Jack

"Who is still loving pickles and when could you tolerate them?" it was a couple years before my actual desire for pickels returned

For me the secret is 'just a taste' of the things I really like, but sit down & have it on a (small) plate all as a meal......the remnants of my old 'dayly graze' remain too influential. And while home made sour dough herbal stuffing is great, I prefer a spoon or 2 of gravy. I too prefer a little seafood rather than turkey...but in a pinch, a little thin slice of prime rib will do. We used to go to friends for a 4 hour multi-too much feast of multiple everything. Now a small salad plate with a mini taste of the choices really satisfies.

After several phases of postOp changes, many of my long term life favorites simply aren't that appealing. And such as Pasta, spaghetti, sauces, mashed potatoes, french fiies, etc, have beome a "1% of the time" food....might have them one meal a QUARTER rather than 1 meal a day. I eat smaller portions by choice. I've been to McD ONCE in the last 12 years! Consider it a mistake at that. Eat home made or take-with about 90% of the time rather than eat out. Never cared for syruppy gooey sauces of any kind, at least since circa 1988 when Dx'd as diabetic. Actually carry bottled Water in vehicle and find it very refreshing. My liquid intake is water, a couple black coffees in the AM, perhaps 6 oz skim milk (or none) daily, never diet/aspartame anything. Have abstrained from alcohol nearly 30 years without any dire effects. Do have various cheeses about now & then. Protein/grain bar now & then. Like the little tangerine Cuties, fresh greens, of course the garden & fresh berries, now in decline....but plenty in the freezer. Nearly any restaurant meal requires take-home box. I do favor a decent corned beef hash now & then.

An absolute great and understandible article by David Mendosa, long term diabetic who sends his newsletter no charge. I recommend you take a look at his work: "The new food insulin index can work much better than carbohydrate counting, which for years has been considered to be the gold standard for improving glycemic control. For those of us who have diabetes, this index is also a more comprehensive guide to blood sugar control than the glycemic index. For years the limitation of the food insulin index (also known as just the insulin index) was the few foods tested. The original 1997 study, which in 2003 I reviewed in detail for the first time in the article “Insulin Index”on my personal website, tested only 38 foods. We had to wait until 2011 for the index to grow to about 120 foods in “Prediction of postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in lean, young, healthy adults.” I reviewed that study here at “Manage Your Blood Sugar Better with the Insulin Index.” Now, a much more extensive study of the food insulin index is available, and it is further expanded to include 26 more tested foods. The study, titled “Clinical Application of the Food Insulin Index to Diabetes Mellitus,” is Kirstine Bell’s Ph.D. dissertation from Australia’s University of Sydney. The entire 282-page dissertation plus a dozen appendices is free online. These are the foods most recently tested for their food insulin index: Here follows a graph I can't copy. http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=3667Food I Cheers to the Bandster Diabetics on their journey.

"Really is my own fault I know what works for me I just need to step up and do it." that could be a banner on a large biplane following most of us around!!!

The comments here following the report are interesting and raise many points we all face. There are obvious questions about this individual. While the article lacks specifics, it does help raise general awareness of the difficulties of altering our eating behavior. pizza

You make some excellent points lisacaron.... Whatever malignant power is ruling his life, must also have an awful effect on those around him supporting his voyage into the 800# hell he has come to inhabit.

Linking the effects of certain chemicals on the normal body endocrine function: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-09-chemical-exposure-linked-diabetes-obesity.html

Can't seem to link; see story at CBSConnecticutlocal.com for 7/23/2015 date. He's 2 months nto cross country ride, claims 60# loss, and is doing it for health and to save his marriage. Good luck for sure!

Ever wonder how those cooking show & home entertainment eating gurus don't start bulking up? This article is a little weak on fact but has some preliminary findings to suggest: http://nypost.com/2015/08/19/the-surprising-reason-foodies-dont-get-fat/

Hope springs eternal in all of us: " The scientists believe the technique could prevent or even cure obesity in those people with the faulty gene and negate the effects of a high-fat diet. "Obesity has traditionally been seen as the result of an imbalance between the amount of food we eat and how much we exercise, but this view ignores the contribution of genetics to each individual's metabolism," said senior author Professor Manolis Kellis, of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and of the Broad Institute. "Knowing the causal variant underlying the obesity association may allow genome editing as a therapeutic avenue for individuals as risk. "By manipulating this new pathway, we could switch between energy storage and energy dissipation providing new hope for a cure against obesity.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11812324/Have-scientists-at-Harvard-and-MIT-found-a-cure-for-obesity.html

I'm unsure of the nuances of all this, yet it seems like a genuine effort to promote a healthy respect for one's self-image http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/17/woman-removes-clothes-piccadilly-circus-body-image_n_7997302.html?icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl7|sec3_lnk5%26pLid%3D373605

"a shocking amount of time worrying about what they look like to others. I'm about to give that crap up myself." I've spent considerable time being shocked by what I look like to myself..... The Forum here continues to generate amazing Ideas that are helpful in wrasslin' with myself....

