snacking

I am super frustrated with myself! Please tell me I am not the only one....

I find myself not hungry at all even if I have some water to make sure I am not dehydrated and I have something or on days I give myself extra time and eat breakfast, I find myself around 9:30 or later just starving. Then I eat a string cheese, a piece of a granola bar, or a cutie, something somewhat healthy. But then it throws me off all day long and never feel satisfied. I open the fridge 500 times with nothing changing and grabbing nothing in hopes something will help feed my starvation. Is this mental? Am I mental? I feel like I am going crazy with the struggle of being hungry. I always ask myself, are you mentally hungry or physically hungry? Usually I walk away and drink some water or iced tea. 

Oh and to top it off.... I AM NOT LOOSING ANY WEIGHT! I haven't lost any weight in two or three months. I am stuck at 180-185. 

It sounds like you've got some pretty serious head hunger going in, which is likely due to pushing your carb intake beyond what you can handle. I'd suggest you start limiting your food choices to only those that provide 10 grams of protein for every hundred calories. 

Regarding your weight loss stopping, you will need to significantly reduce your calorie intake to get and keep the scale moving. Again limiting your choices to protein rich foods, particularly dense foods, will help you with this. 

It's possible you may also have unresolved acid issues, but either way I think cleaning up/simplifying your food choices should help with hunger and weight loss.   

Best of luck to you. 

Personally, eating a cutie or granola would make me ravenous the rest of the day.  There are an average of 18 g of carbs in a clementine orange and granola bars range from 18 to 32 grams -- depending on the bar.  20 grams is more than half of what I eat in a WHOLE DAY.

I would try some solid proteins as your snacks.  See if that isn't more satiating.  Cook up a chicken breast, steak, or even some shrimp.  Snack on those instead.  See if that doesn't make a difference for you.

If you've been the same weight for 2 or more months, you've entered maintenance.  

I stopped eating breakfast. My  pouch hated it anyway.. it was never fully awake to eat and it would give me a fit.  So I gave up.  I drink lost of water. some coffee and tea until 11 or noon. Then eat reasonable lunch - mostly proteins + fat + veggies.  

then have a good snack - (not carbs) and have dinner, or have one more snack if I have late dinner.... Late at night - I was used to getting snacks and that helps to keep my Blood sugar stable  during the night - so I typically have LNS - as a serving of low carbs nuts..  

evn at 7+ years post op - not only I can keep my weight off but I can also lose some  if I really want to.

I have have to take a pill (non-WLS) in the morning then wait and hour, at least, before eating.  So, I end up doing breakfast later - 9-10am or later.  I drink alot before BF and wait 30 min minimum (I had a problem early on and increasing the wait time took care of it, so I have kept it.  May not be necessary, but it works for me.)

Also, on my last conventional diet - my counselor said, if you want to eat broccoli, then you are hungry.  If you only want a cookie - you are not really hungry.  

If you have not lost more in 2 months then you will probably have to change things.  (Diet, exercise or both).

This booklet gives the best explanation I have come across. One Bite at a Time - Plateuas. Some info is specific to bypass, but the Plateua section applies to any WLS.  

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVoC3eHBWlWQAhHEnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1450240312/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fevans.amedd.army.mil%2fncd%2fPDFs%2fBariatric%2520Booklet.pdf/RK=0/RS=MINzwJNP.CSVTyhJfuTql.FhQo0-

I am 12 months out, just a little behind you, and I feel that now is the time to research what to do as the honeymoon phase ends.  Personally, I would not usually keep some of the food you mentioned in the house until I am done losing.  ie, I am still using SF pop-cicles, not cuties. 

I applaud you for being determined to work at this and not wait 2 years and then cry that you never met your goal and now gained 30 pounds back.  The long-timers (2, 3, 10+ years post-op) here are great with encouraging persistence.

Hang in there!! (Do you think you could just be bored and just need to find a new hobby, interest or project? Did I read your post correctly that you are going to the refrig with no real hunger??? Lot's to think about)

Here's the cover and contents of the booklet - it is a great manual for WLS - it's free as a US Gov publication.  It is not from my doctor, but it seemed pretty good to me.

Plateuas is under "COMMON COMPLAINTS - page 30"

Aim for high-protein snacks instead of granola or cuties, and try to have something when you first wake up so you're not ravenous by mid-morning. I have a protein shake every morning for just this reason. I'm not hungry when I wake up, but if I let myself get too hungry before I eat, it's like the flood gates open and I want to eat everything in sight once I finally start. I also still eat 6 small meals a day to keep my blood sugar more even and to keep me from getting to the point of wanting to eat past satiety. My favorite "meal" is a Greek yogurt with 2 TBSP of bran buds mixed in...lots of fiber, and way less sugar than granola.

Definitely sounds like head hunger.  I get it too, but for me it is at night.  I am good all day long, but come 7 or 8pm and I just want to graze. 

I agree with others that carbs are definitely NOT your friend in all of this head hunger stuff.  You mentioned having a cutie as a mid morning snack.  What that does is spike your blood sugar, and then when it comes down, your body thinks its hungry again.  Protein protein protein.  Won't spike your blood sugar and will sit in your stomach longer.  A better mid-morning snack would be something like a couple of ounces of lean turkey breast and a bunch of celery.  Very filling, lots of fiber, low calories, high protein.  That's my basic mid morning snack and it totally carries me through to lunch with no problems.

Best of luck and keep at it.

M

cuties and other fruit and granola bars are not really healthy for those trying to lose weight. They are pretty much pure carbs. Carbs make you crave more carbs. Plus,for every gram of carb you consume,your body must hold somuch water to process it. That is the proverbial water weight. 

Also,we absorb 100% of sugar carbs and the sugar in fruit is natural sugar but sugar nonetheless less and will also cause the water hold. 

You would do better to eat protein only while trying to lose.

Hi,

I haven't heard back from you, so I hope things are better for you.  I am writing because I just found new info for me that might shed light on what you are describing (or at least what I think you are describing.)

There at least 8 different hormones involved in this hunger/satiety/set-point dynamic.  You've probably heard of Grehlin, which makes us feel hunger.  The reduction in Grehlin, however, is not what makes us feel full - like that was a great meal, push-ourselves-away-from-the-table-with-a-smile satisfied.  That feeling comes from the release of this other hormone Peptide YY 3-36 (or something like that). I think that sometimes my Grehlin in down, but the Peptide YY 3- 36 hasn't kicked in, so I am not hungry, but do not feel like I am satisfied.  You can google this to learn more.

Here is the video that I saw that described it.  The guy is promoting the mini-gastric bypass, which I ignore because my surgery is done, but the hormone info is good.

So now, when we wander to the frig we can walk on by and say, "Drat, when is my Peptide YY 3-36 going to kick in?? "  (I would really say that!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8catGS3tFIg

I like this guy because he agrees that medical science really doesn't know enough about this subject.  At the beginning he describes conventional diets - and then he describes why they don't work, so listen past the first few minutes. 

Let me know what you think.