Hunger and dieting

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

I know that I will most likely need to be hypervigilant about not going back to my old eating habits. Once I get something that has some sugar in it I want more. If I eat a piece of chocolate I want more and I starting thinking about it and rationalizing on why I need it. I have even reverted to craving chocolate brownie Protein Bars . Now that I'm 20 months post op, I can eat more. I can eat any foods with no complications. I don't exercise even though I know I need too. This is my life's work.

[clk 3,519]

If every day were like a diet for me, I could not do this long term. For me, the adjustment back into loss from living in maintenance was very hard. But after a few days to reset, adhering to my diet got easier. But oh, do the hormones ever trigger head hunger! I have to ask myself why I feel hungry and I do have to go back to those old tricks of a glass of Water before a light snack, or some crunchy vegetables to give me that satisfied feeling.

However, in every single case where I have felt the urge to just eat, eat, eat there is an underlying cause. Stress, usually. Actually, make that hormones and stress. As I'm relearning how to deal with it and how to say now when I'm not really hungry, it gets easier. And usually I find that I'm eating either too much junk (and triggering cravings) or too little overall (and am genuinely hungry) and I need to adjust my diet.

But it takes practice and yes, willpower (which I'm sorely lacking) to get over that hurdle.

Track what you eat. Really. It stinks and I hate to do it and I'm so sick of it after nearly three years. But if you don't cheat yourself of those minutes, it's hard to miss what's going on with your body/mind and it's far easier to stay on top of your goals for weight and nutrition.

As for support 3+ years out, I can see why that would be a real issue. It's hard to use VST as a safe place for support even with a vet's forum. There's always someone waiting to be offended or scared by what you post. I'm starting to attend in person support meetings this coming week, and I hope they provide that outlet I need to at least bounce ideas and thoughts off of people when I need to do it. By three years out, we're at goal (or close to it) and it gets harder to be vigilant about your diet and exercise when you're not miserably unhappy about your body. It's easy to be complacent when you don't log your food daily, when you don't weigh and when you fit in your clothes and like what you see in the mirror. It's far easier to just slide into old, ingrained habits during stressful periods if you've been living fairly lax in maintenance.

All you can do is try to be accountable and to stick with it. If you know you have an issue and need to lose, the answer is always the same. All of us know how to lose weight; we're vets here. It's harder to start over again after a few years, sure. But we know how to do it, right?

~Cheri

[Globetrotter 1,340]

Oh Cheri, I am nowhere near goal, at nearly 3 years out. I feel like a failure. A fat, floppy, failure. I'm seriously considering a revision to DS, my body has something chemically wrong with it, that NOTHING works - super low cal/TDEE/lowcarb-highprotein, cardio 6x a week, strength training, all of it and not a single pound lost in 7 weeks and I'm still obese enough that my body should be desperate to lose the extra cargo.

[clk 3,519]

Globe - I do not mean to offend you in any way and I certainly do not view you as a failure. But you are one of the few here that has really, truly, genuinely tried very hard to find something that works for you...and nothing is working. If you are viewing yourself as a failure, I wish you would try not to do that. I think that more truthfully, in your case, something else was going on that is causing the sleeve not to work as well for you. And most certainly the extreme levels of stress that you seem to live under at all times cannot be helping your body.

I do not care what doctors or surgeons say. The hows and whys of weight loss are not fully understood by anyone just yet. If it were simple math and calories in vs. out, we'd all come by success fairly easily and that would the end of it. But that is not the case fora certain percentage of people here.

I never reached my ideal goal and I've come to terms with that - but I'm only ten pounds up from that dream goal, not fifty or sixty. I also had to eat very little to lose weight, though I was thankfully able to eat more carbs than many and to incorporate a more balanced diet approach long before reaching goal. It helped a lot. For those that are still nowhere near goal and are still forced onto 20-40 grams of carbs a day and several hours of exercise every day just to maintain I would say that considering the next step is something I might do, too.

So if you want to do it, start your research. I'd be scared for you - it's the only other surgery I would have considered myself but it is SO drastic. And the streamlined, stripped down way you eat now simply would not work with serious malabsorption like that - you'd have to "relearn" some less healthy habits just to keep your nutrient levels up.

But you are deeply unhappy with your progress and it's apparent. Maybe it is time to consider another step. I don't know. None of us have the answers here! We can say what worked for us and why we think it did, but that's about all we can offer.

I do not view you as a failure any more than I view coops or M2G as failures. You are women that have worked exceptionally hard to reach goal and have done everything we're supposed to do but without the same results, even accounting for slower loss. I think that if you want to take it further and explore DS, do it. But I also think you need to work on measuring your success solely by reaching your ideal weight. You are accomplished, you have a career, you have lost a huge amount of weight, you have learned new habits and incorporated them and you have endured a particularly hellish couple of years. Try to cut yourself some slack.

