Connie and Everyone...

CONNIE!!! I can't get what you said out of my head and think that maybe this is actually hitting the nail on the head along with the sensation that I need to be full 24/7.  You said:

"A study was just completed that shows that the pleasure centers in the brain are better stimulated by food for thin people.  Obese people have to eat more and longer to get the same kind of pleasure trigger from food.  My thin sister can eat two bites of an ice cream cone and throw it away - she's satisfied.  I'm eating my cone and diving into the trash bin to recover what's left of hers."

 Thats GOT to be it for many people. I keep thinking to myself... this has to be a chemical thing. WHY? WHAT CAUSES THE PROBLEM? I swear its chemical!!!  I wish more research was done on this. Its that pleasure sensation after eating. That little bit of ... satisfaction... its a totally adictive issue. (for me) After I eat...I have that magical "Sense" that "FEELING" i can't put my finger on. its not even that noticable. Other than its like you feel after having a cigarrett... for those of us who smoked.  its not even about being hungry (obviously) but its just so odd...

and wow...what a revalation in studies that obese people have to eat more and longer to get the same pleasure sensation that a thinner person does... which indicates to me there is a chemical problem with those people and not because they are big but they are big BECAUSE of that chemical difference!!!  I keep looking at other thinner people and wonder... why are they so different???  man... so of course there have been some studies on it and some drugs that release the "chemical" dopamine? that is supposed to give us that satisfying feeling... but not enough research has been done i dont think and I also dont think they have it quite right. I just keep thinking about it. I think I'm gonna do some natural food research and try to link the chemical issue to certain foods ... its just nagging at my brain... i know... not really a new revalation... Its really nagging me though. im just totally addicted. period. just thinking about it sometimes gives me the shakes. I keep thinking do the cold turkey thing and you'll be ok. thats just me ...but getting to that cold turkey stage for a week is the hard part for me.


Opioid and cannabinoid transmission

Opioid and cannabinoid transmission instead of dopamine may modulate consummatory pleasure and food palatability (liking).^[15] This could explain why animals' "liking" of food is independent of brain dopamine concentration. Other consummatory pleasures, however, may be more associated with dopamine. One study found that both anticipatory and consummatory measures of sexual behavior (male rats) were disrupted by DA receptor antagonists.^[16] Libido can be increased by drugs that affect dopamine, but not by drugs that affect opioid peptides or other neurotransmitters.

The link is hidden somewhere in there.  Something is off.

So, the key to sustained success in keeping this weight off is finding a way to trip that dopamine trigger without food - goes back to my theory - as base as it may be - of rechanneling our energy into meaningful, passionate ways of living so that we are feeling fulfilled and happy (dopamine explosion!) without getting that fix from food. I've kept my weight off so far, despite my candy addiction - well, ok, I've gained 10 lbs. from my lowest weight, but I don't consider this too worrisome, I'm still wearing the same size clothes I was wearing 3 years ago, so I feel ok about the 10 lbs. and I feel pretty confident that I am keeping it in check - for now. I believe what has helped me more than anything is how I have redirected my personal store of energy away from food (for the most part) and toward other activities that I derive pleasure from: almost all of which have to do with mobility, movement, feeling strength of body. When I let this go, I'm done for, I know it. Am I as hard core about it now as I was 2 years ago? No way. But the pleasure I get out of riding my horse hard, or pulling my kayak through the water hard, or huffing uphill because I CAN ... it's all still such a miracle! And I seek out ways to make these choices every day. It's not easy! God, life is hard. Was before surgery. Still is. Brutal sometimes. But I'm moving through it. Literally. It's a miracle. What's your miracle, guys? Find your miracle and let go the dopamine floodgates!!!   Your Reenie

Quiet on the Board today, huh, 'lizbet? Well, even if it's just you and me... I just started reading a book so I'm just going to type this part word for word:  "OUTSMART YOUR CRAVINGS: One minute you're innocently going about your day--the next you're in the clutches of desire. Your object of lust: a cupcake with buttercream icing. Before you know it, you're licking frosting off your fingers. What just happened? You were clobbered by a craving. In a recent study from Tufts University, 91% of women said they experienced strong cravings. And willpower isn't the answer. These urges are fueled by feel-good brain chemicals such as dopamine that are released when you eat these types of foods, creating a rush of euphoria that your brain seeks over and over. What you need is a plan that stops this natural cycle--and helps prevent unwanted weight gain. The next time you're hit with an insatiable urge for a double chocolate brownie (or a fistful of M&Ms!) ask yourself these four questions to get to the root of the craving. 1. Am I stressed out? When you're under pressure, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which signals your brain to seek out rewards. Comfort foods loaded with sugar and fat basically 'apply the brakes' to the stress system by blunting this hormone, says Norman Pecoraro, PhD. "The food gets coded in your memory center as a solution to an unpleasant experience or emotion," says Cynthia Bulik, PhD, author of "Runaway Eating. TIPS. Stimulate happiness. (Choose something else to invoke those dopamines.) Wait it out. People cave because they believe the intensity of the craving will build until its unbearable. This is not true! It will simply go away. Beat it, don't eat it (that's mine, do you like it??    Choose the best distraction. What you're really craving is to FEEL BETTER, not to eat that garbage! Identify the emotion that's making you feel bad, then find an activity that releases it, e.g., "I feel lonely because I had a fight with my husband." Instead of eating, CALL YOUR HUSBAND and see if you can at least say I know we don't agree but I also know we love each other and I hope we can talk together when we get home later.  So that's it for now. I'M CANDY FREE SO FAR TODAY. Love, Maureen

