I'd usually give up by now....

I'm 8 weeks post-op - and in thinking back of my past diets - this is the time that I'd usually throw in the towel.  A special occasion would come up that I'd eat something bad, the scale wasn't moving very fast, or any of the other excuses would come up for me to give up.  With the two week post-op diet, I've now been doing this for 10 weeks.  And I'm not giving up this time!

Now that I'm settling into a grove with the high protein diet and trying to get the water in,eat between 600 - 800 calories, I'm finding myself wanting to eat at night after dinner.  It's a struggle.  I'm hungry after I eat two hours later and water isn't doing the trick. I do think it's a little bit of head hunger along with real hunger.  I didn't want to eat another snack after dinner but I'd going to start planning a high protein evening snack.  I don't take a PPI.

On Sunday I ate healthy but didn't log my food into My Fitness Pal until later that night - man - to my surprise I had eaten close to 1000 calories- the most I have eaten.  Wow - I learned my lesson to enter the foods and keep track as I go - it can slip up on you! I've started working with a personal trainer to make sure I get my butt into the gym - need to walk on the days I don't go to the gym.    My energy came back at the 6 week post-op point - I feel great now.  It's hard to believe that you can have energy eating around 800 calories but I do!

I have to work hard not to compare myself to the fast losers on this board, I only lost a pound this past week.  But at least it wasn't a stall!  And I'm not going to quit working this sleeve - slow and steady will win my race!  

 

Pick up knitting. I knit when I've got "down" time so my hands are busy and I don't think about food. I don't need it as much now as my whole day's structure has changed - I'm actually doing yard work or riding a horse after dinner. lol

You might want to talk to your doctor about a PPI. I'm off the prescription but I still take a Pepcid before bed.

 

I'm a night time snacker, I've tried to change, I've gotten better, but its still there and I don't think it's going to change. I know this and I plan for it and make it part of my diet.

Last night I had some egg salad, and then some Greek yogurt with berries. In the morning I'm not really hungry, so I have something small or a protein bar or something. Works for me

I fight the urge to snack after dinner too. I hope that my mind will settle into developing a new habit eventually. I am 7 months postop and I am having more difficulty now than I did a few months postop. I am really staying vigilant. Keeping busy and distracted works best for me.

Me too. I have been planning for this by keeping the bulk of my calories available for dinner/evening. I've heard that we shouldn't eat before bed but I hate going to bed hungry. I don't eat much breakfast (usually just coffee). I'm sure this is not the best way to go but it works for me to stay under 800cals and feel satisfied in the evening.

One of my, "well, duh" moments happened when I was about 3 months out and was at a support group meeting.  Someone suggested (and I felt like an idiot) that I plan my days IN ADVANCE. 

So now, what I do is sit down with my iphone (or at my computer) on Sundays and plan out what I'm eating for the week.  I put them all in mfp right then.  Sometimes I have to adjust, but I have a plan in place.

It has made a huge difference.  I can't believe someone had to tell me to do that, but they did, so now I'm telling you an entire 4 weeks before I knew. :)

Studies have actually shown that it makes no difference when you eat the food, night, morning, middle of the night. It always comes down to how much and what kind of food you're eating. So if your making good choices and evenings are when you are actually hungry (vs boredom or head hunger), to me it makes sense to have those nighttime snacks.

If I'm hungry at night, I eat. Some nuts and a coupla clemintine oranges, a piece of cheese and a coupla olives....something like that. I don't want to wake up starving in the middle of the night.

A rule someone in my WLS group declared to separate head hunger from real hunger: "If I'm not hungry enough for celery, then I'm not hungry." I don't take that literally all the time, but it helps me stop and think for a minute.

Also if you are working out a lot, make sure to add some calories--good fats, nuts, seeds, green juice, fruit. Your motor needs calories to perform and is telling you so by being hungry. I am at 1200-1300/day, work out 4x week with trainer (intensive), and that's working fine. It took a coupla weeks to get up to 1200-1300 cals but I'm there and feel great. Still losing weight consistently even though I'm down pretty far. 

Plan a small high protein snack into your calories to eat every night. There is no reason not to, and you're really supposed to be eating small amounts frequently instead of larger amounts less often.

Have your snack. Just make sure it is part of your day's totals!

As for the late night eating, I remember someone posting that a true test of whether you are really hungry is would you want to eat a piece of chicken or meat. At night there are times that I am truly not hungry but I want to just nibble on carbs. Those times I try to satisfy my snacking with a big cup of tea with Splenda and splash of milk. It satisfies my sweet craving and often does the trick.