Before weight loss surgery it was easy to make excuses for not eating healthy. However, now that you’ve had surgery for weight loss there is no room for making such excuses—healthy eating is a requirement. After bariatric surgery space for food is limited, making nutrition of utmost importance for every meal.
Here are some common excuses that can thwart your weight loss efforts and how to outwit them!
Excuse: “I’ve already ruined my meal anyway, so why not go all the way?”
Though you may have slip-ups from time to time, it’s important to not let that one slip-up spoil all of your good efforts. It may seem excusable to go ahead and finish eating whatever unhealthy item you’re eating, but no good will come from this. The key to beating this excuse is to not let the small mistakes get the best of you by snowballing and ultimately derailing all your weight loss efforts.
When it comes to “ruining” a meal, there’s plenty of grey area, meaning your one small bite of cake doesn’t necessarily mean your entire day’s hard work flew out the window. Take a moment to assess the situation and realize finishing the piece of cake will not solve anything. Your mistake can easily be corrected with an evening walk after your meal.
Excuse: “I worked out today so I earned this treat.”
This excuse couldn’t be more misleading for any weight loss surgery patient. Working out should never be used as an excuse to indulge in an unhealthy treat. Working out should be viewed as a necessity to your sustained weight loss—not the reason you can afford an unhealthy snack afterwards.
Excuse: “I’m just under a lot of stress right now.”
Stress is hard to avoid, and you’ll likely encounter it on a daily basis as you adjust to your healthier diet and active lifestyle after surgery. However, don’t let stress hinder you from losing weight and keeping it off long-term. Look at your stress from a scientific perspective—when you’re stressed, your body’s stress hormone cortisol will make you crave unhealthy sugary, fatty foods. If you indulge in such foods, your blood sugar will plummet after a short-lived spike, causing you to become even more irritable than before you indulged. Before you feel the urge to stress eat, take a minute to remember that your body will only work against you if you eat something unhealthy to cope—making your excuse for eating it in the first place null and void. The good news is you can reduce cortisol in natural ways that don’t involve eating, like exercising, listening to soothing music or getting a massage.
There are plenty of excuses we can use to trick ourselves into eating an unhealthy treat, but are they really worth it? Every time you feel the need to make an excuse, think of how far you have come and how much further you could go if you successfully remain on track with weight loss after surgery. Use some of the above tricks for outwitting your excuses or seek support from your weight loss surgery support group to learn how others overcome their unhealthy urges.
