I continue to overeat

Hello again.

Like I said in an earlier post, I had my lapband done 6-14-12.  I was quite successful with it until I had an abscess on my port in Sept.  Had it removed.  Got new port in Dec.  

Even though I have had fills (I'm up to 6cc)  I am still overeating something terrible.  I have gained almost 65 lbs since Oct.  This is the heaviest I've been in about 5 years.  My surgeon doesn't seem concerned about it.

I went to my gyno the other day.  I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome.  My family doc took me off the metformin this past summer cuz my sugars were so good.  I went back to gyno to see if I should be back on the metformin.  He said yes and prescribed it again for me.  He was also very concerned about my large weight gain since Oct. and was surprised my surgeon didn't have more to say about it.

 

The nearest OA group is 75 miles from here.  The local Lapband support group has only met once since I got my band in June.  That was in Jan. and I was out of town that day.  There is another Lapband support group 50 miles from here, but it meets the same evening and time as a Therapy group I go to meets.

 

I met with a dietician last week.  She had me write down everything I ate for a week and what I was feeling when I ate it.  I wasn't aware of any feelings.  I just like the food!  Junk food, meat, some fruit... I just eat and eat and eat.  I will meet with the dietician again tomorrow.

 

I'm posting this in hopes some of you have ideas for me.  I know what I should be doing and what I"m doing wrong, but I just can't quit eating.  

 

Help.

There are on line OA meetings and support groups at www.oa.org and at www.therecoverygroup.org

gaining 65 pounds in 5 months is not normal

If your surgeon will. It help, what about your primary care physician?  And what does your therapist think about this ... Something has to be going on for you to be gaining at this rate.

honestly, I don't think that band support groups are your answer,   You have to stop eating junk and get back into the game with protein, produce and healthy grains.

get the crap,out of your house

no liquid calories

no drinking whole eating

try that for a week and see what happens

 

 

Whatever you are eating, 65lbs in 5 months is going it some! Have you been checked for thyroid problems? Any new medications which might affect you? Or is due to the PCOS? I don't know how your systems work but over here I would be nagging my GP (family doctor) to do some tests.

I agree that I love eating too.  I am in love with food.  I would like to eat all of the time.  What I have had to do is get rid of everything in my house that is a temptation for me to overeat.  If that means you don't have much in your house and you have to do groceries daily as you need them...than so be it.  Some times you have to go to extremes just to bring your addiction under control.  For me my trigger foods are mainly sweets and junk food.  So I never buy any and bring them home.  If I do for instance decide to have some cookies....I NEVER buy a whole package of cookies!!!  I will eat that whole package...my band doesn't stop me from that.  And I have 9.8 ccs in mine.  The cookies just flow right on through the band!!!  What I do when I buy cookies...I buy those single serve packs.  That's it!!!  No more!!! 

Seriously though my diet consists mostly of lean protein and fruit..some veggies.  I almost never have bread or pasta anymore.  Not that I can't eat it because of my band.  I can...it's just that it's a lot of carbs and calories.  I would rather have fruit than bread or pasta.  I have come up with healthier alternatives to my snacks so when I crave something bad I can grab my healthy snack. 

Do I cheat or fall of the wagon...sure.  But I don't very often and when I do I get back on the wagon right away and start eating healthy the very next meal (not the next day or next week).  I also allow myself a cheat day where I can cheat and have whatever I want and I enjoy that!!!  A lot times that cheat day keeps me from cheating.  I can say to myself...don't cheat now...if you wait 6 more days you can cheat as much as you want!!!!  And that usually helps.  I can tell you one thing...I have 9.8 ccs and there are some things that I can eat endless amounts of and it doesn't matter that I have a band.  The only thing that I "fills me up" is lean protein and fruit and veggies...otherwise I can eat like a normal person.  I can't count on my band to stop me from eating.  I HAVE TO STOP MYSELF!!!!  This is a lesson I had to learn and it was a tough lesson. 

I also have a great group of friends on here.  On the Illinois board we have a daily roll call and we check in every day talk about our selves, problems, not just food but anything and if I'm struggling with a food demon I can talk about it there.  Maybe you can find a place like that here???  I have been going on the Illinois board for 4 years now and we are very close. 

