The Carbs Go In, the Cravings Come Out, thats What Weight Gain is All About

It can happen with one bite. The moment those refined carbohydrates enter my body, it sets off this chain reaction. Even the most innocent "healthy" carbs can cause an immediate and intense craving cycle. Think, pretzels, popcorn, crackers, etc. Those kinds of foods are easily eaten in quantity with a small pouch, and are all empty calories that I shouldn't bother with. You'd think just one snack couldn't harm the situation. You'd think one single-serve bag of pretzels wouldn't send you in a downward spiral for an entire day. They do trigger an intense reaction, sometimes without even being aware that I am picking and and grazing on worse carbs.

If the food I ingest is not only a carbohydrate, but a carbohydrate containing refined sugars in any form, I may begin to have a slight dumping sensation. It begins with a wave of feeling like You Must Lie Down For Just A Minute, dizziness, general lethargy, and if the food was something I really shouldn't have, it may be compounded with sweating, heart-racing, gagging, retching, nausea, but never an actual vomit. Vomit would be a welcome addition to the true nasty dump session, because it would help alleviate the discomfort.

You'd think that knowing you're risking "taking a dump" by eating inappropriate foods, you'd steer clear of all foods that set off that internal warning system. DING DING DING, RED LIGHT, RED LIGHT, STEP AWAY FROM THE PRETZELS, DRY CEREAL, CRACKERS!

How many of us post-op gastric bypass folks cheat anyway, knowing full well a food may make us sick, but the hell with it?

How many of us find logical reasons to support our choices in inappropriate foods?

You do know, I am referring to the really basic stuff, like mentioned above (like a graham cracker, dry cereals, pretzels, tortilla chips, etc... those comfort carbs that go down so easily that it's scary), not the foods that are the most obvious and would be insane to mess with at large amounts (think, Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk?).

Eating either type of food ("harmless carbs vs. high sugar high fat sweets") is reason to question your motivation to eat, since it's not for nutrition, but sometimes it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that a handful of Shredded Mini-Wheats is really not good for you.

Think about it for a moment. When was the last time you ate _______? (Your main comfort trigger food, something you wouldn't start eating in front of other people because you know you shouldn't be having it at all, for me, it's dry crunchy carbs!)

Was it for nutrition? Did the calories count? The protein? Did you eat it mindfully, and take note of every bite? Did you add it to your food journal, or perhaps "forgot" that you had it altogether?

I should note, since I'm not a dietician or anything, that if you're underweight and past goal and needing to gain weight/maintain a precarious weight, you're supposed to "break the rules." That includes adding back these refined carbs, or drinking with meals, etc. Why? It works if you break the rules, you can gain weight.

You can gain weight, you can even gain all your excess weight back. According to the research, most of us do gain, at least some of our weight. We all know how to lose weight, the surgery gives us that tool, but what we don't realize is that it doesn't take away the motivations we have to overeat, nor does it teach us that we can gain weight back, and fast.

Melting Mama
http://meltingmama.blogspot.com