Is it CHEATING or is it a CHOICE?

[LipstickLady 25,682]

That said, if you CHOOSE to eat a fry or an M&M or an oreo, do so consciously, enjoy it, log it, and reflect on if it was really worth it. Some things really are, most things are not.

I vote M&M's are. Peanut M&M's.

Ew. No. Dove Promises. Dark.

[SleevePerry 248]

@@LipstickLady Yes, but I didn't say that it would be easy. My choice is to follow my diet while weight loss is the most optimal and work on the "everything in moderation" once I've lost as much as I care to lose.

That said, although I choose to be strict with myself, I don't think there is anything wrong with the rare treat. I was speaking more to the people who are in the early stages of their post-op, and they are already indulging themselves on a regular basis. That, I don't understand. It's a choice and a cheat. They are choosing to cheat themselves out of their own physical transformation.

[bikrchk 1,313]

I never look at my choices as "cheating". While I was losing, I set my calories and macro goals in MFP and met them. End of story. Whatever particular food choices I made to get there were neither good or bad, they just fit withing my plan for the day. One chocolate chip cookie? No problemo. It fit into my 1200 calorie, 75+ Protein gram day as long as I make good choices around it. Once at goal I loosened up the logging a bit. If I gain outside my zone, I go back to logging and a 1000-1200 calorie day until I'm back where I belong. No cheating, no guilt, just adjustments.

[Edavidson 84]

AvaFern: I agree with you, I have a hard time keeping food down so I will try anything that I

think might stay. We are all different, I have a steady weight loss of 8 to 10 lbs a month.

That is only because I never eat more than I can hold, I am very cautious about not stretching

my tummy. It is all about moderation, we all have to keep that in mind. My daughter is like me

it is very easy for her to gain weight. Like me she exercises everyday and she eats what she wants

in moderation and that is why she has kept her tiny little figure all of her life. When I

did the sleeve I never intended to drink Protein Shakes for the rest of my life or never eat

something that I love. I want to learn how to eat to live, not live to eat. Most all of my

choices are healthy, but at least once a day I will try something not on my diet. It may only

be one or two bites but I don't feel guilty. As long as I keep my calories under 1,000 a day

I will be fine and I have been fine. We all have to come up with something that we can live

with for the rest of our lives. I don't think about food all of the time now, I have to remind

myself to eat. Keep it real, make your diet your own and don't stuff yourself. We only require

a tiny amount of food. Don't go beyond that point, that is when you get in trouble. This works

for me, it might not work for someone else. You know your body and what you can have and hold.

Don't feel guilty, that is what makes us give up because we feel restricted. Just my opinion

about what works for me. Some people have to stay strict because they can't eat just one. live

your life, keep it real and don't make garbage your main food staple.Work with the tool you

worked so hard to get and get up and walk, run, hike, swim. By the way, I am five months out so

if you are just getting sleeved by all means follow your Dr.s instructions. After you lose your

weight and meet your goal then work on a life time plan that you can live with.

[Babbs 14,681]

That said, if you CHOOSE to eat a fry or an M&M or an oreo, do so consciously, enjoy it, log it, and reflect on if it was really worth it. Some things really are, most things are not.

I vote M&M's are. Peanut M&M's.

Ew. No. Dove Promises. Dark.

Oh, I'm not picky. I'll take any kind of chocolate

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I'm 9 months post-op and have reached my weight loss goal.

I lost my weight in a way that worked for me -- ate lots of Protein, ate Protein first, ate lots of "healthy" carbs (veggies, some fruits, occasional whole grains), minimized my intake of "slider foods" (highly processed carbs), and waited until 5 months post-op before I started drinking wine again and then only 4 oz. a day and not every day.

But occasionally I had a a few bites of dessert or some bread or some fast food or something else I didn't eat very often. The key word there is occasionally. And I didn't eat a lot of those "not recommended foods."

I also planned my daily menus and tracked my food intake during the weight loss phase on www.myfitnesspal.com, so I'd know what I was really doing. I tracked everything I ate, whether protein or Pringle's potato chips. It worked for me.

But there are a lot of people who don't do it this way. The "eat until I'm satiated" way works for some people. But there's quite a range of people in the "eat until I'm satiated" department. Some follow the protein rules and don't overeat. Others seem to suffer badly from the conviction that "Nobody can tell me what to do, and I don't have to follow the rules because I'm a special snowflake and I don't feel like doing it, so fukkit and pass the ribs and potato salad now! If I wanna cheat, I'll cheat, so get off my back."