In the end I had to decide to depend on myself more than my band.  My Band helps a lot... but I have to rely on my good sense and willpower to lose the weight.  Good Luck  

Thanks for the feedback.  I appreciate it.

 

Just wanted to reply -- I live in a small town of less than 150 people.  Nearest grocery store is 20 miles away. I couldn't start a support group here because I'm the only one in town with a band.  Would have to go 20 miles to find people with the band, and they already have a group... they just don't meet.

 

I don't buy junk on my weekly grocery trip.  But I will go to the little convenience store in town and buy it during the week.  Will also make the 20mile trip to the store to buy some.  I really have a problem.  

 

Am seeing a therapist.  We haven't made much progress in the food department -- I have other issues we spend time on.

 

Just saying.

 

Sounds like I'm making excuses, doesn't it.

 

If we can't depend on our Band to control our appetite/eating, why did we get it?

People get bands because the advertising leads them to believe it will control their appetite/eating. Theoretically, if you have the right amount of saline in a band, it should help control your ability to overeat. Unfortunately, the "green zone" is a myth for most people. 

I know that past sexual abuse is the root cause for my obesity. I've gone through extensive counseling and it has helped me immensely.  I am a lot less likely to eat from emotion now than I used to be.

Hopefully your therapy will help you get to the root of why you're overeating. I fully believe that working on the issues that affect our minds is the key to being healthy. The band won't help at all if the underlying issues aren't addressed. But if you can get to the point where you realize what is triggering the overeating, I do believe that the band could help you lessen the quantity of food consumed.

I feel for you and the situation you're in. It's hard to feel like it's out of your control. I understand where you're coming from. I hope you'll continue with the therapy... I really think that it's all intertwined... the issues, the overeating.

Personally speaking the band only helps when I'm eating lean protein and fruits and veggies. It does help with bread and pasta but I can eat way too much before it helps. And as far as chips and cookies and ice cream. ... Those are all slider foods for me and I can eat as much now as I did before the surgery. And I have to stay away from it.

But the band does help when I'm eating a sensible meal. When I'm done with my 5 oz chicken and 1/2 cup of side I am qute satisfied and sure I can eat more if I want to but the point is to stop before you are stuffed.

Hi momo.,
You are being given great advice. Our bands are to "dim" our appetites. If you are getting strong "stop" signs (fullness in chest, pain, discomfort, slimming, stuck) you have then obviously over eaten. We are not suppose to have our BANDS to make us "Stop", just to satisfy. i never read or heard that our BANDS are to "stop" us. And as "obese" minded people, we have never known what it feels like to eat until "satisfied". It's such a foreign feeling because "satisfied" is so subtle. We have used our foods to medicate us. At least I can say I have, and dare to say that at least 75% of us do so as well.

Granny medic, makes a very good point about the carbs in PCOS , as well as the others.

You said that you "just like junk food". After reading " The End of Over Eating and " Mindless Eating", its not so much that you "just like it". Both books are interesting and help to explain why you can't just eat one.

I have also learned I have a food sensitivity issue , so I must pay attention to my body closely! i have learned to stay away from salty foods, 1 potatoe chip can set me off to eat more, even lightly salted almonds! I have been told by various persons now, every time I have a piece of fruit I am to eat a solid protein with it. It neutralizes my taste buds so not to set me up for any cravings . I will pay more for individually pre portioned nuts, unsalted because its too easy to snitch a few here and there and calories quickly add up.

Everyone has what works for them.

I too see a counselor, but she also specializes in eating disorders. My emotional earing is just that emotional, i am quickly NOW learning ( after 4 years seeing counselor) to identify and "feel" my feelings, sit with it even when it is uncomfortable. The band is only a "small TOOL", I must do my hard work.

Currently I am on my way to stay and care for my mother who is battling cancer. I can do well initially, I tend to over eat after going through stressful situations. But I feel I am at a better place now emotionally and can deal with "life" much better.

