I have a simple question but will probably take a complex answer but since you guys are...

I wasn't taking a dig.  I have just often found responses very discouraging because they do sound like I have it figured out and you just need to take charge and get all of that stuff out of your head.  Perhaps we all need to be a little less ready to challenge everything a person dares to post.

It takes a lot of courage to post a question and ask for help.  When a person does that they are usually at their wits end and need some encouragement and understanding with the suggestions.

We don't always need to be nasty to be honest.

I went on Sept 13 to have my band removed because of the blood that was visible.  it turned out to be a much worse erosion than the doctor thought.  I woke up with a tube training my stomach through my nose which was very uncomfortable and an extremely dry mouth. Seven days later I was dismissed to the care of my physician at home.  I had struggled with my oxygen dropping, and due to heparin to prevent blood clots I had a bad nose bleed. This caused my hemoglobin to drop to 7.3.  The next day I would have a transfusion is not going in the other direction.  It had moved up slightly, but not much.  The  Abuteral treatments caused nausea and other problems.  The pain medication made me extremely nauseous and the push to get up and walk around tethered to IV poles, battery packs for a heart monitor and a drain from my abdomen were difficult.  Nothing on the clear liquids menu was tasty at all.  I had about decided at age 74, I was going to have a stroke or something and never leave the hospital alive.  The docs finally greed maybe I would be better off at home, on my own bed, have severe back problems, with my own carefully developed medication plan and homemade broth etc.   The road to recovery over the last week as been very difficult with a drain from my abdomen.

If you are truly having no problems and lossing weight, then stay with the band,  At the first sign of problems get to your doctor and have it removed and get the sleeve.  That was not an option for me.  I will try to follow the diet without a band now and hope for the best.

I know this is going to sound simple, but you don't have to give in to the cravings.  You know that they are the problem, so why are you eating them?  Your health is the most important thing right now.  You didn't have major surgery to get healthy, only to give in to the cravings.  

Finding other things to keep your mind busy when the craving**** will help.  Eating simple carbs like oyster crackers will only intensify the cravings.  You may need to stop the carb monster cold turkey.  It will be hard for a few days, but once you wean yourself off the carbs (anything made with flour like crackers, breads, pasta, also rice, sugar, and potatoes) the cravings should be dramatically reduced.

You can do this!!!!!  

if you have time to eat oyster crackers at your desk, you have time to have, baby bel cheese. And jerky, boiled egg,cheese,almonds or protein shake. 

Not having time to eat protein but time to eat crackers is just an excuse

I'm sorry, I don't believe I said I didn't have time to eat healthy, I said I haven't been exercising/walking bec when I get home from work I am exhausted.  What I am asking in my post is how to overcome the cravings and I am not looking for an excuse. I won't ask anything of this forum again as most of the answers are rude and judgmental.

You might think that this is what you were asking, but your original post was extremely unclear.  

I noticed that you're on Vyvanse for binge-eating disorder. Has it been helpful for you? What dose are you on? 

Thank you!

Hi!  

I'm in my second month of taking it.  I started at 30mg/day on July 22 and increased to 40mg/day at my one month follow-up.  

Immediately, like the day I started taking it, it started working.  At first I thought this was just placebo effect, but no, it seems like it was the real thing.  I haven't binged at all since I started Vyvanse - not once. I haven't even been tempted.  It's sort of amazing.  I met every single criteria for BED diagnosis, so I was not in a good place when I finally went to see my doctor about it.  I'd done very well for the first year post-op, but things started going off-kilter when my dad's cancer spread to his brain right around my first year surgiversary.  Then they got worse when he died this past April.  

I increased from 30 to 40 because 30mg was making me feel very distractible.  It helped enough to stop me from binging, but I think that I'd been filling my distraction with food and the 30mg left the distraction going strong.  I also felt that it wore off around 5pm or so.  (I take it first thing in the morning which is between 6:30-7:30am.)  40mg resolved both of those issues.  

It's been a lifesaver for me, seriously.  I can't say enough good things about how happy I am to be on this medication.  You can check out my trend weight link in my signature below and really clearly see how things have been since I started it :)  While weight is just a symptom of binge eating disorder, my weight loss is also an indication that my binge eating disorder is actually being managed - I've been medicated for less than 2 months and I've already lost the 10 pounds of regain plus 5 more :D  

I'm happy to answer any other questions you have!

Nobody was rude and judgmental.... honest... but not rude.  

All of us deal with cravings. We CHOOSE to not give in to them.  You have the power here.  You are giving your power to the food cravings.  You have the choice between bringing the proper food to eat at work, or eating from the vending machine.  You are the one that is buying the large creamers at the store.  You can choose not to do that. You choose your own path everyday.  Until you take back your power, the cravings will win.  You KNOW that your meals should ALWAYS be protein first and very few carbs.  You make the choice to ignore those rules.  Eating carb loaded foods makes you crave more carb loaded foods.  You have to quit eating them entirely.  Again... your choice.

Keep proper foods handy and stay out of the break room.  Switch from coffee to herbal tea if creamer is a problem.  Go for a walk during your lunch break or read a good book.  I like adult coloring books to keep my mind busy. This list is endless.

You asked for help, when you already know the answer. 

Crackers grind down to nothing and become slider foods. Even those of us with smaller pouches can eat a ton of them without feeling full. Ditch the crackers and the creamer.