Moooo! Let's chat about grazing!

There has been a lot of mention about grazing on the board over the past days.

Prior to VSG I was both a volume eater and a grazer. VSG took care of the volume eating to a great extent, but not entirely. (I’ll explain that in a minute.) In the early months until about 18 months out VSG seemed to take care of my grazing, too.

As time passed my sleeve relaxed and I was able to eat a larger amount of food. Once my sleeve size matured and stabilized my meals have remained roughly the same size; 3 oz of dense protein, 1/3-1/2 cup of vegetable or 1 cup of salad. To that I will often add 2 TBS of some type of whole grain starch or in the fall and winter cooked squash or sweet potato. Physically the sleeve has limited my portions.

If I ate this way 4 times per day and nothing else, I'd be home free. For many of us though, it's a much more intricate dance than a simple 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 box step.

The sleeve did not take care of my head wanting to eat more. I realized at about a year post surgery that I still had an emotional drive to eat more. That part of me had not been fixed by surgery. I had to work really hard for a few months on getting a grip on the emotional need to eat more. I used tried and true techniques that worked (and still do) to help me “feel” the physical satisfaction, which in turn helps quell the emotional need to feel full.

Grazing is an entirely different ball of wax! I have learned that in my case grazing is a purely emotional habit. It has nothing to do with hunger or the need to fuel my body. Even knowing this on a rational level, grazing is still very seductive.

The seduction happens in stages. First comes the thought of “wanting just a little something”. That’s often followed by rationalization (e.g. ‘I can eat just a little bit. It won’t hurt my weight loss effort.’). Sometimes rationalization can be followed by the internal battle of right and wrong, but sometimes it’s right on to giving myself permission and taking that first bite. That first bite opens the window to the graze that is now inevitable.

I have done a lot of “head work” to cope and deal and understand the behaviors and emotions that triggered my regain. Grazing is probably the hardest issue I have had to work through and I AM STILL WORKING THROUGH IT.

99% of my grazing is emotionally charged. Sitting down, removing myself from the kitchen and either distracting myself or best of all, asking myself what is triggering the need to eat is key to get past the “craving” (because let’s face it – grazing is filling an emotional hole, not hunger). It’s important to acknowledge the purpose of the grazing and move past the need to eat in whatever way works for you. For me, it sometimes boils down to having to white knuckle it for a few minutes until the urge passes. I don’t claim to have grazing licked. It is my mountain and I’m still climbing it.

People can say what they will about drinking with meals, eating too many carbs, and other habits, but I consider grazing the most pervasive and insidious habit that contributes to weight gain for WLS patients.

I’ve read on these boards of folks starting to graze as early as 3 months out. I’d love for us to share some strategies and techniques with one another on how you deal or have dealt with grazing issues. If you’re currently struggling, let’s hear from you, too. What is your nemesis – watching TV, getting stressed with the kids, etc…? What type of help do you need?

I've fallen victim to grazing. Im still working on it too! When im stressed at work i tend to find my self getting up to eat just a little something when all i really needed was a glass of water really. Or drama with some friends or dating. I've mostly "dealt" with it by drinking some water or going for a walk. Also removing foods that are pretty tempting (which are mostly carbs, like crackers or chips)

Great post, thanks for sharing. 

Oh, kairk... thank you for posting this.  I just finished a graze before I read it.  I graze at work.  I keep "proteiny" snacks around so I have something if I need it.  Then I end up eating them even if I don't need them.  I stress-graze at work.  When my boss is being a ****head, I eat (and she's been a ****head a LOT lately). When others are around and eating, I will join them.  "Just a little," I'll say.  And I have trouble stopping. I don't have as much trouble at home, oddly.  I think it's because I constantly have something to do.  I walk the dog, exercise, knit, read, etc. 

I need to figure out ways to deal with stress in the moment...ways that do not involve picking up a bag of Skinny Pop.  Yoga, massages, bubble baths.  Those are all well and good for destressing at the end of a hard day, but how do I deal with stress while it's occurring and I can't escape?