its true... the key is exercise and activity which helps release dopamine. I just gotta get my butt moving. But even then i get the intense cravings. I wish I could blame the craving on fighting with hubby or something like that but I cant. Especially if I DO fight with him... whenever that happens i clean. LOL.  I get too upset to eat and have to move to keep my mind off it. I just gotta get moving period. Find someway to fit it into my schedule. I just gotta get up earlier so I can get to the gym after work. or have a little time when i get home to walk. Either or. preferably the gym since its getting colder and its a complete gym with all the machines and weights and such.

Its just interesting that eating more damages the dopamine relase and that it takes MORE to get that satisfied feeling. I know my release trigger is mutated.       I realize this even more when I think about where I was 4months out of surgery. I NEVER craved like this EVER. I remember driving down the road and thanking God in heaven for being "set free" of my food cravings and feeling like a totally knew person. I didn't "need" that food and this was all due to the fact (I'm using the studies to help back me up on this) but I was eating WAAAAYYY less food. And of course no sugar at all... aside from sugar alchohols. ANd i felt great and my complection was clear and all was well. I wasn't eating alot... but still getting my nutrition from the protein shakes and other "better for me" items. I shopped alot at those natural stores with sf products and protein things and shakes etc.... I stopped craving the less food I ate. I need to get back to that point. I really do. Besides, since I am a wls person... its healthier. This sugar and carbs are NOT good for my body. ... I just have to get there mentally. Like you said... I need to DISTRACT myself. Do things! 

Are you experiencing cravings - which is psychological? Or insatiable hunger, which is physical? Answer that, and then I'll continue from there. M.

ready?  Ok.. both.  lol... See... if I could identify it so easily I might be able to tackle it a little more... I think its that addictive need to get that "release" after I eat the food. so I guess thats psychological, yet physically i feel like my body craves which is why i say both. LIke the article suggests that release of dopamine after the eating. That little bit of "feeling" that you get. But since we dont get it right away because we (I am ) so overweight i need more to get that "Feeling" I've depressed the trigger. anywhoo... i don't "need" the feeling so much as its an addictive habit. I dont need it because I'm depressed or feeling down... i just.... Need it??? but half the time dont realize it? if that makes ANY sense at all. Its an addiction. im sitting here thinking... im analyzing too much.. BUT realizing that i truly need and want to get back to that point where I am not hanging on food which means i have to cut drastically back and kill the sugar in my system and do the protein and kick the carbs and sugar. I think im going on a shopping trip to the wls surgery store i use to go to and stock up and get back to where i was back then. Happy and more healthy than ever. It comes down to me kickign the sugar out of my system and to get moving. i guess its a relief to read that when i cut back the trigger should eventually get back to normal... its getting there thats soooo darn hard.  I'm doing pretty good though. I haven't really said what ive been eating. lol. which is more protein and cutting back the sugar which im doing. I did have half a york yesterday and gave the dh the other half. so not soo bad. I'm eating my protein bars and such. Its getting a little easier. Keeping my fingers crossed and keep me in your prayers :)

Prayers atcha, I went without the candy yesterday but it's screaming in my head today. Why? Because Jim and I had a fight at 3am - really. It's all emotional for me - the trigger to eat. To hurt myself with food because that's wha I'm worth - goes wwwwwaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy back for me. But I'm hanging on. I just got up and did 200 sets of stairs instead. I like the feeling of strong muscled legs better than the taste of that candy corn, at least right now I do. The day is young. Tough talk her, sweetheart. Stop looking outside yourself - look inside yourself. Going shopping at a WLS store for the right stuff? Nope. Healthy eating starts at home, 'lizbet. You have everythng you need in whole foods, proteins like eggs, cheese, good choice meats and fish, veggies and fruits - and I have to tell you to read the labels on those protein bars, they're poison to someone who has a problem with sugar. They are very high in sugar! I've cut them out all together.  What you really need to do is calm and center your mind! That's where this starts. That's where you will germinate success for yourself. Calm mind. Centered thinking. Balanced, healthy eating. Now, look at what I just did for myself. I certainly could have gone into that office and took that candy, two big fistfuls of it. I didn't. I redirected my thinking, and moved my body in a different direction. If you are truly addicted to sugar, you have to cut it off at the knees to totally purge it from your system. That means no protein bars! And no white processed flour products. Only complex carbs, whole grains. And plain yogurt, nothing with sugar in it! Now, if you are physically out-of-your-mind hungry - that's something else. That means your pouch and stoma need to be looked at. That's chapter two. I KNOW THIS IS HARD. But there is no sense playing tooth fairy with this. There is no tooth fairy. There is no easy way to do this. That candy is two doors down from me, there's no use pretending it's not. It's my choice what to do with that reality, kicking and screaming. If I can just get 15 days under my belt choosing NO CANDY!! Prayers atcha. And what the heck is a york??? M.

I caved ...   it makes me very very very sad ...

I'm going to post my response to this in a new thread.  Stay tuned...