PLAYING WITH FIRE

All of us who have battled weight have our demons, our bad habits and our weaknesses.  While I have always enjoyed what is generally a very healthy diet, I ate more than my body could metabolize.  Too much 9 grain bread is going to cause weight gain just as sure as too many trips to Baskin & Robbins. 

My weaknesses have always been carbs.  Carbs both complex like multi-grain and brown rice and simple like things made with sugar.  When researching weight loss surgeries, I was very well informed about what a successful post-op diet would require.  High protein and very low carb.  I have done that eating plan before and know it works for me.

Having those guidelines to live by also makes it easier to plan and make good choices when dining out.  It is really simple once you wrap your head around it.  No breads, no rice, pasta, potatoes,  no flour, no sugar, etc. If you want to really get crazy with it you can read labels and cut out all kinds of things with added sugars or a little breading but I have been successful sticking with the big items and not sweating the teaspoon of catsup or the breading on a chicken cutlet.

Having said all that, and knowing that most people who have done the BPD-DS surgery cannot tolerate simple carbs without great gastric distress - I have been trying little bits and bites of carbs to see what will happen.  At first it was simple curiosity: what will happen if I eat some popcorn?  A bite of the cheesecake everyone is sharing after dinner? Or a piece of toast?  A few peanut M&Ms? How about some frozen yogurt?

Well, turns out the toast just didn't taste good, the popcorn was actually ok if I just ate a cup or two, the Peanut M&Ms and the single bite of cheesecake caused no problems but the froyo (the no added sugar kind) did give me a problem. So, apparently, I am going to be one of those DSers who can eat some sugar and some carbs and not blow up or spend "quality time" in the bathroom.

I do not subscribe to this belief!  So I will have to be very careful...

Uh oh.

I suppose it is inevitable that I was going to try stuff that is "off limits." After all, I have sipped some wine and had a cocktail  (I am supposed to be avoiding alcohol for a year.)  The issue is now that I know I am not going to explode if I eat a little bit of some of these foods, it is going to take the kind of discipline that I know I have but is so easy to let slide, to keep on the good path and not derail my commitment.

I still read some forums about weight loss surgery and I know that people backslide and gain weight - even with the serious changes my surgery wrought on my body - it can be circumvented by seriously bad eating.

It is up to me.