Welcome! What are your biggest eating triggers? Just like with any addiction, there’s something that triggers all of us to backslide. I’m not an emotional eater, I actually won’t eat when I’m stressed or upset, then I tend to overeat when I finally realize I haven’t ate. I’m only 7 months out, so my stomach doesn’t have the room to do that, but it doesn’t stop me from starting with a cookie instead of protein. Sugar is my trigger, and I crave it terribly during times of stress. Once I start, I have a hard time stopping, and I haven’t experienced dumping syndrome, so I don’t have that to stop me. I have to stop myself. I do honestly track my food though. If I have cookies, ice cream, or any treat, I track it. We’re going through the transition into summer in my house, so kids ending the virtual school year from hell into the chaos of no real summer schedule. That stresses me because I like a schedule. But I know that about myself, so I’m trying to prepare, trying not to buy sugary treats that I say are for the kids, and I just know I need to do better about it. Some weeks when I grocery shop I don’t buy anything naughty, and some weeks I do. I know that I have to adjust my mindset around the fact that other people can eat those treats, and sure I can have one every once in a while, but I shouldn’t try and justify them or say I earned them. Once I deny myself long enough then that’s when I want to have 5 instead of just one. It’s a hard mental commitment, that’s why WLS isn’t the “easy way out”. It’s actually hard as hell but so worth it.
