Mindless Eating And Mindfull Solutions!

[DLCoggin 1,788]

One of the best articles I've read in a long time from Cornell University food pshchologist Brian Wansink, PhD. Fascinating stuff, easy to apply. Looking forward to reading what everyone else thinks!!

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110805/ways-combat-mindless-eating

[aleyampat 22]

I think it's absolutely true. I still do it. When I use a dinner plate I eyeball too much food on to it. Of course I can't eat it. When I use a salad plate I put the perfect amount on to it. However before surgery I would have eaten everything on that lArger plate and felt like exploding when I was done. I definitely think that the more you have the more you eat and not out of hunger. Just because it's there.

[theresa 13]

I have been thinking about smaller plates lately. Because it looks like you have alot. A trick for the mind maybe?

[my3stars 88]

Thank you far sharing, great article to keep in mind.

[aleyampat 22]

I have been thinking about smaller plates lately. Because it looks like you have alot. A trick for the mind maybe?

I put my first meal (1/4 cup of scrambled eggs) on a small plate. Took a pic and sent it to my sis. Her response was, "I see your already not listening and overeating." My initial reaction and rant to myself was colorful and unfit for public viewing;) I wrote back that it was a small plate. She was shocked that it tricked her into thinking it was so much more than it actually was.

[r4snd 25]

Are you saying that even after the surgery your appetite did not decrease

[aleyampat 22]

Are you saying that even after the surgery your appetite did not decrease

Absolutely not!! My surgeon lectured me the other day about not going over a 1/2 cup at meal. I said, "Listen closely. It takes me 2 hours to eat 1/4 cup. No worries about me attempting 1/2 cup." I have not been hungry since the morning of surgery when I was starving and got bumped 2 1/2 hours. I have no appetite. I eat because I know I need to eat. I've gone from 2000 calories give or take to 500-700 calories a day.

[wyldwoman 4]

After surgery, your appetite is much, much less. Or, should I say, your ABILITY to eat is much less in addition to having a smaller appetite. In my case at least, my eyes were still, and are still, bigger than my stomach. Though I took smaller servings than before surgery, I still tended to take too much food, but only ate a very small portion of it. You get full after only a couple of bites. You have to take advantage of this time to teach yourself better eating habits like using smaller plates, etc., because after a few years, you will be able to eat larger amounts of food.

Weight loss surgery isn't a magic wand, though it sure feels like one for the first few years. It's a tool, albeit a very powerful one, and it requires more effort as time goes by. That effort can make the difference between long-term success and failure. My go-to food for packing on the pounds before my surgery was ice cream. For four years after surgery I couldn't touch the stuff without getting sick. Now I can eat it, but I rarely want it, and when I do decide to have some, I take 3-4 bites and I don't want any more because it tastes too sweet. I found this experience to be wonderful. I was able to hear my body's signals about what foods it wanted and needed for the first time in my life.

Don't be frightened off by this! Utilize support networks like this and whatever your surgeon/hospital/local area offers and you'll do fine! It's a wonderful experience.

[DLCoggin 1,788]

I put my first meal (1/4 cup of scrambled eggs) on a small plate. Took a pic and sent it to my sis. Her response was, "I see your already not listening and overeating." My initial reaction and rant to myself was colorful and unfit for public viewing;) I wrote back that it was a small plate. She was shocked that it tricked her into thinking it was so much more than it actually was.

Great story! Love it!!

[DLCoggin 1,788]

After surgery, your appetite is much, much less. Or, should I say, your ABILITY to eat is much less in addition to having a smaller appetite. In my case at least, my eyes were still, and are still, bigger than my stomach. Though I took smaller servings than before surgery, I still tended to take too much food, but only ate a very small portion of it. You get full after only a couple of bites. You have to take advantage of this time to teach yourself better eating habits like using smaller plates, etc., because after a few years, you will be able to eat larger amounts of food.

Weight loss surgery isn't a magic wand, though it sure feels like one for the first few years. It's a tool, albeit a very powerful one, and it requires more effort as time goes by. That effort can make the difference between long-term success and failure. My go-to food for packing on the pounds before my surgery was ice cream. For four years after surgery I couldn't touch the stuff without getting sick. Now I can eat it, but I rarely want it, and when I do decide to have some, I take 3-4 bites and I don't want any more because it tastes too sweet. I found this experience to be wonderful. I was able to hear my body's signals about what foods it wanted and needed for the first time in my life.

Don't be frightened off by this! Utilize support networks like this and whatever your surgeon/hospital/local area offers and you'll do fine! It's a wonderful experience.

Welcome to the forum and thanks so much for sharing your experience. It is rare to have someone that is several years post-op contribute and the ones that do seem to move on quickly. I hope you'll stick around and share your long term experience with us who are really just beginning the journey. Thanks again!

[my3stars 88]

Welcome to the forum and thanks so much for sharing your experience. It is rare to have someone that is several years post-op contribute and the ones that do seem to move on quickly. I hope you'll stick around and share your long term experience with us who really just beginning the journey. Thanks again!