I've been learning, slowly, that happiness doesn't just show up the day the scale says (close enough to) what you want it to. Start to applaud your successes now, because if you cannot appreciate how far you've come already, once you reach goal (and I do think you will, someway, somehow) you will find yourself looking in the mirror wondering why you didn't also stumble into instant happiness and love yourself a bit more when those numbers showed up. Or at least, that was my experience! It sounds trite, but happiness is NOT a number on the scale. It helps, but only a little bit.

Good luck, girl. Keep us posted.

~Cheri

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Globetrotter I wish there was something I can say to help the pain of this struggle, but all I can say is that you have been under a lot of stress for the past couple of years and now living in stressful circumstances of the living conditions where you live today. With all this stress, your body is in Chaos. Your cortisol levels have sky rocketed, you can't get the foods that you need etc. You are doing the best you can with the resources that you have available to you. Your body is preparing you for the worst case scenario for survival. A DS switch might give you some weight loss, but at what expense? I know the RnY bypass, the pouch will stretch and gaining weight is going to happen. I do not know anything about the DS. I am totally afraid of the malabsorption issue and the constantly having to run to the bathroom. That isn't too much fun either. I hope the your body starts to release the weight and you get some relief. You deserve this. I too do not look at you like a failure either. Look where you are today! Much better than before. What kind of fun to do have over there? Your awesome and you totally rock my boat! :wub:

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I'm 4 years out and I am just now starting to feel a lot of hunger again. I hate it.

Like everyone else, weight gain really freaks me out. I have clothes that don't fit me anymore and it really makes me very sad.

I think it would be a little bit easier if I were younger. I am just plain tired. I can't do the amount of exercise I used to be able to do. My neck and spine hurt all the time. I do go to a support group, once a month. The nutritionist comes to the meetings, and he says exercise is not the key. Eating right is the key.

It's very hard to eat tiny portions now. I am trying to eat more vegetables and salads but I am so tired of all of this. I have been dieting all my life. It's really difficult to order a salad while friends and family are eating pizza.

I'll keep plugging along though. I still have my tool and I know the basics. I just hope that's enough to keep maintaining.

[lsereno 2,525]

I'll keep plugging along though. I still have my tool and I know the basics. I just hope that's enough to keep maintaining.

I hope so too! I do think the support group and staying connected is key. It is something we will have to work on. It frightens me to see the long term successes dropping off the radar because I wonder if they are no longer here because they started to gain and just don't want to talk about it.

Thanks for sticking with us and letting us know what long term issues to expect.

Lynda

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I have found that exercise makes me feel better (I have arthritis too), it changes the shape of my body, my hip waist ratio, and adds a FEW more calories to my expenditure column I eat some of those back... On some days that might be 200+ calories extra, some days 0-100 extra.... I find that those extra calories DO help me to stay full and satisfied. I have 4 days a week I do regular exercise, I usually find something to do on two others, and total couch time on the last day. That day that I am on the couch, I am eating 1200... and its not really enough. If I throw in a pile of veggies, and do all the cooking myself, its better, but I really need more than that to maintain without hunger... and I am still trying to slowly lose a little more. I think your Nut is right about the weightloss part, but the size/shape/body composition part, and the health part shouldn't be underestimated. I find myself looking for something to do, someplace to walk so I have a few more calories to round up my intake/hunger needs. When I was eating more calories following the TDEE eat more plan, I was not hungry. That was great!.... By the way, I will be 60 next week, and the body is not getting any younger... I find the exercise (moderate! Walking, dancing, gardening, and some weights- I will only do things that I enjoy, never been a sporty person) helps keep me in the game.

[Georgia 2,908]

FYI, never been sporty either! Walking is about as sporty as I get although, I as bike riding til my tire went flat ???? and it got cold so gone drag out the old bike and get started again. I will be 60 in 6 mos too!

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

I truly believe that I have to prepare my own meals and stick to Proteins and veggies. I am eating much more these days too. I have read 5:2 eating and will start on Monday. But I know I can't eat 500 calories because my calorie intake is 1250 and 25% of 1250=400. I can do it and will start on Monday.

[Globetrotter 1,340]

Today I am eating 500 cals.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I still exercise as much as I can. I was 60 in October so I am already 60 1/2. I wish I could stop the clock. There are some things that come from menopause that no amount of dieting and exercise are going to change.

My gym got a new trainer. I am hoping he can show me some new things. I am so tired of doing the same things all the time.

[LeaveItToSleever 80]

For those "vets" out there - how many of you battled "hunger" from the start and how did you control/portion what you ate? I know I've read from many that they experienced hunger all along So was it a lot like dieting along since you still WANTED to eat?

I STILL can eat only small amounts of PURE protein/food and that might hold me for a couple hours so is it JUST matter of willpower or what now? Anybody else out there in this situation? Help!!!!

I never lost my appetite. I still want to eat and I still feel hungry. But since being sleeved, thank God, I can't eat the way I used to. I don't try to control or portion my food, the sleeve controls my portions.

[tparkerc59 334]

Sorry to ask a dumb question but what does TDEE mean? Thanks for responding

[lsereno 2,525]

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Fiddleman is our resident expert on this.

Lynda