hi, well they moved my surgery day up two weeks early. So i decided to practice some things in advance... like sipping instead of swallowing, ever try that!!!!!!!!! or thinking small piece of meat instead of two helpings.. a new whole lifestyle ... what im asking is how some of you so bravely tackled from an addiction of overeating to just common sense eating and keeping that routine going .... like some who have lost there first 100 etc.. like jiffy etc..
my concern is i know ive lost and gained and lost and gained.. whats gonna keep me from doing it again this time after the surgery, after all the money spent, after all the hard work etc etc...... ?????????? carvinmom

You have to change how you think about food. You need things to do when you are bored, angry, upset, lonely that don't involve food. You may need a counselor to help you rethink the place of food in your life.

wow, so much happened in such a short time! susan has a very valid point about the counseling. however, there's a fair amount of 'noticing' that has to happen as well.

when you think 'small piece of meat,' ya gotta also think 'small BITES of everything.' and there's a lot of experimentation about what a small bite is!

for ME, it's something that's about the size of my pinky nail.

and then there's the HOW you eat. ya gotta now chew everything - each of those tiny bites - to mush. swallow. take a few seconds rest. pick up your fork, and do it again.

be alert to all the sensations, both the physical and the emotional. i found VERY quickly that i couldn't eat around the alzheimer's mom - way too stressful, and i found myself trying to shovel food in my mouth to numb the frustration and the emotion. can't do that anymore.

how does it happen? one bite at a time. this isn't a light switch - it's a big long process. and it takes TIME - measured in weeks, months, years. start with habits and issues you can deal with - pick one or two - and work on them. and then go onto the next. it's trial and error, and self-awareness, and that's where counseling can help tremendously.

good for you for starting to look at this NOW, rather than later!!!!!

Wow am still deciding to go through with this but I'm getting scared about not being able to eat that little...

Goog luck carvinmom!

The small bites Jiffy mentioned is the key, plus chewing really really well. The WL Clinic I am attached to recommended using a baby spoon to eat with. I did and still do. I don't have to worry about the bite size then. As far as meats, I found that some of the things I thought I couldn't live without (such as beef steak) no longer taste good & are harder to eat/digest and I have replaced them with new favorites (grilled shrimp & crablegs are to die for!).

The Clinic also recommended eating only 3 meals a day & not taking longer than 1/2 hour to eat. Now I have to tell you, when they made up that rule, they hadn't put it to practice themselves with the size bites we take & the chewing we do. They are still swallowing huge pieces of unchewed food like I used to before surgery. I have found that it many times takes me closer to an hour to eat (depending on the food choices). I also have found that for me 4 meals a day (about 3-4 hours apart) works better. I don't get overly hungry that way and make better choices.

Now the sipping thing--I never did figure that out. It's like all the adult sippy glasses that they have today. I CANNOT drink from them. I have observed how others do it, I have tried, but it just does not work for me. I tip my head back, let the water flow in my mouth, my dentures (full set, wearing them for 30 years now) loosen up and flop around in my mouth, so I can't shut my mouth, the water flows out of my mouth on my shirt & I now have a stain everyone can see that is proof I never learned how to drink from a sippy cup!

The eating small meals/bites is not the problem initially--It is all that you are able to hold. It is after a few months, when you have stretched your new tummy to hold more than 1-2 ounces, but by that time you have started to form some new habits & ways of eating. My goal was always to get off meds (most anyway), be able to walk without a cane, not have to have a knee replacement right away and have an eating plan that I could live with for the rest of my life. I have accomplished all that and more. God is Good!

Small plates!!! small flatware small cups
it helps esp the small plates
I switched the wW plan i was using to help to one where you actually stop and think about whether or not you're hungry
My body burns fuel VERRY inefficiently I have CP and am thehuman equivalent of a high output low performance vehicle like a tank
during the week I eat every 3-4 hours high protien no more than 200 calories
prepackaged cottage cheese is your friend! hard boiled eggs anythign self contained b/c it makes you think of the size of what you're eating
I prepack some veggies
and some luncheon meat too the prepacked versions so i know exactly how much Im consuming.
It takes a lot of thought and planning to stay on track and feel good
but its soo worth it!