What was the hardest thing you gave up?

[mrs_christy]

Goooood morning everyone!

Although I am still bandless (but not for long!), I know that there are many many changes in lifestyles and eating habits that go along with getting the band. I want to hear from everyone on here...

WHAT WAS HARDEST FOR YOU TO GIVE UP TO HAVE THE BAND?

I don't have the band yet, but I am thinking the hardest thing for me is certain food... like ummm NACHOS and this mexican placed called Filibertos. I know I could probably eat those things even with the band. But I am thinking if I give them up, I will be more successful because I am addicted and don't know if I could control my eating habits if I "cheat" there. :tsk:

Let me have your biggest weakness!

[Iulizbug]

Definately bread and pasta of all sorts. I was a huge carb addict but found after I was properly restricted that they just dont go down well anymore--and thats a good thing or I am sure I would still be huge! lol......But other than that I still eat all of my fave foods just on special occasions, not every day like before and I don't eat near as much as them. I still eat my chips at Mexican restaurants every once in a while as well as my movie popcorn. Can't give up everything good....

~Liz~
03/10/06
241/168/160
5'7''

["Just" Paul]

Christy...

The same for me. I love nachos.

My fave to make at home is Italian nachos...

Individual chips covered in Monterray Jack cheese, with a slice of pepperoni and a jalapeno slice. Placed under the broiler just till the cheese starts to brown.

Yummy, but a no no for a dieter!

[HeatherGurl]

Big Juicy Hamburgers! I want to kill DH when he has them.

[tattooedsuess]

Fast food was extremely hard for me to give up. We ate out - A LOT! But now it's not that big of a deal. We still go out a few times a month, and when we do, I just order a grilled chicken sandwich. They taste better to me now, than the big old greasy burgers. (Although on extremely rare occassions I will allow myself to have one of those big old greasy burgers.)

Now my husband and I see the money we save by eating in, and we're having fun coming up with new recipes for healthier dishes.

We belong to allrecipes.com and kraftfoods.com. Both have some wonderful offerings for healthful dishes, as well as a variety of ethnic recipes. Kraft is good for quick dishes, and lowfat ingredients can always be substituted for whatever is listed.

Good luck to you!

[gadgetlady]

Fruit. I still mourn fruit. :-(

[PhotoNut]

The hardest thing I had to give up was my belief that food was my comfort. I cried in the days prior to being banded because I just knew this was a farewell to a dear friend who had always been there to comfort me and make me feel good.

I'm glad I was able to give that up. I'm even more pleased to find out just how deceived I was by food. It wasn't my friend. It wasn't caring for me. It certainly didn't make me feel better. In fact, it was killing me and I just didn't see it. I walked by a display of Oreo cookies today and the instant the thought of "MMmmmm.." started, I heard a distinct voice in my head say "Look! It's that stuff that tried to kill you!" and suddenly, my perspective of a package which once ruled me looked pathetic and weak.. no longer able to harm me.

Go look at my pictures in the b2g Picture Gallery. No Oreo, no cheeseburger, no pizza, no chinese food, no icecream, no food EVER tasted as good as I felt yesterday when I posted the "OMG" picture.

[diane5467]

Monday I started my liquid preop diet, 1 week down, 1 to go. I find the habit of driving through to get food and eating in the car is difficult to get used to. I usually eat something in the car and have a "4th meal" after we get home from football practice. Lucky for me you can't eat Chinese and drive. What I did yesterday was get a book on tape to help me keep my mind off eating on the way home.

[~Melissa~]

Fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls....OMG!

[Maryb]

Diet Coke and my Bacon Cheeseburger and large fries addiction was the hardest for me.

Oh, I forgot the dealing with depression without my diet coke, bacon cheeseburger and large fries was the hardest for me.

[Tricia K.]

Fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls....OMG!EXACTLY!! Oh, how I miss Panera sandwiches and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. :ohwell:

[aaamom]

chinese food................I could cry I miss it so much
HOW SAD !

