Compulsive eating: spiritual or biological.

That is funny! If you looked in my fridge, I have jars upon jars of pickles, olives of every color and kind, pickled asparagus, pickled veggies, hot pickled peppers.. the whole top shelf. Since surgery, I have not craved them yet. I used to pop olives like people pop tic-tacs. I still like 'em, just don't crave 'em anymore.. weird.

Thank you for sharing your journey - that is so wonderful that you feel like you have found a permanent solution. I am so very happy for you!

Very interesting topic. I believe that I became a Type 2 and then because of that, became a Type 1. In other words, a vicious cycle.

When I was young, I was very unhappy. We had moved here from Central America, I felt like I did not fit in, and I ate for comfort. I ate lots of Hostess products, Velveeta sandwiches, Pop-Tarts, etc. I learned how to eat my feelings, and I did it in the unhealthiest way possible. I learned those coping mechanisms from when I was 12 and on. I think at some point I "broke" my body and my metabolism, because by about 22, nothing I did resulted in much weight loss. But fr me, now, RNY has fixed my broken metabolism, and allowed me to overcome both aspects of my issues. I reset my system with the RNY, and then now I can eat mostly normal and still maintain my weight.

I still struggle every now and then with food addiction - sometimes I get frustrated when I cannot each as much as I want to, but for the most part - I feel NORMAL once again. I understand RNY isn't for everyone, and did not work for you, but so far, I am happy.

There are 3 types of wls patients that I've come across.

Types 1) Those who became obese eating the same diet as thin people. This is a metabolic issue.
           2)  food addicts
           3)  other: gain after pregnancies, side affects of medications, etc

Good Post...I am #1 and #3....not addicted to food.  I do think you need a 4th category for those of us who substituted food for parental love....not really an addictive behavior, but trying to fill an empty space in our hearts.

MY definition of addiction is using any substance to fill that empty space.....

Good point...though I grew up in a family of mentally ill addicts, I haven't had  much exposure to addiction therapy. 

I haven't had much exposure to therapy either because I am a big cynic when it comes to "talk therapy."

I have read a lot.  As much as I think I understand about addiction, I know very little about overcoming it.

For some reason, people want to believe they are SPIRITUALLY broken - Judeo-Christian guilt, masquerading as an overblown sense of "personal responsbility" - they want to be believe THEY are in control, and responsible for their success or failure.  That's what they've been told all their lives, after all.

Fuck that.

My younger sister is MO/SMO and has been almost her entire life.  Her life has been controlled by her obesity, to some extent, including her attitude towards the world (which at some point became, "I'm fat, I don't care what I look like [including not wearing make-up, picking sores on her face and arms she doesn't bother to cover up], DEAL WITH IT!").  He choice in spouse, to whom she is still married despite his being an unrepentent Asperger's asshole (he KNOWS he's a self-centered asshole and doesn't even attempt to not act like one - try to imagine being around a whiney Woody Allen who isn't funny, and just incessently talks about whatever is on his unfiltered mind, EVEN IF SOMEONE ELSE IS ALREADY TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!), because - well, it's better than having to go back to work as an attorney, which would require dressing up and behaving appropriately.

Anyway, of course I have tried to preach the DS gospel to her.  She finally found a way to stop me from talking about it - she claims she has "an eating disorder" - I don't know what that would be - from what I can see, she just eats too much, without regard to the quality and content of the food she eats.  I don't see binges, for example.  So I talked to Dr. Rabkin (Bob, before he retired) and asked about this - should people with "eating disorders" be "cured" before they attempt WLS?  His response was that in his opinion, the majority of MO people who have "eating disorders" do not have psychiatric problems, but rather a physiological/metabolic satiety disorder.  He felt that, in the absence of say bulemia, having the DS would help CURE the alleged eating disorder, by curing the lack of satiety that was causing the aberrant behaviors.

I certainly found that the DS gave me that satiety that had always been missing.  I NEVER felt satisfied when I ate - I was less hungry, but not less desirous of eating more.  I would stalk the kitchen between meals, looking for - something.  No reason for it, except a drive from deep within that said I needed to eat more, NOW.  ALL THE ******G TIME.  The DS fixed that, and for that alone, I am eternally grateful.  I am no longer the slave to an irrational and inappropriate biological hunger that was impossible to ignore.  It was NOT a psychiatric problem - it was a physical one, and the DS fixed it, instantaneously.

Were you always physically hungry when you stalked the kitchen or did you just want to eat because you wanted the pleasure of eating?

When you say "physically hungry" I'm not sure how to answer.  Was my stomach growling, grinding on itself due to the emptiness?  Absolutely not.  I could feel this way 1/2 hour after eating a full meal. 

Was I wanting the pleasure of eating?  Not exactly that either - my body just told me it was craving to be fed, for no reason.  If I didn't find the "right" thing to eat, I would walk away, but 10 minutes later, I'd be back in the kitchen, opening the fridge, opening cabinets, hoping something I overlooked would magically appear, looking for SOMETHING that would feed the demon.  It was an URGE, not a desire, and it wasn't pleasant to feel, and it wasn't capable of being satisfied either.

The gut and brain are so tied together that it is really hard to figure out whether it is real hunger, a biological compulsion, or just plain pleasure seeking for me.  I probably have all three about 18 hrs a day.

There must be some people who have better results with ghelin removal than others.  I was hungry when I woke up from surgery and my appetite has been strong ever since, even though I don't get the same kind of bang out of food that I used to.  I eat when I am not hungry and my hunger signals are a real mystery to me.

I definitely don't have the same appetite for sweets, but that is because I can have mild dumping from fatty sugary things.

I need to get this thing figured out and get on with myself.

I'm glad you have some relief from thinking about food all of the time.  I would get so much more done if I could just forget about it!