A-Ha (Steve Coogan esque) Some advice from LDswims!

I ask for advice and I receive! I take everything you all say and think how it pertains to me. File it correctly in my brain and use it where I see fit. But just like everyone else..at least I think everyone else does this??!...Sometimes there is something said that finally just clicks in my tiny little brain! Yesterday was that day and it came from LDswims. So thank you very much!

If you all recall a few blog posts back I asked "How do you know you are full?" How do you know before you have taken one to many bites?" Most of you had the same problems..we were similar in loads of ways!

LDswims comment:


" A very wise bandster once said the trick isn't to eat as much as you can. The trick is to figure out how little you need. Generally, the band isn't going to stop you from eating too much. It will give you Thanksgiving full much quicker than sans band. But you CAN eat around the band...a good piece of advice there - don't learn how to. This wise bandster started out by measuring her food. She was advised to eat 1/2 cup at each meal. So she started with that and saw how far she went. She knew when she got to the sweet spot when that amount of food actually made her feel full and carried her for the hours between meals. And from there, she started working backwards. How "little" food made her feel full AND carried her to the next meal. Turned out it was closer to 1/3 of a cup was all she "needed". I am like you, its the taste that keeps me going for more. But I have also found that really really chewing and taking my time and eating small bites allows me to actually enjoy my food more now than I did before the band. And if I do all that stuff...I can't eat/don't want 1/2 cup either. So like she said, don't eat as much as you can, figure out how little you can get away with."


Now..for what ever reason it finally clicked. I know the rules, I know what I am supposed to do, and I know the results I want to achieve. Getting there is the struggle. I have always been a weigh er and a measurer of food. I started this way back when I  started to calorie count. I trained myself to know how many calories were in a serving of pasta...mayo..tuna! You name it I knew it. I knew what a serving size was. I knew how many tortilla chips I could have before I reached a calorie level I didn't want to reach! I could spout off figures at the drop of a hat! I think you get my point!

Now I didn't always use this to my benefit. Only when I was being good and watching what I ate. I was successful for the most part. Until I stopped caring and just ate. But I still knew how many calories that chicken salad had in it.

Now that I am banded I thought all that knowledge would be helpful. I started my calorie counter App on my iPad. Which...I love. I log with it every day. I also have been measuring my food for the most part. But here is where I have been doing it wrong. Wrong for me that is:

I have been measuring out food so I know exactly how many calories are in a serving of lets say "Italian Beef Stew" that I made last weekend. Exactly what I have always done. A serving might be 1.5 cups. Not measuring out a half of a cup and seeing if that will fill me up. I have been adding the calories to see what a serving is so I can log it. And then feeling way to full after eating. Not really using my brain and there for I would eat what was in front of me regardless of it being a 1/2 of a cup or not. It was a serving. "A serving should fill me up" I said to myself. Not accounting for the fact that a serving is probably way to much now that I am banded.

Do you guys get that? Am I typing it in a way that actually makes sense? My Ahh-Haa moment??? Or am I just babbling? I babble a lot!

I need to eat like a bandster and not like a regular person. Which means less then a "typical" serving.  AND then see where I am in fullness! THEN time myself and see how long it is until I need another meal.

Then have a fill if I am eating to much!

I am repeating this concept over and over to my husband. Mainly because I want it to make sense in my blog. He is laughing at me. But even if I am not coming though loud and clear I think I have turned a corner in MY actual thought process. Now to actually do it in my day to day. Now I need to figure out how to log this in my calorie log. But for the first time I have really made a connection in how to do this. I am excited. Renewed energy! Not scared at moving forward and making mistakes! And a little hungry. I think I will have some greek yogurt! :)

~A

PS: Steve Coogan is a British comedian who has a character called Allan Partridge. My husband loves Allan Partridge. Allan loves Abba and when ever I say A-haaa I think of Allan Partridge (cause he says it funny), my husband, and abba. So there for that is why A-haaa is said in Coogan esque!