When Bad Habits Creep Back

When Bad Habits Creep Back ~ Sounds like the title of a movie doesn’t it? Well for most of us who battle with weight loss it is one that plays over and over regardless if you are on a diet or have had Gastric Bypass Surgery like me.

It has been about 10 months since my Gastric Bypass Surgery and I have noticed myself getting a bit too comfortable in the way I am eating. This is something that would happen to me prior when I was just doing regular diets and one of the causes of all the Yo Yoing. I would get to the point of working so hard to lose the weight and then start to feel really good about myself and say “Hey I can have a second helping of that or that one donut is not gonna kill me”.

For those who think having Gastric Bypass is the cure to all of that are so wrong!! Gastric Bypass is just a tool to help get you started on the weight loss journey and not a fix it all and those who are contemplated the choice of going under the knife need to be aware of that. Bariatric Surgery may make your stomach smaller, but no one is operating on your brain.

The good thing for me is that I noticed the Bad Habits starting to slowly creep their way back into my life and I am going to take control before I go backwards. This past Monday my scale went up 2 pounds on my Weigh In day and it was like a big hand came and smacked me in the face saying “Get control”. Now weight can fluctuate from many things and it may not even be from me over indulging at times, BUT I feel it was something telling me to make some changes. So I will take that as a sign to do just that!!

Some of my recent Bad Habits have been eating Entenmann’s Donuts (not the whole box, but maybe 1 a day here are there), Potato Chips, eating a Bologna Sandwich before bed, and not watching my portion sizes. So not good at all!! I think the worst of all of them has been my portion sizes. I find I usually do not eat breakfast ever (I have never been a breakfast person), I have lunch and it is at Dinner where I usually eat too much.

Now that the cold weather is here I am inside working and not as active as I was when it was warm out. Being stuck in the house makes me depressed and with that comes the big battle of Head Hunger vs. Physical Hunger and that battle just sucks!! Sometimes I wish they did work on my brain when they did the surgery, but they did not and this is where things get tricky.

I have so many more goals to achieve and WILL NOT fail myself. God knows it was such an agonizing decision to have this surgery in the first place – failing is not an option. Could I be immaturely freaking out over just a 2 pound weight gain for no reason? I don’t think so because I can see myself getting overly confident and I am thankful for that weight gain because it is making me reevaluate and refocus on my goals.

So here are some of the changes I am making to make sure I continue on the right road. For one I started up My Weekly Food Journal once again. This way I can see what I am actually eating and trust me having to write it down really keeps you accountable. I stopped journaling over the summer due to being so busy and also a little bit of laziness (yup I am honest).

When I am going to eat or looking for a snack I STOP and ask “Am I really Hungry or just Bored?” – scary thing is more times than not I am bored. This is one of the things that got me to this point in the first place and I know you know where I am coming from if you are reading this.

Since my surgery I have always been able to eat more than others who have had the surgery and I am so nervous I may have stretched my pouch (I may not have, but just cautious). So after Thanksgiving I am going to the 5 Day Pouch Test – this is basically when you feel you may have overdone it and want to shrink your pouch back to the days of that fullness we felt right after.

It goes like this:

• Days 1 & 2 – Liquid Protein
• Day 3 – Soft Protein
• Day 4 – Firm Protein
• Day 5 – Solid Protein

It is said to work really well and I am willing to give it a try, but I have to get through Turkey Day first and will start it up hopefully the Monday following and post all about it here so you all can follow along and hear my results. To learn all about it you can read about it here: 5 Day Pouch Test. Am I excited to have to do this? Hell no!!! It will not be easy, but going through Gastric Bypass Surgery has not been a walk in the park either so what is 5 days right?

So in conclusion I am only human and do not sugar coat any part of this process EVER. Gastric Bypass Surgery for me has been a life changer and as I always say I have no regrets besides not doing it sooner, BUT as with anything in life there are obstacles. When you hit one and get thrown off course the only thing you can do is stop and work to get back on or you will end up back to the start. I have done that way too many times in life and will not allow that to happen again – the only road I want to travel now is the one that will lead me to the finish line and in cruise control.

Stay Tuned as I continue on my journey…