Some can and some can't. Compulsive over eaters are in the latter group. Better to learn a new recipe, like pita pizza, small and legal!

I'm almost 1 year out and I actually had a piece of pizza as part of my dinner last night. It was thin crust, "California Kitchen" pizza (bread still scares me) and I only ate/wanted 1 piece. I followed it up with a spinach salad.

Yes, one piece is all I wanted.

At Thanksgiving I was able to take a bite or 2 of everything I cared about. I didn't feel deprived...or stuffed!

JJ

I am 2 1/2 years out. i can pretty much eat anything in smaller quantities. I just now make better choices. When my family goes for pizza, I go along. I just order a salad and get the dressing on the side. Once in awhile I will eat a half a slice and pick the toppings of the pizza, but I find the crust just lays heavy in my pouch, so I usually stick to my salad.

I do family dinners I just make sure there is something I can eat. I ask ahead of time "what are we having?" and if it doesn't sound like something I can make work, I offer to bring something and I make it something I know I can eat. Usually when we all get together we all bring something, so I just bring something I know is on my plan. My family are all very supportive and we always have some type of fruit to go along with dessert, so I can have it. My one aunt will bake a dessert and use splenda. It isn't always good, but she tries. (bless her heart). I will take a piece "for later" and wrap it up to "take home" saying "I am just so full now". Works every time. (Usually I do take it home, it just mostly ends up in the garbage at home, but her feelings don't get hurt).

I take along an appetizer that I know I can eat some of eggface's bites, or I take a casserole or soup that I know what ingredients went into it. In the summer I bring something to throw on the grill and it all works out.

Then I focus on the fun. We play games, cards, go for a walk, in the summer we swim, ride bikes, I help my sister in the garden. There are endless ways to spend time with family without focusing on the food!

Good Luck!

Laura

This surgery is not magic. Slicing off your stomach does not 'fix' the things that made us obese in the first place. Its a tool - a very valuable tool - but unless it is combined with significant behavior modification, proper diet and exercise, the surgery is worthless. The surgeon has the easy job - a few hours in the OR and their work is basicaly done. Your job, however, has just begun.

Your first objective, after healing, is to find a "new normal" that works for you. By "new normal" I specifically mean "a combination of diet, exercise and behavior modification that is SUSTAINABLE OVER THE LONG TERM".

We all tend to be different. For me - as well as for roughly 1/3rd of all people with severe obesity - ADHD is a strong contributing factor to that obesity. In such people, a successful GBS program will almost certainly require a certain level of avoidance. Avoiding certain smells and most all food orgies is an important part of my success to date. People with ADHD cannot and should not expect to be able to constantly expose themselves to 'bad things' a still maintain a successful, long term weight management program.

Some people can have a bite or two of a food they used to enjoy but now typically avoid. People who can do this don't try to be 'satisfied' with eating only the bad stuff. They eat the proper things first, then a bite or two of 'bad stuff'. This approach works seem to work for many folks. For me though, it is the equivalent of playing with fire.

I'm 15 months post op. I still get very strong cravings. I've tried the "just 1 or 2 bites' approach. The only thing a bite or two of the 'bad stuff' does for me is make my craving for EVEN MORE 10x worse.

But you may be very different from me. How well and how long you maintain your weight loss is of course, the most immediate measure of long term success.

4 years out and I CAN eat anything but I DON'T want to.

I spent a lot of time when I was obese obsessing about good vs bad food.

I don't think of food that way anymore.

If I really want chocolate or pizza or whatever I use the 15 minute rule and then decide if that is what I really want (mind vs stomach).

I know I can taste whatever I want but probably not finish or eat the quantities I used to. My stomach is valuable real estate and I don't just put anything into it.

There is a sense of freedom for me in that thinking. I believe there are enough cookies or donuts in the world so if I don't get one now I can maybe have one later (I tell you the truth -- I usually forget about it).

All I wanted to say is I'm a very active old man and can eat anything but dead meat and dead birds, even a slice of pizza. But just wanted you to know that I actually live off of wifes plate when we go out. She weighs 50 lbs less and eats way more than I do.

FYI as our man Jerry says, it's not and never has been what you eat as much as what you do. From eating modestly to exercising like you intend to sustain a heathy heart and body. Period. Losing the fat is easy post surgery, having the pressure of a modified body to maintain your weight the REST of your life will be the hardest thing you've ever done.

Lucifer

YES i AM ONE YR OUT AND JUST WENT TO PIZZA HUT. I HAVE LEARNED THAT FOR ME TO GET CHARGED FOR THE SALAD BUFFET IS RIDICULOUS. SO, THIS TIME MY HUSBAND WENT UP GOT HIS SALAD WITH ME IN MIND AND I JUST HAD A LITTLE OF HIS WHILE WAITING FOR OUR MEDIUM SIZE PAN1/2 VEG LOVER AND 1/2 MEAT LOVER TO COME I HAD ONE SL OF VEG LOVER-DINNER OVER . NEXT DAY FOR DINNER ONE SL MT LOVER-HUSBAND ATE REST.

I'm almost a year out and can eat just about anything I want - but not much of it. A slice of pizza is good, tastes fine and sits fine, a second slice is not so good, it will still taste good and you and I know I want it - but I know it won't sit well. I go out to eat regularly and just order carefully from the ala carte menu or just appetizers (the non-deep fried kind!). Problem with pizza etc is that there is not much protein so you do need to plan your day around it. In our family, big family holidays tend to focus on a large hunk of meat, so the secret is just a taste of the sides and hit that protein first. But - I was never the big meal or large food fan. I don't miss it at all. My best friend, misses it terribly. My problem is snacking!

Also, there may be some foods that you love that you just won't be able to tolerate and you can't predict what they will be. I can't eat salmon, as far as I know nobody else here has that problem. For me it comes back up undigested every time. I wish chips reacted that way - LOL.

I will tell you this, away from home is not a good place to try anything new, especially that first year. After that you kind of get a feel for what will or won't work for you.

Lin

Depending on how things go for you, you may not even need to be a "long-termer" to enjoy a variety of foods. I'm ten weeks out today, and yes, I can eat some of just about anything. But oddly enough, I don't want a lot of the same things anymore. I loved pizza before, but now about two bites (and maybe the rest of the cheese) and it doesn't have any appeal after that.

I agree with you, it's a very strange concept! If you would have told me a few months ago that I wouldn't even WANT more than one or two bites of a dessert (even chocolate!!) I would have said you were crazy! But it is a good, good thing!!!

thanks all