How to deal with occasional treats

[JoJoTGirl]

This does sound like a bit of a dopey question I know but I was wondering how others deal with or view an occasional treat?

I am determined to try and be "normal" and so I allowed myself a treat of a couple of bits or broken Easter Egg shell last week and this week I had 2 x little cocktail saisage rolls at a doo. Both of these I think of in my new mindset as "treats" and both of these I enjoyed very much and didn't feel the need to keep going back to......progress indeed!

If you have a treat of some description, do you think of it as one of your meals / snacks or as an extra?

I can only eat very small portions still and have been counting these little titbits as a meal (of which I am still eating 6 a day - plus milky drinks) in order to not exceed my usual daily calorie intake by very much, but doing so would mean that I will be down on protein today.

Am I overthinking this? Does it really not matter in the overall scheme of things??? Advice / thoughts please.

Thanks
Jo

 

[tealovingsleever]

I think it depends how much of it you're eating. If its a slice of cake and very calorific I'd try and have it instead of a meal. One day of lower protein won't cause a problem. If its tiny bits like I have the mini green & blacks bars that's a treat.

 

[Miss Tickle]

Unfortunately my treats started at one a week, went to a couple of times wekk then to nearly every day, then to more than once a day !! I have to acknowledge this and get a grip. My advice to you though is continue to be very midful of treats, and everything you eat, and avoid treats as long as possible-coz the slope is a slippery one !
I'm going to pay attention to my eating and allow myself ONE treat a week before things get out of control for me.
Good luck
xx

 

[beckaboo]

Unfortunately my treats started at one a week, went to a couple of times wekk then to nearly every day, then to more than once a day !! I have to acknowledge this and get a grip. My advice to you though is continue to be very midful of treats, and everything you eat, and avoid treats as long as possible-coz the slope is a slippery one !
I'm going to pay attention to my eating and allow myself ONE treat a week before things get out of control for me.
Good luck
xx

Miss Tickle... I'm beginning to think me & you are one & the same person... GB & now same issue with treats... lol!!! I need to get a grip too on the treat front as I feel myself slipping into old habits... obviously not on the same scale as its not physically possible but it's a total waste of calories!!! x

 

[JoJoTGirl]

I do make them occasional (weekly maximum at the moment) and am always very careful otherwise. I don't think I could eat a whole piece of cake anyway and hope not to try in the near future.....willpower permitting! lol.

 

[happy days]

Unfortunately my treats started at one a week, went to a couple of times wekk then to nearly every day, then to more than once a day !! I have to acknowledge this and get a grip. My advice to you though is continue to be very midful of treats, and everything you eat, and avoid treats as long as possible-coz the slope is a slippery one !
I'm going to pay attention to my eating and allow myself ONE treat a week before things get out of control for me.
Good luck
xx

Miss T
Your a very bad girl. I thought you were the well behaved one

 

[happy days]

Keep ya cake. Mines the wine. And it's a very slippery slope

 

[Sashie1977]

I will be totally honest with you, my bariatric team don't allow you (or would rather you didn't) to count calories. I got told off by my dietician for using myfitnesspal! They are of the opinion that normality is key and you can't constantly think you are on a diet....why? Because it's that good old phrase....diets make you fat! They say that I am eating so very little that I am to eat normally. I'm not to count calories, or have low-fat this and that. The only thing I have that is low-cal is skimmed milk because I hate the semi-skimmed and the full-fat milk. I also have low-fat yoghurts just because I prefer the taste of them. In all honesty, because I am not restricting myself anything, I don't crave treats. I guess I am lucky in that chocolate makes me sick now so I can't eat that, I can't even finish a packet of crisps, 2 forkfulls of a cake is all I can manage and 1 biscuit is plenty for me. I can't physically manage 6 small meals a day and treats.....it won't all fit! If I have a biscuit at say 6pm, I'm lucky if I feel I want to eat anything else! I know from personal experience that when you stop yourself having something, you only want it more, then you have it and then you feel guilty about it. That's not the life for me anymore. If I want it, I will have it because I know a couple of mouthfulls and then I'm full and I don't want anymore of it. That's just me though. I am following what my bariatric team have told me, you have to follow what yours tell you. If they say no snacks and you are to have low-fat everything, then that's what you need to do.
I know I am going to get pounced on, but what my team say makes total sense to me and it's working as far as I'm concerned. I am 6 1/2stone down with 1 to go all within 7 months. If you feel the snacking is becoming out of control, try and do something else when you feel you want to snack. Go out for a walk or a drive, read a mag, phone a friend etc. Good luck

 

[Paula Garner]

I've avoided trying treats, as I don't want to know if I can eat them or not. I'd rather not start on the slippery slope, as I know I would want them all the time. I'm only just over 6 months post bypass though, so things are still new to me.

