If I told you we were giving $100 to every person who correctly guessed which woman in the images above had just said ‘Everything in Moderation’ before diving into her food, who would you choose for the easy win? Be honest.
I’ll have what she’s having
If I had a friend who ate salad with ‘Meg Ryan’s When Harry Met Sally’ abandon, you think we’d be friends forever because she eats like a slim person! In real life the Pizza Eater says ‘EIM’ because no one gleefully says ‘Everything in Moderation’ before attacking a Salad. To the contrary, it’s what someone says when looking for verbal justification to eat Carrot Cake at The CheeseCake Factory. They don’t care who says it, as long as they hear it!
Worst. Dietary. Advice. of. All. Time.
“Everything in Moderation! Don’t deprive yourself. Unhealthy foods are only unhealthy in excess. Balance is important. Eat anything you want as long as it is in moderation.”
Here’s the problem, moderation works for very few people. You know this is true! You’ve tried it over and over and over again. If the ‘moderation thing’ worked, you would not be sitting here reading this with most of your stomach cut away or gone, with intestines rearranged, or a silicon band pinching off part of the organ. Let it go… give it up. Abandon that ship. It has not worked your entire life and isn’t working now. (unless you are in the Honeymoon Phase and if so, hate to tell you, but you’re not driving the car yet)
Don’t We Suck at Willpower?
There really are some very unhealthy foods. Why would anyone want to moderate foods like soda, chips, fast food, cake, candy and fries back into their life while trying to lose weight? Especially after all that we have gone through in having bariatric surgery.
The biggest problem with moderation is that it relies on willpower and as I recall we sort of sucked at willpower. At least I did.
Ben & his friend Jerry
Think of the times you grabbed a pint of Cherry Garcia and a Spoon. How many times did you EVER return a 1/2 full container back to the freezer? Thankyouveramuch. Why would anyone expect it to be different after bariatric surgery? Especially to a ‘Sleever’ who does not get sick with sugar. Many of the foods we justify eating by claiming ‘EIM’ have been modified to be super tempting, high in carbs and sugar, calorie dense and without satiety that tells the brain to STOP. The odds are stacked against you by the food industry and your willpower cannot overcome the urge to keep eating.
Pouch is the New Moderation
Our Moderation Meter did not work, that’s why we were morbidly obese. In order to help us to lose 100 pounds, we had moderation surgically installed in the form of a 4 ounce pouch, leaving us to simply make the right choices. Don’t mess up your opportunity: Everything in Moderation is bariatric baloney.
Non Negotiable
After living 14 years with RNY surgery, the ‘everything in moderation’ people appear to hit the wall a lot harder because they ‘everything in moderationed’ themselves into eating the same food that created their need for surgery. I have to give them credit thought, as the EIM folks in our support group are a tenacious bunch who will fight you all the way up the scale. It is time to give up the foods that were responsible for your near demise. Stop clinging to bread and chips! Turn in that ‘free pass card’ and make the tough changes.
Black and white goals without room for interpretation or justification are easier to reach than soft goals. “I will eat better”, “I will exercise more, “Everything in moderation”, are vague goals that allow plenty of wiggle room for us to get what we want for the moment without regard to tomorrows consequences. I will eat better? Better than what?
The Skinny
There are entire food categories that it is healthier for us to stop eating. Rather than BS myself that I can have ice cream, English muffins or cheese fries in moderation, I have scratched them off the list and and have found new things to like that don’t steal away my hard earned weight loss and sink my happiness. By letting go of Everything in Moderation we’ll find ourselves in a much better place in twenty years.
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