"Life" will continue to "happen", it is in how I choose to handle it. I have learned to ask for help when I need it and not to "give my power away" , only God can have that power. Am I or any of us here perfect? Obviously not, or we would not have resorted to WLS. This isn't about WLS choice, but emotional eating. Other WLS may have a faster result but, that is why they doctors say after 5 years the playing field is leveled. Because it is all about our heads to get to that matience. And that truely is the hardest part.

Take what you need from this post and throw out the rest,
Prek3

Reading other posts from Banders I have found that NOT all but some people have trouble losing weight  after a problem arises from the band Ie.. port infection, slippage, erosion, replacement of the band. I personally believe that once something like this changes it 's never the same.  with that being said i found this :

 

Some women who've put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time or have uncontrollable cravings for carbs may have a serious medical condition and not even know it.  

38-year-old Darcy Thompson, who'd always been thin, put on 15 pounds in four months -- all concentrated in her belly.

"Nothing in my lifestyle had really changed other than coming off the birth control," she said.

Stopping birth control to start a family started a vicious string of other symptoms like hot flashes and losing her hair.

"It was coming out in clumps. That was just mortifying to me. You're just kind of like what's next?," she added.

20-yr-old Brittany Higgins had a similar experience. Her symptoms began when her period started at age nine. By 12, she'd gained about 40 pounds.

"The craving would never go away. It didn't matter if I had a bowl of ice or a candy bar. It would produce so much extra sugar in my body, it would make me sick," she recalled.

She didn't know what the problem was until, at age 15, she developed a cyst so large that it had to be removed. Doctors tested her for Polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. The result came back positive.

 

PCOS is a hormone imbalance found in reproductive age women. Often, women with PCOS produce too much insulin to digest sugars. That higher insulin causes the hypothalamus gland to suppress estrogen in the ovaries and raise testosterone, the male hormone that creates the bulky shape, hair growth and hair loss in male patterns, stops ovulation and can produce cysts.

"Those same hormones can cause difficulties with they way they can manufacture or metabolize sugars and starches so these women can tend to be overweight. They can have problems with diabetes," explains Dr. Robin Poe-Ziegler, a reproductive endocrinologist at New Hope Center in Virginia Beach.

She says doctors too often treat the symptoms with a birth control pill, which masks the real problem.

Talk to you Gyno or even an Endo to Treat the PROBLEM not the Symptoms, so often M.D.'s want to do this with more and more Med's that seem to have Deleterious effects on our system's. 

Doctor's are employed by US!! YOU are your BEST ADVOCATE for yourself. Research and LEARN all that you can so that your Armed and ready to do Battle for YOUR HEALTH

Others have given you good advice so I won't try to cover those things. I am so sorry you are having these problems and know how discouraging it must be. In addition to what others have said about eating I would like to add that frequently people with PCOS find they do best with low carb diets. You would start with just dense protein, then after 2 weeks or so add veggies. See how you do and if the cravings have gone down. I always add beans to it because they are such good protein and have the added fiber. After while you can try to add fruits one at a time and see if you can tolerate them without triggering cravings, then good whole grains. Oatmeal, whole wheat, etc. are great to help you fill up, in addition to protein but For me if I have something like lasagna with whole wheat pasta I know that I will battle cravings for 2-3 days. That is ok as long as I know what it is from, knowing why helps me keep up the plan without caving in on the cravings. I am quite carb sensitive and anything refined is going to get me going again. Then I can eat the house. Also, log what you eat online if you don't already.

Give it a try if you think it will help, don't worry right now about calories just carbs, and cleaning up the eating. Plan protein snacks and don't think having a snack is cheating, it is not. I always schedule them and if not hungry I don't use them unless it is part of my protein requirement. Oh, that is another thing; you need to up your protein to a minimum of 80 gm and your fluid intake to about 100oz. Many are finding that they actually lose better that way. Plus you are likely to feel more energetic. Get moving, too, since some type of exercise is mandatory, even short spurts several times a day. Continue to come here daily and post problems, successes, whines, *****es, and moans. I never suffer silently and you don't have to either!

Good luck,

Sue

Sue