Mooooooooooooooooo is right.

I'm nearly 5 years out and I find I can sit down, eat my small volume and walk away. But hell if I can't come right back in an hour or two and eat that same volume again.

It also hasn't helped that I've taken up distance running (I'm currently training for a marathon) and I was using the mileage as an "excuse" or a "justification". Guess what? 10 miles doesn't equal X number of calories without equaling that many pounds.

Thanks for this timely post.

 I SO agree with you! Next month will mark 8 years post VSG for me, and I still fight the urge to graze on a daily basis. You have been writing about working with your demons somewhat, giving yourself permission to eat bu****ching what you are doing, etc. (forgive the oversimplification!). Over time, I've tried to work out a way to let myself "graze" with permission--which, for me, is actually a structured meal. It's easier for me since I'm not working outside the home, but I let myself have a mid-afternoon break with a good book and I munch on pumpkin seeds in the shell. I find that shelling them takes long enough that I'm sick of them before I do too much damage, but it satisfies the grazing urge in me for some reason (at least it is doing so right now). For a while, it was allowing myself to eat pickled vegetables. Anyway, I've never been able to stop completely, but I've been working on finding not TOO caloric foods that satisfy the urge to graze (not as well as cookies but enough).

The other thing I've been doing that flies in the face of a lot of WL "rules" and would NOT be something I would advise for someone in active weight loss mode is to allow myself a sweet treat at the very end of the day, like 11:00 at night (and yes, I know that's not a good time to eat--but it's when MY desire to graze is worst). Currently, that is a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. It's planned into the day and only there as a reward for eating well the rest of the day. I'm trying to lose a few pounds myself, and I am, very slowly, even with these little indulgences...

For me, I find if I have those treats to look forward to, I don't do as much off-plan grazing. I DO still have to be careful not to have trigger foods in the house. For example, I ADORE ice cream (the real stuff, not the skinny cow stuff!). We had some in the house for 4th of July dessert--that was fine. But the next day, I WOKE UP THINKING ABOUT IT. I told my skinny husband that he needed to spend the day eating the leftover ice cream and pie or throw it away. As he drank his protein shake and ate his plain yogurt (he is NOT on a diet, has never been overweight--this is just what he likes to eat--weird!), he looked at me like I was nuts. Ice cream for breakfast?? Anyway, I lasted one day and then made him toss it all. He got a birthday basket of goodies yesterday. Same thing, he looks at it, shrugs, I want to tear open all the little packets and gorge. MOst of that got tossed too. So, I am constantly reminded that I am not "cured" and never will be--just need to find ways to live with it...

XOXO

P.S.
Meet for coffee sometime?

L.

Hi- What part of California are you in? I live in Orange county

Hi, Rose, I'm up North...

L.

Where up north? I am 8 years out from a band and was looking for some vets to chit chat with. I am in the South Bay.

I'm up in Benicia, so sort of East Bay/North BAy ish. Used to live in the South Bay many years ago...

L,

I have been working with my new Nut and a therapist. It's been almost 6 months and a lot of learning has taken place, though not much weight loss. I have all but eliminated grazing during the day. Like you, mine seems to be concentrated at the end of the day. I, too, now include a treat at end of the day. It helps, but I would not recommend it for anyone in the first go round of WL post sleeve.

Anyway, over the past 2 weeks I have been working on restructuring my eating day so that I get a meal in somewhere around 4 pm. That has pretty much stopped the grazing in the afternoons. It doesn't need to be a full meal, but must contain enough protein to leave me satisfied and keep my blood sugar steady.

Never cured, is right. I'm still looking for ways to make it easier for me to be successful long term and deal with the "demons" of the past that trigger a lot of the behaviors. It's work, but fascinating and enlightening. This is truly an "Incredible Journey".

As for coffee, I would LOVE to!

D.