Hey DL I have been post op for 8 yrs & sometimes I refrain from sharing my experiences because for some, the bad and ugly is not acceptable. I have had a great run but for the past 2 yrs have struggled, some due to lack of discipline & some due to a dialated anastamosis. I will be having a revision on August 20th & have joined this group to hopefully learn new things from great people like you that always have good, sound and positive advice!

[DLCoggin 1,788]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I obviously can't speak for everyone but it seems to me that the bad and the ugly, along with the good, is how we learn. I think of myself as a "recovering" foodaholic. And just like a "recovering" alcoholic, I'll a l w a y s be a "recovering" foodaholic. Thanks to RNY, I fully expect to live a long life and that means I'll have to be cautious and aware of potential pitfalls - for a long time. Along those lines, I'd love to hear about what you have learned regarding the cause of the dilated anastamosis. How common is it? Does it often occur at a specific time range or period following RNY? Is it related to too much food? Or perhaps getting in the habit of not chewing well enough or taking bites that are too large? Anything you would care to share, post or PM, would be very much appreciated. Thanks again!!

[wyldwoman 4]

Thanks for the welcome. I too hesitate to talk about the "uglier" side, such as complications and the fact that it does require more effort as time goes by. I don't want to scare preops off either. All the consent forms you have to sign before surgery listing all the possible complications are enough to scare anyone away as well. My hospital also made me appoint a legal proxy in case I died or was unable to make my own medical decisions right before they wheeled me in, LOL. But the fact is that this surgery is no riskier than any other surgery in the hand of an experienced surgeon.

On the other hand, I think a certain amount of preparedness is a really good thing, especially when it comes to the long term maintenance part. I know people, a very close friend for one, who regained almost all of her weight back by about six or eight years out because she wasn't prepared for that part, and as soon as she was able to, she started eating as much as she could jam in, and NEVER ate the kinds of foods she should have been eating after she got to her goal weight. That's why I believe being prepared and utilizing available support is so important.

Research has shown that this surgery has the best long-term success rate than any other medical intervention for morbid obesity (I hate that term). For me prior to the surgery, I felt like I was in a lifelong prison of food obsession. I couldn't stop eating no matter how full I was. I just had to eat all day, and I thought about food all day. After my surgery, I feel like I have been let out of prison. I rarely think about food, crave healthier food when I do think about it ( I never thought I would crave salmon and sauteed greens), I eat much less, and I actually enjoy my food more. And best of all, I have become one of those annoying people who actually forgets to eat sometimes (God how I used to hate them!) That alone is worth my old weight in gold.

I went into my surgery VERY prepared, and I did have life-threatening complications (blood clots in my lungs caused by my having lupus antibodies that I/we didn't know about prior to surgery), which were very, very rare. Even so, I don't regret a minute of it. The decision to have this surgery is highly personal and I won't try to persuade people one way or the other, but I can tell people my experience and whether, in the end, my total experience has been positive or negative. It's been wonderful for me, though I was miserable for a while when I was going through my complications, and I questioned my decision. But as I recovered and I started to see my body literally melt before my eyes I started to smile again pretty quickly.

[my3stars 88]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I obviously can't speak for everyone but it seems to me that the bad and the ugly' date=' along with the good, is how we learn. I think of myself as a "recovering" foodaholic. And just like a "recovering" alcoholic, I'll a l w a y s be a "recovering" foodaholic. Thanks to RNY, I fully expect to live a long life and that means I'll have to be cautious and aware of potential pitfalls - for a long time. Along those lines, I'd love to hear about what you have learned regarding the cause of the dilated anastamosis. How common is it? Does it often occur at a specific time range or period following RNY? Is it related to too much food? Or perhaps getting in the habit of not chewing well enough or taking bites that are too large? Anything you would care to share, post or PM, would be very much appreciated. Thanks again!![/quote']

Unfortunately my surgeon said it is just something that can occur, there is no one cause, my pouch was not streched when i has the upper GI but when they did the endoscopy that is what they found. It causes the "pouch" to empty quicker. I just wish I would of gone as soon as I realized I was gaining weight.

For the most part I have followed my surgeons recomendations, to this day I do not eat and drink or drink anything ever with sugar or carbination. I had however gotten in the habit of going out with friends to drink every two wks and that is what has contributed I would say to a part of my weight gain. Since I stopped that i have maintained my current weight. Another major thing would be that ever since surgery I walked a minimum of 40 minutes 4 times a week and because of a change in job location my commute became an hour and a half each way and I found no time for it for two years. I just started a gym 4 months ago but there has been no weight loss. Well that is part of my story, I too will always be an addict and it is a challenge every day but it can be done! I am grateful everyday for this surgery as before it i do not think I would be able to be here typing this!

[r4snd 25]

Thank u everyone I am so excited but also very scared. I want this surgery for many reason the most input ant being my health. I am so tired of being tired aim tired of not being able to find clothes.imlove this forum because we all understand what sego through