Will craving junk food stop with sleeve?

[Ellisa 6]

You do need to be honest with yourself and your surgeon/dietician. If you are a big snacker and esp of high calorie foods, then you may be more suited to a gastric bypass than a sleeve. A sleeve is more intended for those who eat a lot of volume. You will still be able to defeat the sleeve if you eat chips, icecream, chocolate all day long in small amounts.

Don't get surgery if you aren't prepared to totally change your habits.

This is true to a point. Although I would not recommend gastric bypass for someone who is a big snacker. While this will cause weight loss initially I've seen people who didn't change their eating habits and would eat food that would make them sick on a regular basis and they lost weight large amounts of weight...until, for whatever reason, those foods no longer made them sick and the weight came back.

The band and sleeve help with Portion Control and hunger, not habitual or emotional eating. But I don't think "totally changing your habits" is required all the time to be successful. With my band and now sleeve, I can eat small portions ocassionally of foods that aren't necessarily healthy or low calorie. But at the end of the day, I'm still eating the amount of calories needed for weight loss. But it's important to track what you eat so you stay within your calorie goal and be conscious of meeting your Protein goals. Weight Watchers is a great plan for people who've had surgery and like to snack. You learn to make better choices. And your "tool" helps you to stay in control. Your points" (calories) are based on a week, so you can eat more calories some days than others without feeling like a failure.

I like to think in terms of progress not perfection on changing habits. My sister and I were talking last night about how before we had weight loss surgery we felt like our "progress" was 1 step forward and 3 steps back. After being banded that flipped to 3 steps forward and 1 step back. LOL

[thinoneday 445]

I have decided to have the sleeve. I am self pay so I am saving money right now and looking at a February surgery date in Mexico.

My worry is that my eating junk food will sabotage my diet!!

I usually only eat one big meal during the day which is usually dinner. Sometimes I don't even eat that. So my problem is that I eat small Snacks ALL day long. Its anything from Cookies to ice cream to chips. I eat them in small amounts but when I'm eating every 30 minutes it adds up to ALOT of calories. Will the sleeve cause me to stop this or will I still be able to?

Also I do not like the "stuffed" feeling that someone people describe loving so much so I won't eat if it makes me feel that way.

If anyone has the sleeve that had my snacking issues please let me know how and if you overcame it. I want the sleeve but I don't want to pick the wrong surgery since I'm self pay.

This is an excellent question, and here is my response . . . the sleeve will not make you stop the cravings, you have to be the one to stop. . . the sleeve is only a tool. . like a hammer, it's there to use to drive the nail, it will not drive the nail itself. . .I love junk as much as the next person, but even with the sleeve you have to be disciplined enough to combat the feelings. . .lots of head hunger will be there, but you have to be strong enough to want weight loss first. . . Good luck!

Edited August 20, 2010 by thinoneday

[thinoneday 445]

Wow, listen to that sentence. Deconstruct it. That is one self-abusive sentence! You're the one with the problem? Like you're a horrible person? Yeah we make choices in our lives but the majority of severely overweight people are battling genetics and a wide list of things almost completely out of their control. This surgery is how we take control and we are brave and strong for doing so.

You can't get rid of the junk food because you have kids? I'm sorry and please everyone don't flame me for this, but I totally disagree. We inform our childrens decisions on food, we are supposed to show them the way. Leaving those Snacks in the house for them is not doing them any favors. Yes they may complain or tantrum, but they are the children, we are the adults, we lead them. There are super delish yummy brightly colored Snacks out there that are also healthy. This is an opportunity at health-overhaul for the entire family.

Excellently said! I couldn't agree more. . .adults must lead by example. . not the kid. . .sit them down and let them know that as of today things will change and everyone will start getting healthier, not after the fact. . .

[FreeToBeMe 2]

In my case, I don't think that it is possible through willpower alone to stop snacking. I had to find the causes of why I eat excess calories to get a handle on it. I have a history of comfort eating that I had to examine. Being psychologically prepared is the ticket to success with any WLS.

[Donna4545 13]

My nutritionist said 1,000 calories a day. If I'm short on calories, I'll allow myself some dark chocolate and a glass of white wine--but I don't go over my calorie limit and I get my Protein in. That's my only craving. I hope it's not too bad.

