As I started my journey in May of 2004 at 424 pounds I certainly had what I would consider an inappropriate relationship with food. My meals were often healthy, my snacks were too, but my portions were out of control and I ate all day. That’s how I lived for many, many years. Then, as life and my emotional eating roller coaster intervened I found my meals getting less healthy, my snacks were pure garbage “food”, and I was still eating all day.
How was Weight Loss Surgery going to “fix” all that? I was going to get some help with portion control and satiety. I committed to choosing better foods, drinking lots of water, staying at 1200 calories per day maximum, and 60 grams of protein per day minimum.
Sounds simple, right? Not on your life. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and each day I still struggle with the choices that I am responsible for making to maintain my 250 pound weight loss. Some days are good, some days are better, and I have had some days that I can label as THE BEST!
Most of us know what those days that rate “THE BEST” are days when my calories were under my maximum (for me in maintenance that number is around 1500); my protein met my minimum(for me 100 grams), and I have stayed hydrated with 80+ ounces of water.
Did this all happen overnight? Right after surgery my answer is yes, for 6 months I followed my doctor’s rules perfectly and dropped a tremendous amount of weight. At right around 6 months more of it became about MY CHOICES since the list of what I was “allowed” to eat pretty much started and ended with Anything that I could eat comfortably without getting stuck.
As a carryover from the list of foods not to have in the first months after surgery I have kept the following as prohibited foods:
To this list I have added and subtracted foods along the way that either mess with my body’s physical reaction to them or that mess with my mind - my ability to stop eating at satisfied, and not be triggered to uncontrollable eating by these foods.
That list currently includes:
A woman participating in one of our FREE telephone support groups stated that she judged food by whether or not it was expensive or a good value. No, not dollar wise - calorie and protein wise. I LOVE that!
My past ten years has been spent learning (every time I go to the market because I always check out new foods) the intrinsic value to my health of the foods I eat.
This has me choosing 3 ounces of grilled salmon over a fried chicken drumstick, steamed baby squash over a loaded baked potato, and asparagus with a sprinkle of lemon juice and light mozzarella cheese over hollandaise sauce. Just a few examples there are too many to list here.
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I try to make my choices based on every ten calories of my food having at least 1 gram of protein, hence a Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande at 760 calories/15 grams of protein would have been my pre-surgery choice. I probably would have had something else with it of course, along with a Diet coke to finish it off! A lot of food, but that’s how I got to 424 pounds, and I need to remember that so I can learn and change. As I work on changing things; without knowing the details I might choose a Taco Bell 7 Layer Burrito for 430 calories and 15 grams protein. Certainly that is a better choice. As I read and learn and experiment after surgery, my 4 ounce boneless, skinless, chicken breast at 120 calories and 22 grams of protein, is certainly my best choice. I would find myself marinating the breast in something spicy and yummy, or any of the ten thousand other ways I could prepare it, and be well on my way to my protein minimum for a day while keeping my calories in check.
I still love food, that relationship is not about to change in this lifetime. I enjoy eating it, and savoring the taste and texture. I have just become very picky of what I choose to put in my mouth.
Not so difficult when you think about it…. the point is we have to think about it and learn, and constantly make choices - some better - some our BEST.