[fr1endly2]

For those of you that have not read "The Ditch" by Ray Hooks

The Ditch

The Ditch is part of a story passed on thru the generations. My grandfather once
took three men out to test them for being a buggy driver. He drove them up to a ditch and asked them to tell him how close they could drive to the ditch without going in. The first driver said he could easily drive within a yard of the ditch. The second one said he could go within about a foot of the ditch.The third one said he would not drive anywhere near the ditch and to count him out of the running. The third driver was hired.

The object lesson to WLS is to stay away from The Ditch by not trying to see how much of this or that you can eat. The real key to long term weight loss through WLS seems to be the adoption of a new attitude towards food. The small size of the new stomach allows us to achieve a feeling of satiety with much less food. The trick seems to be to recognize that the smaller amount of food will be sufficient and not to tempt fate by trying to see how much we can now eat. The Flanagan Pouch Study (cottage cheese test) showed that relative pouch size, i.e., 4 oz vs 8 oz, had little to do with weight loss success.

What mattered was whether both the 4 oz and 8 oz person developed new eating habits and stayed away from The Ditch

by Ray Hooks

[fr1endly2]

Well i can relate to this ...during the holidays i didnt eat healthy!
AND now im comeing out of that ditch!!!!!!

[howietam]

Lisa,
I can definitely relate and I'm much newer at this! I've found that I do fine with Doritos, but have a hard time with chicken.....go figure, and the doritos would definitely be "a ditch"!

[fr1endly2]

YES the Dorritos can be a DITCH.

but we have to eat healty/ DO you at least try the
baked variety of DORITOS?????? its not easy but
i know for me DORITOS are a danger food because
i can eat and eat and not get full from them .
I have relaly buckled down the last 2 weeks and ridding
those things.

GOOD LUCK.

[mike]

That is sooooo true. I have found the temptation with Doritos to be AWFUL. So, what I did, was stay away from them totally. I have never tried them once, and ALOT of other things like that, since my surgery. I just stay totally away from that sorta stuff. I feel that if I would try even one say, of the Doritos, I would crave them all the time. I WOULD ALSO KILL FOR A CAPPUCINO TO THESE DAYS. LOL You know, Lisa, this sounds really ICKY probably, but this is what I did today, as a matter of fact. LOL I felt myself ready to claw my eyes out for a sweet of some sort, so when I made my stir fry with part of a chicken breast in it for lunch, I just added a touch, literally, of splenda in it. It gave it just enough sweetness to cut that craving for me to totally run in the DITCH. I figure, everyone has to find ways to cope with things like this when they come up. THIS WAS MINE, AND IT HAS NOT BEEN THE FIRST TIME I HAD TO NEGOTIATE WITH MY URGES. Good luck to you, I know by now you probably have learned tricks of the trade, like me. LOL
mike

[fr1endly2]

HEY MIKE that splenda in the stirfy sounded very clever to fix a sweet tooth.
I must say i wish i never tested the waters with the bad foods but i did...but i didnt do so till i was at the surgeons goal and regret
doing these things. As long as I dont gain ill be fine but i fear
the old me will poke thru. NOTHINS is icky mike if it worked it worked.

I made a treat that i like when i crave i use these POWER crunch bars I get online slice them open.....put surgar free cool whip in them and freeze them. THAT soothes my cravings for sweets....has only about 10 carbs and 15 protein. ITS a doable treat that got me thru many pinches. I love them....and im gonna go put a few in the freezer to have now that im speaking of them!!!
AS far as tricks of the trade, i dunno if i know them all but I do take things one day at a time and one meal at time. IF i fall, i will pick myself up and do better at the next meal.

HUGS

[mike]

Well, I am happy to report, it did help me alot with the sweet tooth thing. It actually gave it kinda a sweet n sour taste. lol I ENJOYED EATING IT ANYWAY. LOL I find myself doing the same thing at this point as well. Like my dietician told me with this phase. IT'S ACTUALLY THE HARDEST. I am finding it to be true. VERY TRUE. It's like now I have more cravings for the sweets than I ever had before. I don't know if it's the brain playing tricks on me or what. None the less, it, I feel, is by far, the hardest phase. I am going to need alot of support until I can gain more control with this part. I am doing well, but some days I feel like I am just going to go crazy, literally. ALOT MORE THAN I USED TO. I have adopted many new ways of eating and dealing with the urges, but it just seems to be getting worse. I have been a good boy, honest I have, but it's just getting almost overwhelming. DID YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM LISA WHEN YOU STARTED YOUR MAINTENANCE PHASE TO? Just curious to know if it is normal at this phase, or like I said, it's just my brain playing tricks on me.
mike

[fr1endly2]

MIKE, YES i been terrified since my 12 month mark. I actually wanted to loose another 10 more then my surgeon and regular PCP but that never happened.

I think my mind is soo stressin because for me, i have lost large amounts of weight before and it never stayed off. SO this is a familiar place for me to be. BUT because then i never kept eating healthy it came back and now im fearing and have learned even with gastric BYASS that can happen.

I been a wreck for a while.
THATS why i post as i do around here to keep obsessing on my good health. I am hopeing that it keeps me making the right choices.
TODAY i caved in and did eat a naughty...but you know what if eat good 6 days a week and one day i slip, i think i can succeed.

ITS not an easy phase were i am and im actually glad to have you and others will be in this phase soon enough. I am sure your gonna do fine.
YOU sound perfectly normal to me.

[mike]

Thanks Lisa, for the reply. It helps me knowing, not that I didn't know, that their are others out here just like me. I AM TRULY SERIOUS WHEN I SAY THIS I PERSONALLY THING THAT THIS IS THE HARDEST PHASE TO BE IN. Don't get me wrong other members of the site, I know you are working as hard as you can to get down to this phase. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. It's just that when I got to this phase, it was like something totally changed for me, and it's kinda hard to explain. It's like I crave the naughty stuff even more now. Almost in an obsessive way. IT'S VERY HARD TO CONTROL. It scares me to death, actually. I think though, I am going to take your advice Lisa, and take one day at a time. Really, that is all a person can to at this point. I to am going to have to spend alot of time on the site just to get that extra encouragement of not letting myself slip back into my old eating habits, which was LIVING TO EAT, NOT EATING TO LIVE. LISA, WE WILL HAVE TO KEEP EACH OTHER IN CHECK FROM NOW ON. LOL NOW THAT I HAVE FOUND SOMEONE STRUGGLING WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. Thanks again Lisa, for replying to me and my question.
mike

[Kat]

Ya, I went off the road today and steering my way right back out.
The odd thing is that I got into a pair of jeans today that I have been waiting months to get into. I wore them all day and couldn't believe how loose they were in the hips and legs. It's almost like I'm trying to hang on to the "fat me" when I eat like I did today. Right now I'm sort of baffled and need to figure out what it is I'm trying to prove by making the choices that I did today.