Saturday, June 2, 2012

What is Normal Eating?

Normal eating behavior, to me, sounds like something far fetched, unrealistic and rarely done.  Honestly, when I hear the term "normal eating" I wonder what exactly is normal when more and more of our population is becoming obese. However, if we deconstruct the meaning behind "normal eating" we uncover what should actually be termed "acceptable eating" and "eating for wellness" rather than "normal eating."  If we were to consider the "norm" here, we would be looking at most American's habit of fast food or dining out at least 3-5 times a week.

Acceptable eating behaviors after weight loss surgery means: 1) Always making healthy food choices and 2) Monitoring the volume and quality of food you eat.  Healthy food choices after bariatric surgery is always being mindful of and minimizing the number of carbohydrates and sugars you take in while maximizing the amount of protein and fiber. While you may eventually be able to "get away with" eating foods from your former life, make it your practice to choose lean protein and low carbohydrate foods at least 90% of the time. When you rebuild that tolerance of sugars and carbs to be the norm again, you are putting yourself at risk for regain.

Volume of food increases over time.  Often, this occurs as we revert back to ignoring satiety. Satiation is that stopping point where you are satisfied with what you've had because it fulfills your body's need for energy, not your stomach's capacity. Some may say, "Well, I don't feel full ever."  If that's the case, you understand that your body's needs are only between 1/2-3/4 cup of food. Measure it out, take care of your maximum intake before you start, so you will know where to stop.

Quality of food is what I liken to eating at a fine dining establishment. If you're ever been to a 4 or 5 star restaurant, you'll notice that the plates come out with these small portions but the menu touts these inflated prices.  Well, good food costs more, but the care you take with your body and what you put into it is invaluable. Value your body, feed it slowly, with care and high quality ingredients. You deserve it!  Anyone who has made the decision to have weight loss surgery makes a decision to place a higher value on their life.  That bag of Cheetos or Doritos that just cost you 99 cents won't give you the satisfaction of feeding your body high quality protein will.

So, this "normalized eating" thing is really understanding and respecting quality and nutrient dense foods that will fuel you like a well oiled machine. If you put crap into your body, you're going to get crap out of it... Errh, okay, maybe let's not use that analogy.  What I'm saying here is that when we've made the decision to take extreme measures to improve our health, we must make the extreme decision to change what and how much it is we fuel our engine with daily.  Be kind to your body. Fuel it well.

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