Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
I'm visiting my family in Arkansas (in the south we love to eat) and they run a bbq business. How do I stay strong. My family love to eat and I am real strict about what I eat and exercise. But I don't want to offend my family. What do I do?
My technique - avoiding smells and food events - is simply not going to work for you in this case. It's a family thing and you just can't avoid some family events without causing a huge scene.
So, the best way, if you can do it is to simply not make a huge deal out of it. Take several things in very small small portions and put them on your plate. Push them around a bit and pretend to eat but only take maybe one or two bites. And do not make your surgery to subject of the conversation. Be non-chalant but try to quickly turn the topics back to the other person (Someone here recently posted that they handle this with a simple "Enough about me, how have YOU been?
Oh god, there is no way I could do that. I'd be a total basket case. BBQ is one of my all time favorite pig outs. BBQ grabs your nose with both fists and doesn't let go until the sauce is spread from ear to ear. Crap. Five minutes alone with that smell and I'd be totally screwed.
OK, Let's try a little CBT instead... I mean, it's JUST BBQ right - no big deal. In fact, after surgery, most patients find BBQ no longer even appeals to them. Fill yourself up on a nice juicy glass of water and you won't even want the BBQ. You'll do fine. Hell, you probably won't even notice that they're cooking anything.
There are many interesting people in this group but if you are not familiar with Eggface (Michelle), please take 10 minutes to look at her blog.
http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.com/
Many of us here have taken the avoidance approach to food - since we have to change our lifestyles to be successful. It's not a bad approach - it's the one I take and it works for me. I recommend it, in fact.
But Eggface has been very successful at taking exactly the opposite approach, she has continued to embrace her love of cooking and food and has made significant contributions in the area of GBS-friendly cuisine.
If you spend a while on her site, you see her food is tasty, colorful, flavorful - It short, it appeals to all the senses and still meets some pretty good healthy food standards.
My point is this, if I had to be with my family on a frequent basis at this BBQ business (on at there houses where such food is always present), one perfectly viable approach might be to take Eggface's approach and develop some GBS-friendly BBQ etnrees. You could use this as an opportunity to prepare a dish or two for your family that has lots of flavor, spice, color, texture, etc. but which limited the bad stuff - the saturated fats, etc.
If you thought about taking the 'participatory' route with these family meals, you might start at Eggface's blog for your ideas. You'd want to try your recipes on a small number of folks before springing them at a larger gathering.
Just a thought for an alternative approach....
Be strong and realize how far you have come to date! You have gotten some great advice. Please let us know how you get through it. BTW, where in Arkansas are you headng to?