Hi Everyone

I apologize for not being an active participant here..This is the only board I ever look at and have ever participated in....I was banded in NYC on 11/11/04...I started my pre-surgery journey 2 weeks prior to surgery at 302.5...I am now 226-230 depending on how much ice cream I have consumed recently...I say how much because I seem to always want ice cream recently...This really is no joke or funny kind of thing..although having lost a great deal of weight and feeling sucessful and much happier after being given this wonderful opportunity I am now succumbing to the wonders of Ben and Jerry's, Haagen-Dazs, Starbucks, and all the old and new great ice cream treats out there with or without mix-ins, syrup, etc...Yep..I can thankfully no longer eat big hero sandwiches, little hero sandwiches, any sandwiches...Can't eat bagels with stuff piled on it, tons of pasta, pizza, fried chicken, steak, etc, etc, etc, etc...

But I can eat ice cream..........

Help...............

I could use a sense of sensibility about this becausre i'm sure i'm sure I'm not alone out there..By the way other way less offensive and harmful demons for me are chili..I have consumed TONS of this chili made at Kings Supermarkets, and Sabra Babaganoush ( eggplant salad ).........

What do you guys do about your demons to get to the next level....I even really know that is wondeful to now be able to have an occasional ice crean guilt free but I am kinda worried about it...

I'm currently filled at 2.1...Haven't had a fill since early March......I do know that fill or now flu those ice cream cravings have to be managed because the slide is open for that demon stuff.........

THANKS

STEVE

NY LAPSTER

I have the ice cream demon too. The only thing that works for me is to keep clear of it at all times. I cannot buy it and have it in the house. I cannot buy it out of the house because that triggers the next round of hunting for the demon again. Easier said than done but the only thing I can do is detox from the stuff and steer clear of it, otherwise I'm like a junkie looking for my next fix. I eat lots of chili too, it has lots of protein, BUT it's the things I eat it with that slow me down. I love it with fritos, and fixin's (cheese, onions, etc). I just try really hard to manage the volume. I never eat out of anything larger than a cup or dessert plate anymore, if I do, I'm moving into dangerous territory.

I have that Demon in the house and it's sitting in a Gallon Tub. I have stayed clear of it for the past week but there were days that is all I wanted for dinner instead of a Healthy meal but I seem to have it under control right now as long as I stay busy seems I do not think about it.

Help me come summer when that is all you see when your out and about.

Mumm Chili sounds good now since we still are getting snow and it's cold out:)

I keep that demon out of my house. Regardless if my husband is an ice cream junkie and eats it every singel night!v , I can not use that as a reason or excuse to have it in my home. If he wants it every night he now goes out every night and gets it or stops on the way home from work and picks some up for later in the evening. It's all about choices and not making excuses. My husband realizes it is a problem for me to have it in the house and he is doing everything in his power to support me. If it is not around I will not go looking for it or to the store to buy it. Do you keep it in the house?

If so , maybe try to not have it around, you know the saying out of sight out of mind

My demon is chocolate

Leatha

It is comforting to know that u face the ice cream and chili wars with me..You seem so knowledgeable and together with your banding and leadership on this board...I would love to get involved in helping support others with this stuff and hopefully we'll fight these demons together...The band is so unbelievable in that there is less to fight against but the ones left are still tough..It certainly isn't a free ride to speedo bathing suit land..

Steve

ny lapster

ok i know i am new here and still in the mushy eating stage, but what about frozen yougurt or low fat ice cream.. i know it is not the same but there are so many good ones out there now... or is that what you are eating and it doesnt matter???? it is too soon for me to know.. i am one week out today and i lost 10 pounds:banana

Hey there, I'm the original ice cream addict!! I have totally come to terms with my addiction, and embrace it as part of my personality. It has not gotten in the way of my weight-loss goals, although certainly I realize that indulging will slow me down.

But a world without ice cream is not a world I want to live in. I have some form of frozen dessert, I'd say, five days a week. We keep ice cream in the house and though I try to buy the no-sugar, no-fat variety that's not always the case. At ice cream stores I'll often go for the sugar- and fat-free frozen yogurt, but again, not always. I never really pigged out on ice cream the way I've heard others admit to--eating a whole pint of anything has always seemed like A LOT to me, and now even more so. My servings are typically more like 8 ozs.

It doesn't feel like something I'm fighting, because I consciously gave up the fight. There's a balance that lets me maintain or lose weight and still have ice cream in my life. If I decide I'm not losing fast enough or whatever, I'll know the reason why and know that action is within my control.

You've lost 80 lbs in what, 6 months!?!? Holy cow, man. I think you deserve some ice cream!! There's no rush to kick a habit that will cause you distress to quit; we're not in this to feel deprived or depressed or cheated out of a normal life. If you're truly overdoing it, just try taking it down to a better level. I'd worry that if I were to try kicking it altogether I'd just find some worse thing to adopt as a vice. So I've settled with the demon and call him "friend."

Alexandra

Thanks !!! The beauty of your response is that it is so therapeutic and based on what is really going on for you in your life...Wow!! I guess I'll strive to find that balance, sweet spot and know-how to manage to keep losing some and then maintain and still allow the ice cream man ( or woman) to ring the bell for me...I too will probably need to have ice cream in my life...I find that exercise is so helpful for me...I have thus elliptical machine that is low impact and when I pop on my Ipod I really enjoy myself...and can eat more ice cram and lose weight...Not that I exercise only for ice cream...that seems a little juvenile but...the exercise has been a really helpful part of making me feel better , sleep better and lose weight...I exercise in spurts..Right now I've been slack and only exercising twicw a week..I feel much better at 4-5 times a week..And I probably eat less ice cream then also because I don't want to sabotage myself totally...

Thanks again...

Steve

Hi Steve, I've never looked at ice cream as a demon, but then I have always felt that ice cream = love.

My dad was an ice cream fiend, Cookies and ice cream! Some of my fondest childhood memories were where we all got a bowl of ice cream and cookies and sat around the TV watching the Smother's Brothers, or Sonny and Cher. There was no fighting, no hitting, no crying. The wolves were happy. (I was raised by wolves...)

I will never give up ice cream, but like Alex, I can't imagine sitting and eating a whole pint in one sitting either. I generally eat my ice cream out of a martini glass. Silly I know, but somehow it makes the ice cream eating more... elegant perhaps.

"moderation in all things" -- Terance (118 - 159 BC)