[affengirl 5]

I am a major emotional eater and snacker and I have a skinny boyfriend in the house. I know your pain. I get the 100 calorie packs and count my calories. I also start the morning with Protein Powder in my coffee which gets atleast 1/2 my daily Protein in and keeps me full till atleast early afternoon. Cravings are in your head, so you will have to work on those with some discipline like keeping the kids junk food as healthy as possible and if tempting to you, have them hide it. They can eat the 100 cal packs too. I have a very skinny son as well, but he is ADHD, so sugary foods aren't around and I replace chips and cheetos with pirate's booty. I also eat pickles to satisfy my crunch and salt cravings. They have 5 calories and do fill you up easily.

Everyone has to figure out what works best for them. Now that I can eat meat, I snack on that and it satisfies and fills me so I don't crave other things.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Granted, I'm just about 2 weeks out, but I have not had any desire to eat anything unhealthy. I've been hungry on 2 occasions, but both days I didn't have very much Protein and craved things like eggs, yogurt, and fish (so protein sources), which makes sense. Then again, I also ate EVERYTHING I wanted for the 5 weeks before I got my sleeve, so I might have also simply gotten it out of my system - the chocolate and ice cream got pretty boring by the end of that free-for-all.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

You can't get rid of the junk food because you have kids? I'm sorry and please everyone don't flame me for this, but I totally disagree. We inform our childrens decisions on food, we are supposed to show them the way. Leaving those Snacks in the house for them is not doing them any favors. Yes they may complain or tantrum, but they are the children, we are the adults, we lead them. There are super delish yummy brightly colored Snacks out there that are also healthy. This is an opportunity at health-overhaul for the entire family.

I agree with you. When I was a kid, sweets was something to be had at birthday parties and on New Year's Eve - maybe 5-6 times a year. My mother described similar things about her childhood - my grandmother would buy a chocolate bar, cut it in 4 pieces for the members of the family, and everyone had one piece on Sunday at dinner. Then our country was infiltrated with Western influences and Western "food" and gradually it no longer seemed so weird to snack on a Snickers bar. That's when I started to gain weight. I also developed major GI problems and needed to be hospitalized for several weeks, but that's another story. You are not doing your kids any favors by feeding them crap, you're just setting them up for a lifetime of health problems and obesity.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

"You do need to be honest with yourself and your surgeon/dietician. If you are a big snacker and esp of high calorie foods, then you may be more suited to a gastric bypass than a sleeve. A sleeve is more intended for those who eat a lot of volume. You will still be able to defeat the sleeve if you eat chips, icecream, chocolate all day long in small amounts"

That really isn't true. My daughter had gastric bypass and she can eat way more than I can.The gastric bypass pouch stretches out fairly quickly and the sleeved stomach can't because it's made from a different part of the stomach. It's made from the muscular part that does not stretch much. Also, the malabsorption part of the gastric bypass does not last forever.

All that being said, No, if you are determined to snack, you can do it.there are days I drink Protein shakes to get my Protein in, because the entire day, all I have eaten is total junk. BUT-those days are not frequent. I weigh every day, and if I am up one or two pounds, I am back on track eating protein and veggies.

You do have to be determined to eat right. I have a friend that got sleeved a week after me, and she eats candy ,chips, and a lot of Cookies every single day.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Oregondaisy

[Lookinupin2010 0]

I normally choose Protein as a food choice, because I struggle somedays trying to get enough in. Eating Protein also keeps me from getting hungry besides the ghrelin hormone being disrupted for a time from the surgery.

With that being said, I DO KNOW FIRST HAND, that the few times that I have had a carby snack...I get hungry. I hate that feeling, I love it when I feel satisfied for hours after a meal of protein.

I definately have carb issues, and now that I'm sleeved, that has been proven to me, by my 'hunger' issues after eating them.

[Jane_J 117]

This is an excellent question, and here is my response . . . the sleeve will not make you stop the cravings, you have to be the one to stop. . . the sleeve is only a tool. . like a hammer, it's there to use to drive the nail, it will not drive the nail itself. . .I love junk as much as the next person, but even with the sleeve you have to be disciplined enough to combat the feelings. . .lots of head hunger will be there, but you have to be strong enough to want weight loss first. . . Good luck!

I found that my cravings did stop. I have eaten chocolate a few times since the op and TBH it left me cold. I really have lost the urge to eat junk. I guess I am a very lucky person.

Jane x