My name is [Anonymous] and I'm a compulsive overeater. I weigh and measure 3 meals a day from the Cambridge GreySheet, write them down, call them in to my sponsor, and don't eat between these meals no matter what.
I have also had an RNY gastric bypass. My stomach was cut in two and the first part of my small intestines was rerouted so that food passes straight into my lower intestines. I have a limitation on how much food I can fit into my stomach at one time and I will get very sick if something I eat does not "sit well" in it's undigested state in my intestines. My surgery is not reversible, yet I am still a COE.
When I came to GSA, I was desperate. I had regained much of the weight I'd lost after the bypass operation. I went back to my surgeon, begging him to help me. He did a lot of tests, determined that everything was fine, and said there was nothing else he could do. I found GreySheet that same week. It was most definitely my "last house on the block".
My first day on GreySheet was a nightmare. When I weighed out the food and saw how much bulk was there, I was shocked. I barely got my lunch down and was in pain for hours. I dreaded dinner. I could not get all of the dinner down. I was in extreme pain and knew I was going to be sick if I put another bite in my mouth. I called my sponsor, sobbing. My gastric bypass no longer kept me from compulsively overeating, and I thought I couldn't do GreySheet either.
My very patient and understanding sponsor helped me tremendously, and through trial and error (and a lot of pain and sickness), we discovered ways to select, prepare, and eat my GreySheet foods that were not only doable, but enjoyable.
I do not modify the GreySheet. I knew that if I did, my disease would tell me that I wasn't really abstinent. If I made up my own rules, I could change them. I had to find a way to be abstinent within the boundaries of the GreySheet, exactly as it is written.
Here are some of the things I have done that have allowed me to be GreySheet abstinent after a gastric bypass:
- I chop all raw vegetables very finely so they won't get stuck.
- I peel and seed all vegetables and fruits.
- I avoid the solid proteins and "woody", fibrous vegetables as these tended to get stuck.
- I usually select foods with the smallest portions on the GreySheet. For example, I tend to select 4oz (1/2 cup) vegetables rather than 8oz (1 cup) ones.
- I usually select the softer, runny proteins and cooked vegetables on the GreySheet instead of the more solid ones.
- I cook my cooked foods very well so that they are very soft.
- I eat all of the softer, runny foods in my meal first before eating any of the more solid, raw foods. This way, they go down quickly rather than sit on top of the solid food in my stomach.
- I take my time eating each meal and make sure I chew well.
- I do not eat the dried (dehydrated) proteins on the GreySheet that will swell up when they hit moisture. Even if I soak them well before eating them, they make me sick.
- I only try one new thing per meal so I can better determine what may be causing the problem if I get sick.
I am very grateful today. Surgery did not help me find peace with my food or my weight, but GreySheet has.