"I still have plenty of weight to lose but having the band is a consistent daily reminder of where I have come and I will continue to make progress if I follow what works for me." Pretty much describes my own status. Cheers!

just chekcing in, wondering how you're doing since the last post? I'm plugging along....year 11 is coming up fast....

This is one of the best articles I've seen on serious research into the link between microbial presence and human mood and behavior. Not too long and not too abstruse, it discusses a lot of recent discoveries, which of course leads to further inquiries. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0

Thanks for the 'smartphone' idea.....someday I may get around to trying one out. Still plodding along with the old steam-powered 'non-app' style device.....almost no one I know can believe it. Not sure what all I'm missing, but for sure the screen size just ain't compatible with my geezer vision.

and what comments does anyone have on a home-computer software set up? I've seen the on-line versions and now have decided to buy one AT HOME without all the cookies/privacy issues/etc. I've used a variety of on-line free programs over the years, but have decided to actually get my own. 'Diet Master' seems to have high marks & is on sale for $24.95. What's 'best' and works well?

While the arguments regarding 'replacement addiction' does address 'sport eating' with 'sport drinking', and the notions of 'addictive personalities' etc all have elements of truth, I reject their conclusions as being necessarily 'the Truth'. Granted we are all weak & seek maximum pleasure by virtue of birth, as a 'behavior' school of interpreting our actions, other theories seem just as likely in my own situation. Boredom, habit, cluelessness, maladaptive spirit of adventure, inattentiveness, and a wide range of other factors influence my own eating behavior. When I gave up alcohol literally overnight circa 1988, there was no sudden surge of increased replacement consumption. Overeating had been present for decades preceding that event, and continued apace without the influences of Demon Rum. Sport Eating is a behavior I better manage by direct means of confrontation and observation WHEN it is occurring.

fitbit links with fitness pal" please tell me more

In the long history of my own diabetic onset, often I noted strange compulsions to eat certain things, crave ever moreMoreMORE and OVER eat them despite attempts to moderate. During the 70s/80s/90s I became certain high fructose corn syrup had virtually unrecognized, unreported, unstudied & often denied, effects on some people. And try as I might, ingesting 'just a little' was WAY too much. Not blaming anyone/thing and accept ~I~ was the one bending my elbow to stuff that wretched concoction in my pie-hole....yet looking back it certainly resembles some form of addictive process. Here's a recent update http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/174391/fructose-fuels-type-2-diabetes from the Mendosa newsletter.

Had enough with the 'finger tip stick' way of life? New article by Dave Mendosa newsletter http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/174084/diabetes-test-sites-work

gavin: re: "I have a sugar addition that is keeping me from loosing any more . I m not gaining but not losing. I have lost faith in the band and myself will be 63 tomorrow. I had so hoped this was the answer for me. Anyone got any suggestions" 'faith' is based on factors beyond rational components of our believe system.... Success with 'the Band' is based on functional and consistent nutritional footwork than includes taking active steps EVERY day toward our goal. Bandsters are not transported on faith alone. Our success is based on what work we do for the good of ourselves and our family. I'll be 70 next time & what the Band has done for me is made my Olden Age feel about 30 years thinner. Perhaps if you restate the question more clearly we can all take a look at what answers you may have available. Don't give up on yourself yet.

Agree with B52 on the 'forced eating' business......if I have to gag it down something needs to be vetted . I'd had a 'foamy' issue only rarely ~verging on ALMOST 'never'~ and that was related to attempting some new unenthusiastically gobbled down food that never was part of my own 'food group'. re: "I've managed to break through the stall and have lost about 40 pounds in 8 months." WOOT!!! Congratulations. Now.....regarding that visit to your NEW doc.......ahem.....as they say in the space opera: "Make it so"....

Little things can fling us unexpectedly into a divot.....I had to make Urgent Care call myself Sat AM. They wanted me on scales....gus asked 'weight?' & I tole him 2 weeks ago check. It was 11# UNDER Sat AM reading.... Of course I accounted for it...I weigh in with a constant short/shoes etc....while Sat had on extra sweat shirt/heavy coat/insulated hat/walking stick/heavy boots! I told him to made a note as I didn't want my internist to give me a chewing out. So we're all getting geared up for ACTION!!!! Yea!!!