[Iulizbug]

I could think of a huge list but let me see if I could narrow it down...big, fluffy waffles with tons of butter and syrup, buttery rolls, bread, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, french fries with cheese sauce, meat lovers pizza, macaroni and cheese or any pasta with cheese.....(And I WONDER why I got soo fat!!:eek: )

~Liz~
-03/10/06
241/166/160
5'7''

[Susan]

Right now, I would kill for a big, juicy cheeseburger cooked medium rare on the grill. I know, I can still have the meat, but it just isn't the same without the bun. I guess the hardest thing for me to give up is bread.

[NotSoFunny]

i have the hardest crush on anything bready. and pasta kinda falls into that category. I guess starches in general are hard for me to not go without.

The only other thing really killing me, and this is a big one, is ramen noodles. Ramen was one of my faves. I know it is weird. But i loved ramen cooked in the broth, then drained and add butter and parmesean cheese. Omg. I used to be able to eat 3 packs at a time. Gross huh? the kids love it too, and i still make it for them. its hard to not just make a pack for myself. LOL but i resist, and am able to push it away. At close to 1500 cals....i know better than to eat some.

[Jacqie]

I miss the bread like stuff - doughnuts, hamburgers with buns, hotdogs with buns and just plain old ham sandwich. I can eat toast in the evenings but not during the day. Some days I just want a ham & cheese sandwich. Oh well I'm better off without it!!!

[Stefunny]

I thought I was going to miss soda being a total pepsi addict, but I don't. The thought of drinking anything with bubbles....yuck. I am having a hard time with lettuce and I love salad (I'm sure salad didn't get me to 213 lbs). The really hardest things have been slowing down, chewing thoroughly, and not drinking at meal time.

[ladytonya]

I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble not drinking at meal time. I am a HUGE Pepsi drinker! I used to drink 3 2-liter bottles and a 12 pack a Pepsi a week. I have cut it all the way down to 1 2-liter bottle and that's it. After I finish the bottle in the fridge, I am going to not buy any more and just get it when I eat out if I really want it!

As far as drinking with meals, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do with that. I like to wash my food down, sometimes to the point that if I run out of whatever I'm drinking I can't swallow another bite until I have more drink. I'm still probably several months off from surgery, but I am worried about that one thing.

[Goannabanda]

I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble not drinking at meal time. I am a HUGE Pepsi drinker! I used to drink 3 2-liter bottles and a 12 pack a Pepsi a week. I have cut it all the way down to 1 2-liter bottle and that's it. After I finish the bottle in the fridge, I am going to not buy any more and just get it when I eat out if I really want it!

As far as drinking with meals, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do with that. I like to wash my food down, sometimes to the point that if I run out of whatever I'm drinking I can't swallow another bite until I have more drink. I'm still probably several months off from surgery, but I am worried about that one thing.

ladytonya - I hear you! I LOVE to drink when I eat. Probably the only reason why I was able to eat so much was becase I washed it all down.

The wt loss counsellor I saw suggested that not drinking with meals pre-banding is a good thing to practice - it helps to learn early on to slow down, and also helps to reduce how much you eat at at sitting.

It was hard at first, with quite a few golfballs, even some sliming and PBing (wihtout a band!), but is getting easier. I was a real gulper / inhaler of food! I still like to have a sip of water just before starting to eat, but that's usually it now unitl well after dinner time. Just by doing this one simple thing, I'm finding I'm eating less just by not washing everything down as I go, and feel that I'm already setting a better example to family about how fast, and how much to eat too.

Hope this helps!

[Loving-It]

Donuts and muffins, especially in the beginning. It's easier now though. It's true what they say about the longer you go without the easier it becomes. You get to where you don't miss it. Like soda. I was a soda junkie and I haven't had any since I got my band put on, and I'm fine without it.

[Jess]

You know, I don't think there was anything that I mourned. Or if there was, I don't remember it. Okay, I'm weird & crazy!!!! LOL!!