All kinds of people get WLS. Some of 'em are smart. And some of 'em are really not. The ones who seem to do the worst with WLS are those who are have very little impulse control and can't delay gratification at all. It takes a lot of commitment to change a lifetime of giving in to one's desires of the moment to conquer those bad habits. Very tough.

[jess9395 5,449]

That said, if you CHOOSE to eat a fry or an M&M or an oreo, do so consciously, enjoy it, log it, and reflect on if it was really worth it. Some things really are, most things are not.

I vote M&M's are. Peanut M&M's.

Ew. No. Dove Promises. Dark.

Nope none of the above. Reese's Peanut Butter cups alone are worth it!

[Babbs 14,681]

@@jess9395

Damn you! Now I want a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

That's it, I'm cheating.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

That's it, I'm cheating.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

@@jess9395

Damn you! Now I want a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

That's it, I'm cheating.

I had a Wonder Slim dark chocolate Protein pudding with PB2 tonight. Not quite a Peanut Butter cup but pretty darn close.

[jess9395 5,449]

Quest actually makes Protein Peanut Butter cups! They aren't bad. Not Reese's but pretty good

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

Pre op I clenched my teeth and followed directions to the letter. Post op for me was six weeks of liquids. Hard, but I did it without choosing to break the momentum. And momentum was the word my doctor used. He wanted maximum weight loss and a good start right out of the gate. I lost fifty pounds before my first band fill.

As the weight came off after that, the high of losing quickly kept me choosing healthy small meals regularly. As time went on, I added foods I hadn't had before. I added alcohol. I added popcorn. I added carby Thai food. I stopped losing weight for five months.

I tried a variety of techniques like 5:2, etc. I'd lose and gain the same five pounds over and over again.

When I gained eleven pounds over a couple of weeks, it woke me up. No way was I going to lose my focus and return to my old life.

I needed to get my food in order, lose the crap that was holding me back, and in order to lose this last fifty pounds, I knew I had to do the hard thing I was putting off. E x e r c i s e.

I didn't wanna. But I gotta. If I want what I want, I gotta. And I wanna reach goal and stay there.

So I chose to take this next step. I dropped the popcorn, the Thai food, the alcohol, and picked up exercise. I paid for twelve sessions of personal training at the gym I joined. I now exercise. I eat better. I feel better. I know this will get me where I want to go.

It's all choices. I wasn't ready until I was ready. I'm glad I stayed around people who are motivated while I floundered around for awhile. In my old life I would have given up and gone back to eating and isolating. No longer.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

@@JustWatchMe

Yay you. You should be SO proud of yourself.

[maggie409 765]

I joined this group to prepare for surgery and to educate myself. I have visited with doctors and nurses. I have read articles, watched videos, and read "The big book on the Gastric Sleeve". I think the best education is first hand accounts of people's experiences. I don't yet have my surgery scheduled so I want to go into this eyes wide open. I personally like and want to read about everyone's experiences and perspectives. I want to hear from those that have stuck to the diet "100%". I want to know when people struggle and hear where there mind is at. I want to know what happens when someone doesn't follow the doctors orders.

I agree with you on the wording that is used. We all make choices and I think we can all appreciate the fact that with some people those bad choices win out way too often. Whether it is called "cheating" or "bad choices", we all experience that same pull to eat and give in to temptation. It's all semantics.....you say Tomato I say tomoto. I like that I will be fully prepared to fight that temptation after surgery. I would have not been well prepared if I went in thinking this operation was going to make all that disappear.

As for "justification".... Of course it is justification and we all recognize it as such because, after all, this group are all experts on justification. We have each and every one justified ourselves into a state of obesity, morbid obesity and super obesity.

I want to hear the thoughts and struggles of the woman who ate bacon 3 days post op simply because she could not shut off that inner craving. I want to hear people telling her she is crazy if she does and telling her graphically what will happen. I want to read people that tell her it's her body and justify her decision by empowering her to make that bad choice.

As for me.... I don't want to make any more bad choices. I don't want to "cheat" myself any longer. If I come on here after surgery and I am struggling and I am tempted to make a bad choice, I want everyone's support. I want you to each scare me back into reality. I want you to tell me I'm an idiot for thinking about giving in. I want tips on how to resist. I want you to each and everyone kick me in the butt straight back to my senses!!

I don't care what you call it.... I want you support to get past it.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

If I come on here after surgery and I am struggling and I am tempted to make a bad choice, I want everyone's support. I want you to each scare me back into reality. I want you to tell me I'm an idiot for thinking about giving in.

Cool. Can you put that in your signature so I know I won't offend you when I do exactly that?