summerset

It's stressful. So is work. Not feeling good these days.

Food for today's late shift: Rolled up whole wheat tortilla after it was baked with leftover tomato sauce and vegan cheese. Not a culinary gem but the stuff had to go. Protein toasties with seitan burgers. Some bananas that have to go. Some cherry tomatoes. Not enough vegetables to be healthy today for my taste. I'm still cleaning out my pantries to use up the stuff already opened. I will take quite a bit of food with me to the new town, lol.

I know. I eat these things regularly (with the exception of chips) so I don't think of them as treats. I often eat a self-made protein mug cake and I also make the fruit crumble protein cake on days I don't have to work regularly. That cake almost feels like a treat though because it takes more work and more time cleaning up than the mug cake. The interesting thing is that the above mentioned cake needs the same ingredients as protein oats - yet the cake feels way more decadent.

Just realized that I don't think of most of the foods people label as "treat" on here I don't think as "treats". Many of them seem to be part of my daily diet. For me a "culinary treat" is a fancy/expensive food I'm too cheap to buy regularly, e. g. the sushi from the sushi bar around the corner or that extra expensive raw vegan chocolate or macadamia nuts. "Treats" can also be something I have to put more work into when making the food. I remember posting pictures of chocolate covered vegan protein balls. A rare treat because I usually don't want to put in the work.

Judged by whom? Other patients or "outsiders"? Both? Anyway, no idea. I freely admit that it wasn't hard work, even if that doesn't earn me a badge of honor in the WLS world. There was work involved, yes, but I wouldn't say it was "hard work". Losing weight before WLS was hard work. However, since WLS affects patients in different kind of ways it's impossible to say who "has to work hard" and who doesn't have to. In the end I guess it's as hard as you feel it is, just like with so many other things in life. Some might think of something as "a burden" or "hardship" and "a daily struggle" and "grinding teeth" while others might say "Oh, well...it's not that hard".

The amount some people are eating is incredibly small IMO. Couldn't exist on this in the long run.

Usually there is only talk about the opposite. The "hard work".

Yeah well, there are some issues I doubt will ever get better and I know many people struggling with it, regardless of their weight or if they ever were overweight. feeling of fat: I often have that "feeling of being fat". I guess the loose skin contributes to this. I know it can't be real. I wear mostly a medium size (depending on the brand I wear either small, medium or large) and that's not "fat". I also can see some bones and muscle definition when looking in the mirror. That's also not "fat". Usually the look in the mirror helps this feeling but sometimes it needs wearing really loose clothes (thanks for being able to wear scrubs at work) or the direct comparison to other people, e. g. in the reflection of a glass door. I guess that comes with living in a weight and thinness - and lately also fitness - obsessed culture. addiction transfer: not sure, I prefer to call it "obsession transfer". I tend to really get into the biohacking and clean eating stuff when feeling stressed, especially when some things are out of my control (like now). Shopping I'm not so sure. One might say I spend too much money on unnecessary things and I wouldn't object but I don't view it as a problem as long as I don't get into financial trouble and I like to treat myself to some nice stuff. However, I'm not sure if that really has something to do with food issues. It could very well be that the issue is that money was always really tight when I grew up and went to university and when I finally got a "real" job I suddenly had money to spend. relationships: together with the same guy since September 1994. We went through a lot of things together. We only see each other on weekends and during vacation time because of work and living in different cities and I guess that helps when people have a different lifestyle.

What do you mean "deluding yourself"? You're a normal weight. If you can maintain this and feel alright, i. e. no deficiencies in nutrients you're doing things right. Not only mentally, but also physically. A calorie deficit becomes more and more straining on both the body and the mind the leaner you get and the longer the time spent in a calorie deficit is. I don't know how high your body fat percentage is but if you really want to lose more weight (i. e. body fat, not weight) you might want to stop looking at the classic bariatric stuff and start looking into things like "refeeds" and "calorie cycling".

Mock grilled chicken pieces, green beans, red onions, kind oyster mushrooms in a wrap.

IE helped me tremendously in the past. I can only recommend it. I can remember losing re-gain that occurred after I stopped smoking with IE without any struggles. I was impressed. That's when I seriously lost all faith in the "be stricter and try harder"-approach. Sometimes the little self-improvement devil raises its head (biohacking anyone?), usually in stressful times when I feel a need to be "in control" and "to eat as healthy as possible and get enough (but not too much!) exercise to have the most energy possible" (like now).