 

[pooh71]

I will be totally honest with you, my bariatric team don't allow you (or would rather you didn't) to count calories. I got told off by my dietician for using myfitnesspal! They are of the opinion that normality is key and you can't constantly think you are on a diet....why? Because it's that good old phrase....diets make you fat! They say that I am eating so very little that I am to eat normally. I'm not to count calories, or have low-fat this and that. The only thing I have that is low-cal is skimmed milk because I hate the semi-skimmed and the full-fat milk. I also have low-fat yoghurts just because I prefer the taste of them. In all honesty, because I am not restricting myself anything, I don't crave treats. I guess I am lucky in that chocolate makes me sick now so I can't eat that, I can't even finish a packet of crisps, 2 forkfulls of a cake is all I can manage and 1 biscuit is plenty for me. I can't physically manage 6 small meals a day and treats.....it won't all fit! If I have a biscuit at say 6pm, I'm lucky if I feel I want to eat anything else! I know from personal experience that when you stop yourself having something, you only want it more, then you have it and then you feel guilty about it. That's not the life for me anymore. If I want it, I will have it because I know a couple of mouthfulls and then I'm full and I don't want anymore of it. That's just me though. I am following what my bariatric team have told me, you have to follow what yours tell you. If they say no snacks and you are to have low-fat everything, then that's what you need to do.
I know I am going to get pounced on, but what my team say makes total sense to me and it's working as far as I'm concerned. I am 6 1/2stone down with 1 to go all within 7 months. If you feel the snacking is becoming out of control, try and do something else when you feel you want to snack. Go out for a walk or a drive, read a mag, phone a friend etc. Good luck

My team said exactly the same thing. They said counting calories should be a thing of the past now, and just eat normally and what feels comfortable as the portions we take in are so much more reduced. They just advised making 'sensible choices'. But I'd say if you fancy a nibble of something treaty, then you can have it as long as you know when to stop. I have made a decision to avoid crisps and wine like the plague as they were my weakness before and I just don't want to go back there, because I could really put them away before! Lol x

 

[flutterby1966]

Sashie its great to see your success my provider doesnt advise people to count calories either, however said if that's what worked for me, to do it. Using Mfp really helped me focus on understanding what was approximately the right volume of food for me and to make sure I was getting enough protein. I worried that I would feel out of control when not calorie counting and just relying on the band, but like you said, it does work, when you are at the right level of restriction. Personally I took that side of things really slow, and actually only got my level of fill to my sweet spot around 6-7 months after I hit target. I don't count calories all the time now. Just have "levelling" days to check I have got my overall balance of consumption right still...

Nobody should pounce on you xxx

 

[JoJoTGirl]

I had a chat with my dietician about it when she called chasing blood results today and she said that I should just try and make good choices most of the time and if I fancy a bit of something have it (but not to excess). She also said that it's fine to count it as a meal if I don't want to eat anything else but equally fine to have it in addition to my 6 small meals. She also said I definitely shouldn't stress about having less protein one day if I decide to count it as a meal so that was my biggest "worry" I think.
When I say "count" I don't mean calories, I mean that I have to actually keep count of how many small meals I've had at the moment or I find myself eating too little and getting a bit lightheaded. I won't worry about forcing myself to have the 6 meals on top of something I consider as treat food anymore. Thanks ladies. x

 

[tealovingsleever]

That all sounds very sensible. I really wouldn't worry about doing it wrong, we are all different and we all find our way.

 

[Karlos]

Some people can employ moderation. They are very lucky, this allows them to make occasional bad food choices yet maintain control of what, when, and how much crap they put down their necks. Most of us think we can use moderation and remain in control when we eat bad food or worse drink calorie loaded booze, but sadly the reality is few of us can. This results in us making more and more bad food choices more often, and our weight loss will stall, or we never reach goal and have to start making excuses as to why we've never achieved what we set out to achieve, or why we are regaining weight

In the honeymoon period of the first eight to twelve months we should avoid "treats" or make the treats largely healthy foods with just a hint of naughtiness. I used to eat a lot of protein bars for this. They taste like chocolate, they look like chocolate, they gave me the naughtiness factor, yet in reality they were healthy as chuff, win win. And they are so expensive you cant eat too many of them anyway

Once goal is reached and if you are sure you can handle it, then plan in the odd bad food choice. I don't see them as treats or rewards, I always see anything other than good food as a bad food choice. It worked for me, before anyone starts spouting nonsense I'm not any kind of angel and I do remember one Christmas one year out I ate a handful of Pringles LOL.

