My personal Buffet rules

Ask your surgeon’s office if they have a card defining you as a WLS patient and asking that you be allowed a discount on buffets or to be allowed to order Alan carte or off a kids menu.  Golden Corral lets me pay as if I was 8-12 years old $5.95 for dinner….a few others do a 25% discount.
I have forts very good at eating right at a buffet and haven’t over done for the last 7-8 times.
My tricks with buffet are:
Find the small dessert size plates
It is better to fill 3 small plates with a few bites each than to over fill a big one.
Sit with your back to the food, studies prove you will eat less
As usual, protein first, be careful of sauces which can both upset your stomach and pack in sugar. Don’t put anything but protein on your first small plate, then check out steamed veggies or mixed veg/protein dishes.
Sit as far from the food as possible so you have to walk farther and are less likely to graze.
If you decide to have dessert do not bring a whole piece back with you, I allow myself half tiny square of fudge and about 2 bites of carrot cake and take a clean knife and cut a piece of fudge right there at the counter and only take a tiny bit off the tip of the cake..where the least amount of frosting is.
Eat slowly…very very slowly, I was screwing this up on about every 4th time and throwing up…and I know exactly what does it each time, I’d go too fast and then tell myself “I am full but a few (5) strawberries won’t hurt” HA! The minute you feel full you are DONE
If you go with friends take a note book and doodle or make notes or lists between plates of food and chat with them so they don’t feel rushed and forced to cut their meal short and so it slows you down.

Gift of positive thought to myself and others

Lately some people I love have really been suffering and I realize I can’t give advice about changing things, changing the way we think, the way we deal and everything if I can’t walk the walk.
I am better than I have been but still I have a lot of negative self thoughts, and like a lot of us I vent them on line.  It is time to stop that, time to be more positive so for Christmas I am giving me (and my on line friends) a break.
I will not post negative stuff about myself or about life, if something bad happens (like blowing a tire) I will mention it but I will also post something positive about the situation.
I am going to retrain my brain to be more positive, rebuild neuro pathways that are currently dedicated to anxiety, self doubt and angst and through concerted effort stop the behaviors that reinforce those thoughts (which are largely related to long trained chemical responses that can be altered)
I deserve to be happy and my friends deserve to see that side of me.

Some of the changes I am making are:
stay on top of my meds
Keep my house tidy regardless of if we have company or not
Get the art room done by New Years and keep it that way
Start doing more art and crafts
Cook healthier for us
Be more positive, every time a situation arises to upset me I Ned to think of something positive about it
Be more honest about not just what upsets me but what makes me happy
Remove negative influences from my life
Do positive things to make myself and others happy
Fight my addiction without belittling myself all the time
Read more
Budget better
Organize things in the house to make them less frustrating
take better care of my appearance, I deserve it

I spent WHAT on junk food last month??

I am hoping we will see a major ($120-$170) a month reduction in what we spend by just my stopping eating ALL simple carbs and 85% of coffee (which I only drank while out)
My purchases of just to go (gas station) coffee was over $75 a month and I drink cheap stuff (drip coffee and milk) and though I still go to coffee as a social thing we dont buy sweets while there so that cuts the bill by $2-$4 a trip (2 or 3X a week)

I had gotten so that on average I was spending maybe $20+ a week on junk food which considering I have had Weight loss surgery and my guts dont do well with sugar is actually a lot. I dont keep Alex from eating sweets but before if I wanted a donut I got one for him as well, if I wanted sweets we split it and he doesn’t have my sweet tooth so now he doesnt eat it as much and not around me just to be nice.
I have bitched that the amount of protein I have to eat is so pricey but it is amazing realizing that I was eating over $100 a month in just junk food.