good morning!!!!!!!!! before i start this thread....u all are looking sooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!! i'm seeing more and more loss everyday on here!!!!!!!!!!!! u all are amazing!!!!!!!!!! so here it goes....i have completely changed the way i eat....don't get me wrong i enjoy what i eat....but its a complete change...no bread...no pasta...no fast food...(i do treat myself to el pollo loco every friday...1 chicken breast...1 side of small pinto beans...and sometimes i go all out to my favorite mexican food restaurant and eat a WHOLE TABLESPOON OF GUACAMOLE....lol...thats my cake...chocolate ....cookie) other then my occasional treats...i eat very healthy...my best friend had weight loss surgery she stills eats fast food...mac and cheese...starbuck fraps...hasnt really changed her eating habits....yes she eats a lot less...but just a lot less of the same food that got her to need weight loss surgery....but here's my question (finally...lol) is it better to completely change ur eating habits...well u eventually get tired of it ?????? or is it better to incorporiate unhealthy foods into ur diet?????? i look at it two ways...eventually ur going to hit a plateau and stop losing...if u havent changed ur eating habits...there is a good possibility ur weight will come back...on the other hand well u stay eating healthy (i know its up to each individual)...i'm starting to worry that i've been eating so healthy that if eventually i eat a small portion of mac and cheese i'll blow up again...or is that just my yo-yo dieter's frame of my mind???????????

Personally, I'm avoiding all the "good junk" like the plaque. I figure that since I'm not really having cravings yet (or small ones that I can defeat) then why risk falling off the wagon? But, I think once you have a good handle on your new habits it's okay to have a treat once in a while.

I eat ALL foods, just in a lot smaller size, thats the whole point of having the band i got told, so were not deprived of ANY foods, i was taught there is NO bad foods, just bad choices people have made with portion sizes

For me, it's been rethinking the place food has in my life. One day a few weeks ago my boss, who was having a bad day, mentioned getting "comfort food" for lunch. I started thinking "I really can't comfort myself with food anymore ... that's what got me here in the first place." When I do treat myself, I try to do it in the context of a social occasion, when it's appropriate, and to get back on the bandwagon the next day, and so far it's working. I've done my best to stay away from emotional eating and so far that's working too. When I'm really tempted, I tell myelf "Save your "cheats" for when you really need them," and one I do that, I'm usually able to walk away.

for the most part i eat pretty much the same as i did pre-band ... just much less.

i wasn't into fast food nor had a sweet tooth, i just had issues putting down the fork.

i will say my tastes have changed a bit when it comes to artificial flavors & dairy. i use to drink several diet cokes a day...now if i eat something w/splenda, equal etc. i get a metalic taste - yuk. w/dairy, you couldn't pay me to drink a glass of milk, i love it now....go figure.

My lifestyle has changed in so many great ways, but I still enjoy having "treats" now and again and don't feel guilty AT ALL about doing so!

Honestly, you need to incorporate change into your life that best suits you. Could I go my entire life without eating cake-HE to the double L NO!! Could I go without having it every month and maybe on certain occasions..absolutely! Do I eat potato chips every day-NO WAY, but do I have them on a picnic with my kids, YES. To me, it's what is "real" in my life. Reality is not eating just chicken breast, Protein shakes and broccoli 24/7.

In fact, I posted a question about getting unfilled for a vacation recently. Mind you, the ACTUAL reason for posting this question was for real responses (so thanks everyone who did reply) but the PM's I got accusing me of "giving up" or "cheating" or "throwing away everything I've done" were quite surprising to me.

I asked because I am too tight (still am even after over 4 weeks from my fill) and I do not want to be on vacation @ DisneyWorld puking my guts out every 5 minutes (with a 10 minute walk to a bathroom). What I did want to do is ENJOY my vacation without worrying if I'm going to puke up my lunch. What people THOUGHT was I just wanted to eat everything in sight without a worry...NO WAY! Imagine me wanting to enjoy my vacation..THE HORROR :tt2:

Honestly, do what is best for you, and if you have a treat one day it will not kill you. Just don't eat that treat every day and fall back into the same habits. Enjoy your new lifestyle!!:smile2:

You know I changed the way I eat too. I no longer eat fast food and I'm quite certain at this point it would make me sick.

I do have the occasional goody. Don't get me wrong I love my Cookies and cake. I don't buy any of it but if I'm at my brother's and he makes fresh chocolate chip cookies I'm gonna have 1 or 2 but that's it. If I have cake it's a small piece.

Last week I kinda fell off the dieting band wagon (making a couple unhealthy choices and not exercising as diligently as I have been) and i'm paying the piper this week. I feel like crap. I'm exhausted and yesterday felt crappy all day long but I'm back on track this week and today I finally feel a bit better.

I didn't come all this way to go through what I am going through not to make a change in my lifestyle. Obviously it wasn't working before why would it work now? Your friend is making the wrong choices and unfortunately it's going to come back and bite her.

I also pretty much eat the same things i ate pre-band. With the exception of fast food. I love being able to eat what i want but being restricted enough to only handle a very small portion. If a person who did not know i was banded was dining with me they would never have a clue.

2flyguys,

I think your smart to avoid junk food.I'm 6 months out and have slowly started to allow myself junk food again and it has been all bad! Moderation was never my strong suit so I cant stop when I get started so for me it's better not to even get started.

