In my last post I talked about food choices that were really bad and not so bad at Sonic. But when I got to talking to Betty May about it she brought up a really good point. Why should you have to eat out unexpectedly at all? Unless you’ve been called out emergently because a family member is ill or has been in a car wreck, very little about our lives is so unplanned or unscheduled that you couldn’t see ahead and plan a to go meal to bring with you. Especially during softball season, I hear a lot of my parents-of-ballplayer patients telling me that they couldn’t lose weight because they were on the road all the time and “had” to eat fast food. But that’s not really true if you think about it. The schedule is set ahead of time, the playoffs are set ahead of time, even if you win unexpectedly in a tournament and have to advance and spend more time at the ballfield than you planned, you can still plan for this contingency. If you’re smart enough to remember you purse/cellphone/foldout chair to bring to the game, you can be smart enough to pack a small cooler with “travel” foods: yogurt, protein shakes, carrot sticks, fruit, slimfast – you name it!
While you may still have to go through the drive-thru for the teenagers, you don’t have to eat anything from the fast food joint if you’ve packed ahead. Is it fun to nibble on rice-cakes with cottage cheese or peanut butter when everybody else is eating fries and burgers and that greasy smell permeates the car? No, it’s really not so fun. But it all depends on WHAT YOU WANT. Do you want to satisfy the craving of the moment only to have regrets for every minute thereafter (especially when you come in the office to weigh) or do you want to continuously lose weight and get to your goal within a year?
The lap band is not magic, it will not exercise for you it will not make good food choices for you. If you tell me that “I just can’t” – can’t stop drinking cokes and sweet tea, can’t exercise, can’t not eat at fast food places – then I’m going to tell you what the band can’t do – it can’t help you lose weight. You’ve got to commit to Betty’s “rules of the box”, you’ve got to exercise, you can’t cheat every day. In your heart of hearts, you know that. And the band will always be here when you’re ready to commit.
19. May 2009 at 12:02 pm
I love my slow cooker!!!! I can prepare a meal before I go to bed and cover it and place in the fridge. When I get up in the am I start cooking it on low. When it is time for supper we have a meal ready to eat before heading off to a game!!!! If you can dream it, you can prepare it in a slow cooker. If you do need help…there are many recipes on the internet. Saves time and money!!!!
19. May 2009 at 1:49 pm
A slow cooker also generally softens up meats, which is very helpful for Lap Band patients.
21. May 2009 at 11:10 am
Oh, thank you for this post! I am one of those that needed to be reminded that I have no excuses…just because it is baseball season! Just these last two weeks I have found myself putting my family back into a ‘rut’ of driving through fast food places. I do stick with salads, but can look back and see how I have used just a bit more dressing…real dressing…each time!
9. June 2009 at 9:50 am
When I had my surgery I knew that one of the most difficult things for me to give up was going to be my Diet Dr Peppers. Since my surgery I have not attempted to drink one because I was afraid that if it didn’t make me sick I would be hooked again. (Not to mention I didn’t want Betty after me!) Now my beverage of choice is sugar free kool-aid or water.
A couple weeks ago we had alot of company so I had bought soft drinks for everyone and I decided to give in and try to drink a Diet Dr Pepper. I was expecting to love it but to my surprise it just didn’t taste good to me. After almost 9 months without a soft drink I found that I no longer liked it and ended up pouring it out.
So I am back to my water and kool-aid but now without the feeling that I am missing out on something. Before my surgery I used to buy about 2 cases of soft drinks a week for our family but now no one in our household drinks them.
We are also learning that if we do eat out that my husband and I can share a meal. It cuts back on the leftovers and helps him cut back on his portions as well. Alot of restaurants have allowed me to order off the kids menu so that is what I do when eating out with co-workers.
All of it is a big life change but it has been almost 9 months since my surgery and I am down 77 lbs which makes it all worth it. It has been a wonderful tool and the best part is that this is the first time I have lost weight that I feel that once I meet my goal I will be able to keep the weight off. In the past as soon as I went off a diet the weight came back but I feel certain that those days are over.
9. June 2009 at 11:27 am
Enlist grandparents. I make every practice, and every ball game, and don’t work during the week. Early supper is on me those days so we can eat healthy and at home most times. Grandfolks are suckers for the kids, they’ll do anything !!!!!
9. June 2009 at 2:27 pm
I agree grandparents are suckers for kids. That’s how we hope to get a week of vacation in July
9. June 2009 at 2:32 pm
Congratulations on your success! There are many things in our eating habits that we THINK we can’t live without, but once we break the habit, we can do without them. In my own personal experience I used to eat homemade sandwiches everyday when I was younger. And no matter what I ate, I would put a layer of butter or margarine on the bottom. Whether it was peanut butter, salami, lunch meat, whatever. I would put margarine or butter on the sandwich for the “extra” taste. I slowly broke myself of that habit and now rarely have butter or margarine on my sandwiches. Sounds like a small vicroty, but just like you getting rid of soft drinks, little changes are important.
10. June 2009 at 5:36 pm
That person that has to stop at SONIC will only accomplish one thing—becoming SUPER SONIC overweight—!!!!!!!!!!!
28. June 2009 at 9:19 pm
I must admit that I rarely do fastfood. I used to drive-thru EVERYDAY! But I have changed so many fattening habits (cokes, fries, etc.) I am 8 months out and 64 lbs lighter. The lapband has been my miracle. I have tried it all and nothing ever stuck. And to think…I will never see that HUGE number on my scale ever again.
29. June 2009 at 2:59 pm
Woohoo! A big cheer for you