*cough*6mugsadayspitchblack*cough*

As long as you think of "eating healthy" as a chore that needs to be done, this will most likely not change. Do you like the "healthy foods" that you eat? If not find foods that are healthy enough which you truly enjoy and see if that makes a difference. Does that somehow feel like "doing penance for your sins"... or something like that? Cure you from exactly what? From having cravings? From having "bad habits"? From wanting "bad foods"? From "being the bad girl" in regards to food/exercise? People will test their boundaries and stretch them sooner or later. Yes, I know, I know... people swear they won't do it like never again and will always be the good dieting gal/guy from now on after WLS and will never fall from grace forever and blah blah blah - but I've seen too many people falling flat down on their faces with that approach to think of it as a feasible for the majority of us. I know I'm not one of these saints, lol. Unfortunately we don't have that much old-timers on here. Like five years out and more. What we have to say is not always to the liking of the n00bs but after a few years they might chime in with us. Seen that happen more than once.

😂 Get used to it. When it comes to the topic of diet, food, calories and especially carbohydrates it can get quite controversial. Low-carb or keto diets are very en vogue these days, just as low-fat diets were a few years ago. Go with what you feels most comfortable to you and don't be afraid to make adjustments as time goes by and weight goes down. Your nutritional needs will change over time. And go with what feels most comfortable to you, not to your best friend, your surgeon, your dietician, a random person online, your mother or Uncle Bob's best buddy. Talk is cheap. That includes dietary advice.

It's not the "weirdest damn thing", it's the effect of a refeed.

I only have one comment on this: Carbohydrates are not the evil guys.

This. Abstinence doesn't work for everyone. Neither does moderation. One simply has to try and find out. Depending on what you've been exposed to more mentally by your treatment team and/or fellow patients either IRL or on the web (i. e. either the abstinence or the moderation approach) you might have to muster up a big amount courage and take a leap of faith. I've seen countless people taking the moderation route who've failed during the years, doesn't matter if we're talking about eating, smoking, drinking, shopping etc. However, I've also seen countless people who swore off the bad foods or the alcohol, the cigarettes etc. and I've seen many of them relapsing hard. The approach has to fit the person. Trying the same thing over and over again is ludicrous.

I don't think the foods you've listed are healthier. They might have less calories sometimes (sometimes not) and they add protein so you don't have to plan your meals as much (I'm still using protein foods like bean pasta, powders, bars etc. to boost my protein intake), but most of the foods are not healthier than the original version. There might be exceptions. That said, one needs to differ between "healthier foods" and "foods that might help with weight loss" as these are by far not always the same. My take on e. g. a protein cookies is: "I would've eaten a cookie anyway, might as well eat a protein cookie if it's yummy as well." Same with cake: when I make a cake, I put protein powder into the flour (I've posted my apple crumble cake a few times already). I prefer it over "real apple crumble cake" just as I prefer bean pasta over regular pasta so it feels like a win-win situation. Is it really healthier? Well, I don't mind the stevia in the protein powder, some people would though. Protein chips can be nice or nasty. The nice ones usually seem to be sold out, lol. I usually go for roasted chick peas instead. That's a question only you can answer. For me, being able to have all these things and being able to eat what I like seems to be a huge factor in not gaining weight.

Just prepare Garden Gourmet burgers for tomorrow. I will post a picture once I've assembled them. I also cooked up some shiitake, oyster mushrooms and red onions with a spice mix for mushrooms and soy creamer. My stomach feels a bit queasy though so I put it into tupperware. Maybe I'm going to eat it tomorrow and Friday. Ah, whatever... Yogi tea with erythrith and soy milk:

Like totally tired and black coffee isn't very exciting. At least the cup is cute.

I completely understand, lol.

Me, too. Like, it will simply explode or something like that, lol. 😱

Pressure cooking is supposed to reduce cooking time considerably but I'm not sure what pot to get and if it really works out as easypeasy as some cooking blogs claim. Experiences seem to be mixed when it comes to this. Not-so-fancy ones you simply put on your stove aren't that expensive so it might be worth an investment. Not 100% atm though.

Just almost the best treat when it's 3°C and raining outside. Strong coffee with heated soy milk, cocoa powder, a bit or brown rum and coffee spice.