But, I love food!

[Back2Beauty]

I am in the process of getting surgery, but I often have doubts. On thing that worries me is my love for food.
I turn to food for comfort, I get excited about eating, I look forward to meals, food makes me happy! I do have a past of depression (which is why I turned to food and gained so much weight) and I'm afraid that after surgery when I can no longer eat a lot and what I love that I will get depressed again.
What do y'all think? Has this happened to anybody else? I dîd see the clinic's psychiatrist and she did tell me that depression can return. Any help is appreciated!

[MamaPope77]

It was very difficult for me to loose one of my best friends (food) but ultimatley my health is much more important to me. Now, I eat to live and not live to eat. I wish you the best with your journey.

[cowgirljane]

You raise a very valid point. I on the other hand was so OVER food by the time I had WLS. It was like the bad boyfriend that gave temporary pleasure but made me miserable and was wrecking my life. I think it is very smart of you to tackle this topic pre WLS to the extent you can. The emotional pressure created by restricting eating, the physical changes with weight loss etc is not something to underestimate...

[bikrchk]

I love food too! Maybe more now that I'm not RULED by it! I love the fact that I can focus on quality over quantity now and because of that everything tastes better! No more "fake food" for me! I'm I'm only going to get a few bites I make them count! If I over do it there are painful consequences, (sooo not worth it). The "food as comfort" is definitely something you'll need to deal with. It can be hard to "let go". That's just how I choose to view it now.

[Back2Beauty]

Thank you. I'm seeing my regular psychiatrist on Monday and see what he thinks. My family doctor told me to just eat right and not have surgery. Ha! If only it was that easy!!

[cowgirljane]

That is exactly how I see it. I think I actually love food more now, but in a healthier way. I won't eat low quality crap. I'd rather go hungry than eat out of a drive through (garbage can dispensing something they call food). I eat more than a few bites, but I do eat small, and I eat quality. Who ever dreamed of a world where a small but deliscious shrimp skewer could be a whole meal? Or that a few small medallions of a finely prepared wild caught duck would be just heavenly (who needs the rice or any of that?) and satisfying.

the key things is that even though i love food, I don't use it mindlessly. It doesn't give me comfort, it isn't a substitute for love, stress release and it has nothing to do with how I feel about myself as a human. It is just plain food, that is all.

I love food too! Maybe more now that I'm not RULED by it! I love the fact that I can focus on quality over quantity now and because of that everything tastes better! No more "fake food" for me! I'm I'm only going to get a few bites I make them count! If I over do it there are painful consequences, (sooo not worth it). The "food as comfort" is definitely something you'll need to deal with. It can be hard to "let go". That's just how I choose to view it now.

[tenor12bucks]

Hiya Back,

In getting my preop psychological clearance, my therapist (who knew me well already as an established patient) asked me how I was going to reconcile my love for food with life after the sleeve. I thought carefully for a minute, and answered:

"I love food. I love me more."

Now, 18 months after I figured that out, I still call on that line in my weaker moments. Maybe it will help you?

Best of luck!

[Skibabe]

I love it too :-)

Two things I've found - firstly, at around three months post op, I found I could eat anything. Pizza, chips, I could tolerate anything, healthy or not. I then had to make a bit of an effort NOT to eat unhealthy foods. But, secondly, the surgery does something to your brain (not just me, I watched two documentaries on it a few years ago), so food becomes not so all-consuming (pardon the pun), as it used to be.

Now, I feel like I have a "normal" person's brain. I can take food or leave it. I still enjoy it (just had some delicious French cheese, had a few chocolate biscuits earlier, hell, I'm on holiday), I just don't desire it so much. I'm satisfied with a taste, and then something switches in my brain and I simply don't want any more. Like today, I had three chocolate biscuits and I didn't want any more. Before, I would eat the whole packet without thinking about it. Now, I realise that I used to be addicted to food - I desired it, craved it, and hated feeling denied it when on a diet. Now, I'm really ambivalent about it. It took me 8 months to eat chocolate, which I used to eat daily. I struggled with every diet, feeling denied so many foods that I desperately craved. Now, I know that I can eat anything I want, I simply choose not to. I have a control over food that I simply never had before.

It's like two different people in that respect - who I was pre-sleeve and post-sleeve. So, don't worry, you will still be able to eat anything. The difference is that you'll be satisfied with a much smaller amount, and you simply won't crave those foods like you used to. Oh, and losing loads of weight is a great motivator ��

[Back2Beauty]

Thank you! That helps. I went to see my psychiatrist today and he told me I should just go to Overeaters Anonomous and go from there. He believes everything should be natural with our body. I'm just confused on what to do.

[pattersonviv]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I had a food funeral that lasted about a month pre surgery before I had the pre op diet - when I ate whatever I felt like because I thought I would miss out on food (pre-surgery missing out was the worst thing). Post surgery you do miss out. Especially those first few months when your body is healing but it is a psychological right of passage. Then as Skibabe says your mind changes. For me this is because my mind will order something and the sleeve will not appreciate it - so in some ways your body trains your mind. I'll think spice would be nice and my sleeve says, NO.....That's been my experience. Still early days for me but I'm hoping the lessons I'm learning at this stage hang around for a while. Lots of people said to me it will be totally different once you have had the sleeve and it's true, you just have to have faith.

[Skibabe]

Thank you! That helps. I went to see my psychiatrist today and he told me I should just go to Overeaters Anonomous and go from there. He believes everything should be natural with our body. I'm just confused on what to do.

Hmm, I respectfully disagree :-) I would say, see how you go post-surgery. If you feel you still have an issue, by all means go. But, for me, it's like I have a pre-sleeve me, and a now-me. I feel totally different psychologically, in terms of my relationship with food. So I've honestly found it easy, psychologically as well as physically. As regards natural foods, I find now that that is what I want now anyway, unlike before the surgery. I honestly feel my relationship with food is the opposite now to how it was before the surgery.

[MamaGavu]

I think it depends. I don't know how severe your food love is, but have you had your psych eval yet. I would say before you have surgery you really need to get that under control. Yes our hunger goes away (mostly), you will still have to deal with head hunger and lots of emotions. I am not saying do not have it. I am just saying you need to get somethings under control before you do.

[LisaZBee]

I echo many of the comments from above and have little to add (that hasn't been said.) I will say that most people don't realize that this is also a metabolic surgery (the sleeve.) Our hunger hormones (ghrelin and leptin) get way out of wack when we are overweight. They are much more powerful than I ever imagined. My surgeon told me less than 1% of people who are 100 lbs. overweight lose all of the weight AND keep it off on their own. I don't say this to discourage you but to encourage you. I always thought I was hungry all the time and thinking about food all the time because I was weak. As soon as I had the surgery I was astounded at how little interest I had in food. This was because of the food hormones being blunted by the surgery. They start to return about 1 year after surgery so you do need to learn to have healthy habits but it made all of the difference for me. I knew by how I felt after surgery that it was not just my weakness that caused me to eat like I did. Our hunger hormones play a huge role. Good luck to you in your journey no matter which path you choose.

[sraebaer]

I love food too, food makes me happy! You aren't giving up food! We eat out all the time. Hubby cooks gourmet meals. The only difference is I eat less now, and am regular-sized. But that in no way makes food less enjoyable.

[Back2Beauty]

Thanks everybody! Please answer this: what about getting all your protein and vitamins in? How do you do it?