[paula]

Hardest thing Ive given up is a four letter word: R I C E

Down here in cajun country, having rice for EVERY meal is about as commen as cornbread, or biscuits in other terrains. I can remember waking up in the morning MANY times with the smell of a fresh pot of rice cooking!!!!
rice & gravey, gumbo, boudan, chili... just about everything we eat (or used to eat) had rice with it.

*big sigh* I miss my rice... :(

[housecatgirl]

warm fresh sour dough bread and pasta.

[Telly]

Hardest thing to give up was peanut butter and doritos. I suffer still.

[Jachut]

Honestly I havent given anything up. Nothing at all.

What has changed is how often I choose the less nutritious fattening foods and 10 months down the track I really truly feel my habits and thought processes have changed. Now when the kids want fish and chips for dinner, which I dont let them have very often, I will stop and think "do I want it too" and nine times out of ten it just isnt worth the massive fat and calories. I dont even like fish and chips anymore. I never choose a McDonalds burger at the foodcourt now, I go for the sushi, which is massively filling because of the rice. But I could have a burger if I wanted, and I would if I wanted to.

Over time, its been easier and easier to say no most of the time to most of what I shouldtn eat and to sort out the times I really do fancy it. But I've said a permanent goodbye to nothing.

[Telly]

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't eat bread. It won't go down, prior to the fill... but everything else did.

[Jachut]

Hmm, yeah, there are some croissants in the freezer and I cant be bothered tackling those. Some foods are really hard to eat but they still go down for me, but sometimes its just too much effort.

[kelliebelly]

The thing I still crave the most even after 18mths is a big fresh salad roll. I used to eat them all the time now I cant even manage a mouthful :(
A fresh works hamburger is what I miss after my salad rolls. Oher than that I am glad I cant eat the other things I loved like pizza, toast, maccas burgers etc.
Its a small price to pay for the weight loss.

["Just" Paul]

Nachos... I am a nacho addict. They still haunt me in my dreams.:sad:

Also, cheeseburgers, yes, with the bun, Ground beef, lettuce, tomato and onion, maybe bacon and mushrooms. I'm killing myself here.

Funny thing is, I can manage to make most of my faves healthier, but the above two are out of it for me. Miss my nachos.:tsk:

[paula]

Miss my nachos.:tsk:

how are you making your nachos?

[Momotrips]

I haven't had to give anything up for the band yet, but I was just lamenting on another thread about how much I missed caffeine. I had to part ways with my bitter, brown mistress when I developed a heart arrhythmia. And she haunts me yet! I actually dream about REAL coffee. I still drink decaf on occasion (grande, decaf, nonfat, sugarfree - NO FUN). It is very difficult to drink anything other than water while eating out. I used to love iced tea with sweet n low. No one has decaf except Sprite and that's full of sugar. I guess in a few weeks it won't matter anyway as I will not have carbonation again. Not that difficult, as I haven't had much since I gave up caffeine.

I'll really be sad if all rice is out of the question for me. I love it in all of it's forms. Mostly because, like Paula, my family is from Louisiana and rice and coffee are staples of every diet there. Amazingly enough, only one of my kids will even TOUCH rice. The other two hate it. Weirdos.

[503-250]

I gave up smoking several years ago, 3 packs of lucky strikes a day to no smoking... I still miss my cigarettes.

For the lapband, drinking. I don't drink all that often, but when I do drink, I like to drink alot. Now, thats not supposed to happen (especially with my meds). There is something wonderful about a nice full glass of whiskey and the soft sound of ice chattering against the glass. Now if you add a cigarette to that.....

["Just" Paul]

how are you making your nachos?

Lay the chips on a cooking sheet, sprinkle shredded pepper-jack cheese on the, and then place 1 slice of pepperonni, and 1 jalapeno slice on each.

Under the broiler just till the cheese melts. I call them Italian nachos. Yummy. Course the old standard melted velveeta works too!