have a milk shake or some other fattening food that goes down easily. Everytime I get down a few pounds I start to think I'm doing well and allow for too many slip ups. Just curious how anyone drinks while eating. I did on accident (habit) a few times and it felt like my food expanded and got stuck. Awful feeling!

ParaGirl, I've been fighting old demons for over a week now. It's really hard sometimes, especially on busy weeks, for me. I've had a lot of social functions to go to in the past couple of weeks and I have definitely blew it more than once. I have been through a period before, similar to this one, and I did get past it.

It's a daily struggle and unfortunately, it is something we will always have to deal with. I would like to think that as we work towards making our lives healthier, we will learn to handle these demons better and the end result will far outshine our desire for food as pure enjoyment. I heard this saying once, "Eat to live, don't live to eat". One day, I hope I can say that is what I do. Until then, I'll try, try, and try harder.

I got a fill today, and when I got home, I threw out all the bad stuff. I do so much better when I keep junk foods out the house. It's a start, right?