It's funny because I too have a good friend who did RNY 2 weeks before me and she still eats the same as she did before surgery just much much less.And I'm over here trying to eat salad and fruit and be good and she's eating chicken taco's & Wendy's everyday and kicking my butt in the weightloss department.I've really had to remind myself why I did what I did.And tell myself this is my journey & my choices and she can do whatever she wants! It's hard though when you watch someone else when seems to be "getting away with eating bad" and your struggling!!

But anyway I think your on the right track and doing great just listening to your body and do what feels right for you!!

I beleive there are NO absolutes here. We made the disission to make a LIFE STLYE change. To me that means making healthier choices, but of coarse there is going to be the occassional high fat/calorie indulgance. But to me that's what is should be.....OCCASSIONAL...

You have to make positive changes that you can live with the rest of your life, if that's not your mindset then how is this any different then any other diet we have done over our lifetime??

~Monica

2flyguys,

I think your smart to avoid junk food.I'm 6 months out and have slowly started to allow myself junk food again and it has been all bad! Moderation was never my strong suit so I cant stop when I get started so for me it's better not to even get started.

It's funny because I too have a good friend who did RNY 2 weeks before me and she still eats the same as she did before surgery just much much less.And I'm over here trying to eat salad and fruit and be good and she's eating chicken taco's & Wendy's everyday and kicking my butt in the weightloss department.I've really had to remind myself why I did what I did.And tell myself this is my journey & my choices and she can do whatever she wants! It's hard though when you watch someone else when seems to be "getting away with eating bad" and your struggling!!

But anyway I think your on the right track and doing great just listening to your body and do what feels right for you!!

Good for you!!!

I know it's sooo hard not to compare ourselves to those around us and rate or success or lack there of against theirs.

You just need to remeber this as you are having you healthy lunch and she's chomping down her fast food.....What are your atreries going to look like and what are her's going to look like???

Being healthy is not soley about the weight we see on the scales.

You keep up the great work, I know it's hard sometimes but you are doing awesome....and just a side note, she might be kicking your butt losing weight right now....but I wonder how her body is adjusting to such a quick drop...that is another reason why faster is not always better.

Like most of you have said this is a "Life Style Change" and that's how I've been living my life for the past 10 months. But I also know that if I don't have a glass of wine when we go out to dinner or a taste of a dessert or some other treat once in a while I'm afraid that I will binge and go back to my old habits. Every day is a struggle so I take it one day at a time. There are days I wish I can just lose all of my weight and be done with it and then there are days that I am glad that I am losing at a steady/healthy pace. My last visit with my surgeon I had not lost as much as I wanted and I complained to her, we had been socializing a lot more lately and I said to her if I didn't have the drinks that I did, or eaten what I did I would have lost more. She told me that I was living my life and if I didn't enjoy some of the foods that I ate before I am depriving myself and might go off the deep end later on. So during the week, which is the easy time of the week for me, I stick to my "Healthy eating lifestyle" and on the weekends if we go out and I have a martini or a glass of wine or eat something that is not as healthy I don't beat myself up over it or at least I try not to :smile2:. As long as the scale is going down I figure I'm doing what I set out to do. Good luck to all of you.

It's definitely been a lifestyle change for me. I'm generally a healthy eater and always have been. . I was just eating a bit too much for years and years.

I do still have the occasional treat, but it's one cookie or a small frozen yogurt, instead of a larger portion. Also, I don't eat things like bagels with butter anymore (my former daily breakfast. .gag). I've also gone from 1-2 Diet Pepsis a day to zero since I started my pre-op diet! I thought that would be the hardest thing to give up, but it wasn't bad at all.

Honestly, with restriction, I still enjoy eating -- but I don't enjoy doing it the way I used to do it. I'm still all about the quality -- just not the quantity!

Catherine

all of ur responses have been very insightful...i'm not eating anything gross...lol...i've always had the mindset that if it's healthy...it taste bad...for example...lite mayo...yuck!!!!!!!! so in some sense i still do eat like i did b4 getting banded...and yes i use real mayo!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol...and i still get to eat my beloved mexican food....in a healthier way...and eating healthy has introduced me to some foods i would never have eaten b4....tofu chili....love it!!!!!!! i think i will splurge on 1 taquito this weekend....:smile2:

Let me start by saying it looks like you are doing a great job so far and you should be very happy with yourself.

Now i think it is very important to have balance in your life. As I have come closer to my goal weight my eating habits have changed from when i first was post-op. I eat some of the old things i used to eat but not really the same. i dont eat the same food my kids eat like corn dogs or fries. I love catfish but I dont fry it in a lot of grease. if I do fry it, its a very small piece. I still dont eat bread or posta just yet. i have no taste for fast food now and i find that so weird, nothing sounds good to me any more at those places. if I have a snack like cookies or a ice cream cone its a very small amount and i make sure to increase my workout that day to burn those extra cals off. everything is input-output for me...if i add a extra 500 cal of treats than i burn a extra 500 cals during my workout. So i eat more but burn more also. i dont think i could of ate the same way when i was first banded, i had to be strict for me to do it. I had to restrict myself so that i wouldnt back slide. Now i am looking toward mantaining my weight in the next two or so months. i will get to my goal weight and than try to figure out what is next. test things out and see what i can add or not add back into my life, but i think If i stay active like i am now and really watch my intake i will be ok and wont regain the weight.

i hope i helped you out a little.

I think to be successful, it has to be lifetime. Once at goal, a bit of those things we shouldn't have will likely be okay AS LONG AS the individual is vigilant, weighing regularly and going back to the basic diet if, say, 2 or 3 pounds creep up. If you don't attack it then, it will be 4 or 6, 15 or 20......