Now WLS is designed to give us a new life not be a life sentence so I'm not saying avoid all the nice stuff forever as that's not the way our brains are wired, but be very careful about what you choose to treat yourself with and how often. Pizza and crusty bread were my big trigger foods so I avoided both for two years, even now when I have to eat as much calories dense food as I can cram in it would be very occasionally that I would eat either of these foods.

Booze is a big problem for some and the cause of many failures among the WLS community, its so easy to consume large quantities and that means lots of empty calories, and it leads us make additional bad food choices. I was 15 stone of rippling muscle in my late twenties early thirties until I started drinking heavily. Then Gino's dial a pizza opened up a late night pizza delivery shop around the corner and within a couple of years I was twenty stone LOL as I'd get tanked up then call them up for a late night treat five nights out of seven, then collapse in the chair full as a fart. It wasn't pretty at all.

The best advice I was ever given was by a woman on an American forum who got it from one of the best and most successful surgeons in the USA. This guys success rate of patients who reach goal and maintain for at least three years was very high, around 80%. He told her that post op we should never forget that we are on a diet for the rest of our lives, the surgery just takes away the grind. When you think about it he's absolutely right. Ever single one of us WLS patients or not is on a diet, its just that some of us have to be mindful of our diets while others don't. For me I follow his advice every day, I take note of what I eat and when, and while I din't count calories anymore I did during my weight loss period, not to make sure I wasn't eating too much, actually the opposite, to make sure I was eating enough to fuel my body's needs and the amount of exercise I was doing.

Six or seven small meals worked better for me rather than the three advised by many dietitians, and I ate 130g of protein each day too.

 

[JoJoTGirl]

Protein bars sound like a nice alternative (my treats have not been chocolate for the same reason as Karlos mentions - I can't be trusted!) Can I get those from a health food shop?

Luckily for me, in view of my lifelong food addiction, I've always made it my business to abstain from anything else that might add to my weight or weight related health problems......alcohol, cigarettes, drugs etc. I'm not "looking for a paper hat" as my brother might say but I've just never been bothered by any of it and thought I had enough problems with my addiction of choice....eating........and eating some more..........and aw, a bit more again! lol

I am definitely a bit protein obsessed and am also noting what I'm eating to make sure I'm having enough. I too am eating 6 (very) small meals a day and having 1 or 2 (skimmed) milky drinks in addition. There is no way I could get in enough in 3 seperate sittings for a day's intake as my portions are still very small and I don't think that will change thanks to my fobi ring.

 

[Caren]

Protein bars sound like a nice alternative (my treats have not been chocolate for the same reason as Karlos mentions - I can't be trusted!) Can I get those from a health food shop?

Luckily for me, in view of my lifelong food addiction, I've always made it my business to abstain from anything else that might add to my weight or weight related health problems......alcohol, cigarettes, drugs etc. I'm not "looking for a paper hat" as my brother might say but I've just never been bothered by any of it and thought I had enough problems with my addiction of choice....eating........and eating some more..........and aw, a bit more again! lol

I am definitely a bit protein obsessed and am also noting what I'm eating to make sure I'm having enough. I too am eating 6 (very) small meals a day and having 1 or 2 (skimmed) milky drinks in addition. There is no way I could get in enough in 3 seperate sittings for a day's intake as my portions are still very small and I don't think that will change thanks to my fobi ring.

I buy mine from asda, they are £1.38 and delicious x

 

[JoJoTGirl]

Forgot to say. I hit 5st point today (obviously I mean loss of 5st.......I've never weighed 5st in my life, not even age 3 (and therein lies the problem)!
lol : ))

 

[JoJoTGirl]

I buy mine from asda, they are £1.38 and delicious x

.........or 3 for £3 at the mo I see. Thanks. Now, you see I say I don't count calories but in my head I'm thinking 188 cals is more than a usual meal for me but fab protein content so could probably skip one if I didn't feel like eating.

 

[Caren]

.........or 3 for £3 at the mo I see. Thanks. Now, you see I say I don't count calories but in my head I'm thinking 188 cals is more than a usual meal for me but fab protein content so could probably skip one if I didn't feel like eating.

OOo ill go get some! thanks x

 

[Karlos]

Can I get those from a health food shop? .

Yes chick, Holland ad Barrett do a decent range or you can buy the cheaper online from a place in Manchester called SK Sports