“But I’ll never be able to have _________ again.”
"NO PIZZA! Only klau kalash!"
Fill in your favorite food, and that’s something you hear from lots and lots of people when they start contemplating WLS. Well, at least when it comes to RNY. And ya know what… they’re right, but they’re also wrong. Yea, I know, that’s clear as mud, but it’s still true.
It’s a mind set thing. And it’s another reason I’m glad my surgeon doesn’t do the two-week liquid “crash” diet pre-op. I started changing my habits, and changing my mind-set and lost 50-55 pounds in the four and a half months of pre-op time I had.
And I’m still learning more and more about this mind over stomach thing myself. There are things I thought I wouldn’t be able to have… that I now have again. You see, it’s not about denying yourself. That is where I think so many “diets” fail. (Yea, I know, you’ve never heard THAT before, have you?) What it is about is finding… good tasting, healthy (or at least healthier) alternatives… and when you do “splurge”, just don’t go overboard.
popcorn + Coca-Cola = a nice afternoon at the movies
I used to be able to down a large Coke and a medium or large popcorn all by myself during a typical movie. Lord of the Rings, shoot, I was going back for refills. Now Coke (pop in general) I have given up for good…. by choice. There’s the whole no carbonation thing when it comes to RNY, but there are ways around it. And there’s diet pops, but I made a choice about 8 months ago not to have any more. Will this lsat the rest of my life? Who knows, but right now… I don’t need it. This isn’t a “can never have”, it’s a “I choose not to have”. I still drink my next favorite beverage, iced tea. But even those SF drink powders I lived on at first when I gave up pop… most of them are just too sweet for me now.
And popcorn… well, I went to see Harry Potter over the weekend, and guess what… I got a small popcorn and snuck in a bottle of water. I nibbled on that popcorn, one kernal at a time over the course of the next couple hours, and sipped my water.
WHAT? You drank while eating? Yea, I did. I probably wouldn’t have eaten as much of the popcorn as I did if I hadn’t. But it was a conscious choice. And will I make the same choice next time I go to a movie? Well, not if I go to one next week…. but if it’s next month… or the month after? Maybe so. Am I going to beat myself up if I gain a pound or two from it? No. I’ll find a way to make up for it, maybe some extra biking or something.
Let’s look at some of the other things on a lot of people’s “never again” lists…
Pizza: I make pizza all the time. But instead of a high-carb, dough crust I use six-inch, whole wheat tortillas. And honestly, right now most of the time I can’t eat the whole thing. But I put stuff I like on them, turkey pepperoni, olives, onions, bacon. Just… smaller… much smaller amounts. There’s more pepperoni on some slices than my entire pizza, but that’s ok. Thanks to Joe, I feel full on that small amount, and I enjoy what I’m eating.
Desserts: My all time favorite dessert is one my mom’s been making for me for years. It’s a crust made from wheaties and nuts and brown sugar with a lemon flavored, frozen filling. “Lemon Dessert” is what we all call it. And for my birthday last week, she made it nearly SF. The artificial brown sugar doesn’t carmelize, so I think she used the Splenda blend instead. Was it exactly the same as before? No… but it was still damn good. And there are all sorts of alternatives out there, both store bought and recipes you can find on some of the links in our blogroll (like Eggface for one).
Pasta: This is one that I was wondering about myself. Pre-op I was trying whole-wheat pastas, but they weren’t doing much for me. Then I just found some tofu shirataki noodles. Wow. They’re not exactly the same as your basic pasta noodle, but they are good. I made spaghetti tonight using some left overs in the fridge, and am looking forward to some tuna-pasta salad for lunch later this week. I could probably handle regular pasta ok… but I have this alternative that is very very low carb, no cholesterol, and gives me a lil bit of protein to boot. Now if they would just do an egg noodle version.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. And yea, maybe you won’t be able to eat “X” specifically again… or maybe you’ll be able to enjoy a bite of two of it down the road without any issues… but at the very least, there’s gonna be a very good alternative that you can not only have, but enjoy. In fact, if there’s something you are just craving… post a comment here and I bet someone can come up with a way for you to enjoy it once again.
Image from the Simpson’s – copyright FOX, etc.
Thank you for posting this. I just had lap RNY on November 18th, 2009, and I have to admit, I get a little teary at the thought of never enjoying spaghetti, macaroni & cheese or a bit of popcorn ever again! I’m not asking for huge amounts, but just a few bites every now and again, you know? :)