BariatricEating.com Health & Nutrition
Rant - Old fat foods?
When you are morbidly obese it means you are taking in wayyyy more calories
than you are burning and the overage is being stored on your body as fat.
Period.
I have a very severe thyroid problem. However, no matter how bad my metabolism was or is, I still took in more calories than I burned. It is not rocket science.
I ate a lot of sandwiches, cake, huge portions of homecooked and restaurant food, piles of pasta. I didn't burn it and one day I woke up and the reality was that I weighed nearly 300 pounds.
Now that my stomach has been surgically altered so that it went from the size of one of my big floppy handbags, to the size of my fist, I have choices to make.
If I choose to put Cheez-Its in my pouch, I could easily eat almost an entire box of the flaky yellow crackers and take in 1000 calories or more very quickly. If I go to Taco Bell, I betcha I could eat the squishy stuff from two super supreme specials... hell, who are we kidding, I could probably even eat the squishy tortillas when they are soaked in the filling! If I go to McDonalds, those fries would go down very well now that I am seven years post op. I am certain that I could eat an entire package of Stouffers Macaroni & Cheese if I set my mind to it.
After my bariatric surgery, I could have chosen to continue to eat all the foods I loved that made me miserable, but just in smaller amounts. It would have been very easy to not force a change. I would have lost weight but not having changed my habits, I would already be a statistical failure.
Ever wonder where people slide on off to? Those folks who used to come to your support group and tell the group that they are so lucky that they don't dump on sugar, or proclaim that THEY CAN EAT ANYTHING OR nervously laugh when they tell you that they can eat an entire six-inch Subway sandwich. What happened to them now that they stopped coming to the meetings over a year ago? They didn't change.
IF I choose to have an omelet for breakfast, I can only eat one whole egg or less than half of the rolled up egg and cheese in volume. I make a deal with myself that I can have a forkful of potatoes or a bite or two of warm biscuit after I am nearly full from my eggs. However, when I am nearly full, my backbone solidifies, my resolve takes over, and I decide that I don't need nor do I want the potatoes or biscuit, as they are not pouch worthy and not worth eating. I know what they taste like. Once I make up my mind to not reward myself, nothing will make me eat them.
For lunch, rather than fast food restaurants, I often choose to stop at a grocery store and buy 4 ounces of freshly sliced pastrami, and swiss cheese from the deli. I get very full on the little roll ups with mustard that I make. I am full for hours when I choose protein. It tastes delicious too. I am not deprived in the least by my choice.
When I get home for work, I take one ribeye steak, cut it in half, and pan sear the pieces while I microwave a bag of Birdseye Cauliflower in Garlic Sauce. It takes five minutes. I cut the steak into paperthin strips and chew each tender bite; tasting the seasoning I rubbed into the meat before cooking. I start to fill up, and finish with several bites of tender vegetable. I could have ordered a pizza and bs myself into saying I was going to eat one small slice and that would be okay to do. It would have taken longer for delivery than my lovely steak dinner. It would have cost more too. People who say eating healthy costs more, are trying to justify eating cheap garbage food. A small piece of meat and a bag of vegetables; even if you microwave a small potato for the other family members is less than take out. Last time I checked a bag of potatoes was a couple of dollars.
We have to EAT... however, we can make the choice as to what we put in our mouth. Both choices we consider TASTE GOOD... both will give us immediate satisfaction. However, the Taco Bell choice, will sabotage our efforts... while the lean meat will fuel our efforts.
The choice to whine about protein shakes is ours too. TOLERATE. tolerate. tolerate. The word makes me sick. We TOLERATE what we want to. I TOLERATE my husbands family because it would make things very difficult if I didn't... so I use my selective powers over my big fat sarcastic mouth, and keep it SHUT. I tolerate what I want to tolerate.
PROTEIN is a way of life. I don't tolerate it, I EMBRACE IT. I welcome it. It fuels my body to burn fat. Perception is 99% of reality. I don't like turnip greens, but would happily TOLERATE a four ounce serving every day if it would allow me to effortlessly keep this weight off.
I see folks tentatively begin to whine on this message board when they are new, and don't yet recognize our patterns. I don't like vitamins, I don't like protein, I don't like all this water, I don't like NOT drinking with my meals.
Well, I didn't like being FAT and MISERABLE.
Find joy in what dropping that first fifty pounds does for you in order to compensate for your having to tolerate things that are tough in this new life.
Post op life is magnificent if you allow it to take you to where the happiness is. Have a protein filled day full of love for yourself.
Ciao, Susan Maria
Copyright
© BE, Inc. 2011 - Susan Maria Leach. All rights reserved.
