JustWatchMe

Another hungry day. I posted yesterday how I don't like to snack, and now I've snacked two days in a row. At 11am my stomach was growling. So I had a beef stick I kept in my desk. Just had lunch now at noon. A cup of chicken salad and a handful of peanuts. It's enough, and even if I get hungry before I get home, I'll wait for supper to eat again. I've been drinking herbal hot tea and bottled Water instead of decaf coffee. I know the tiny band fill I got last week is working because at dinner yesterday I could feel restriction with solid chicken (almost got stuck but slowed down in time) and normally that meal never gets stuck for me, especially in the evening. It's just this hunger between Breakfast and lunch that's throwing me off. Well I got 2/3 of my stairs in already and 1/3 to go. Also, today is very boring at work. Ding ding. Duh. Why didn't I make that connection earlier? Yesterday and today have been dull and boring. "Look busy" type of days. But the hunger is real growling. Hmm. I wonder if I usually get that hunger on busy days but just ignore it more easily?

Beautiful !!!

This applies to so much more than weight loss. Thanks for the great post.

I got hungry an hour before lunch, so I had a handful of almonds. I normally don't like to snack, but my stomach was truly growling. Dinner went well. Got all my stairs in. Feels weird not to be counting calories, but today was moderate and on target. Fighting the urge to add up all the numbers in my head.

That sounds soooo good!

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If you're in the green zone, describe it here. Me: I can eat about a cup of solid food or a large salad. I chew it well and feel satisfied. If I don't chew meat really well or eat too fast, I get immediately stuck and that's the end of the meal. I can get stuck even on lunch meat eaten too fast. As long as I don't snack between meals, I have no stomach hunger for at least four hours. If I'm "hungry" before four hours, it's probably anxiety, boredom, or another emotion. If I snack between meals it messes up that satisfied feeling and I'm looking for food all day. I'm happier with healthier foods now that I am in the green. My latest favorite is kale salad with mushrooms, croutons, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I've also fallen back in love with Greek yogurt for Breakfast with two tablespoons of granola. I had a long running affair with hummus a few months ago. I have no desire for French fries or burgers. This blows my mind. I do like Popeyes chicken strips. I also can't seem to ditch movie popcorn, but I know that's an emotional crutch. I can eat almost anything except pork chops, dry chicken breast, and dry roast beef. I am able to eat soft pork, dark meat chicken or moist white chicken, and tender beef. Recently I've been bringing my lunch to work and I'm enjoying it more. Less Popeyes and more chicken salad. I've had five fills over ten months and I have 7.6cc in my 14cc band. What's your green?

Hoping you get relief.

I'm a bander. I reintroduced beef at six weeks post op when I started back on solid foods.

Sorry about the headaches. I didn't have them. Please ask your doc. You should feel better, not worse, every day. If not, tell your doc. Is it worth it? For me absolutely. Good luck. Keep posting and look forward to a wonderful new life!

Snacking is counterproductive for me, a bander. If my meals are five hours apart or less, I don't need a snack. My appetite goes to sleep between meals. If I delay my meal beyond that, a snack can help bridge the gap and prevent overeating, but the down side is now I've awakened my appetite. For ME, a bander, snacking is not helpful.

Yesterday was surprisingly calm and successful for me. I felt a little unmoored by not tracking food, but made all good high protein choices in moderate amounts. I got my stairs in. I wasn't tempted to overeat or snack. So far, so good. Same plan today.

We are more than our food plans. We are also our exercise plans.

Congratulations !! A day at a time. Celebrate every victory !!!!

Amazing!!! Congratulations!!

Congratulations ! It's so inspiring to see people reclaim their lives.

We got this, people.

For good or for bad, this week I am trying something different. I will eat mindfully and focus on how my stomach feels and listen to my band. I am choosing not to log my food for this week. This is new because I've logged since pre op. I'm not going wild. If anything I'm trying to connect eating and satiety to hunger better this week. I'm committing to 24 flights of stairs and mindful eating. I plan to weigh in after the week is over.

This is a great thread. I was always self conscious about my body, whether it was fat or (briefly) thin. It's part of my recovery to work on that issue as well as losing the weight.

Journal your reasons for getting the surgery. Then make a wish list or, as I called mine, "I will..." of all the things you'll do when the weight comes off. Look at my stats. If you could see your future self 11 months out I promise you, pure joy would replace fear! Congrats and keep posting!!

I'm a bander. The possibility of ulcers and band erosion eliminates NSAIDS for life. Also, when you take NSAIDS over a period of years like I did, you are putting your kidneys at risk. I'm glad to be off them and that my weight loss has helped my arthritis pain so that I don't need them. I still have arthritis but the occasional pain from overdoing it (like a Zumba class this week ow ow ow) is managed with the occasional Tylenol or Tramadol if really bad.

When you can fit in the back seat of a small car with two other women on a lunch outing at work. Woo hoo !!

Great question!!! Head hunger will be there my whole life so I'm learning to recognize it and handle it. First recognize it. If my hunger would be satisfied with an apple or an ounce of cheese then it's real hunger. Give it food and move on. If not: Identify the feeling because there IS a feeling under it. Anxiety Worry Anger Joy Relief Sadness Loneliness Shame Betrayal Physically get up and change locations. At work this means walking the stairwell up and down a few times. Breathe deeply and break a sweat if that's practical. Change my physical status quo. shake it up. Don't eat. Don't eat. Do. Not. Eat. Do my nails. This occupies my feeding tools for up to an hour. Do my hair. I belong to 12-step groups, so getting my @$$ to a meeting works very well for me. When fantasizing over the perfect meal, go for the dull and healthy one. Tell myself I can have the perfect one next time (delay tactic). Get on BariatricPal and post about it. Ask for support and it will come. Pray. Walk. Get outside and walk. At work get outside and walk around the block or walk the stairs. Get on the floor for some canine cuddles. Take a bubble bath. Get a foot massage. Don't eat.

OP here. I feel like decades were lost. I was morbidly obese in my twenties, overweight but a size ten for twenty minutes at age 29, obese in my thirties and morbidly obese in my forties and into my fifties. I was the fat mom. I couldn't ride the rollercoasters with my preteens or walk the college campus tours with them as prospective freshmen. Physical intimacy in my marriage suffered for many years. My self esteem plummeted and I adapted to an unhealthy relationship with my husband because I didn't value myself. I stopped socializing, exercising, speaking up for myself, taking chances. I didn't go for promotions at work or change jobs because I didn't have confidence. My health got worse over the years. I had sleep apnea, disc problems in my back, arthritis in my knees and other joints, uncontrollable high blood pressure, high cholesterol, GERD, migraines, hemorrhoids, bronchitis every time the weather got cold, and took a dozen pills a day. If I had it to do over, I would have sought out and had surgery (maybe bypass because LapBand wasn't well known) at age 40 instead of 53. Losing and keeping the weight off back then could have changed so much for me. Now if my daughters were obese (they are not) what would I say? That is much harder to answer. I feel like WLS is very extreme and not for those who have their head in the clouds. It depends on their outlook and circumstances. If my child was depressed and limiting her life, if she tried and failed to keep off significant excess weight more than once, I think I would want her to have WLS at a younger age than I did. How young? That's a tough one. Probably not before thirty, but I really can't say for sure. Earlier if her health was at significant risk. I posted this because I often read (and have said) "my only regret is not doing this years ago". Very true for me. But then I saw a post yesterday about children and our feelings about them having WLS at a young age. Please keep posting. I'm interested in everyone's perspective.

Best. Post. Of. The. Day.