Addicted

LOL I love it!!

I have been in maintenance for over a year. I have a problem with pretzels. I have tried pickles for the salt, but still loved me some pretzels. Last weekend I went on a long kayak ride, 6 hours and so I took some cheese & turkey pepperoni, protein bar and a bag of pretzels along with a lot of water. (I mainly took the pretzels and protein bar for my brother who is a diabetic and who did not bring any food on his last trip and experienced trouble.) Anyway......the bag of pretzels got wet and they looked so gross, that I don't crave pretzels. I go to get a handful, and then think how they looked all bloated in the baggie and I choose something else to eat.

I don't crave the junk food and fast food I used to eat pre-WLS. But I do eat some things that are not wise. I am very scared of year three as an RNY patient, as that is where many gain weight eating the same amount of food as on years 1 and 2, yet they gain weight. I try to eat healthy and work on my bad habits daily.

If it's an actual psychological binge, these happen with a feeling of a loss of control (among other things). You can actually have binge-like episodes without having a disorder.

Many of us develop eating habits to help us during difficult times. Some people have disordered eating, which develops to survive difficult emotional states and times in our lives. Some develop eating disorders instead, for a variety of reasons, and others have food addictions. There is a wide spectrum of inappropriate eating, and by "inappropriate eating" I mean consumption done for any reason other than to survive.

And then, some of us who are very lucky, like me, have eating disorders and food addictions concurrently. ;)

I'm explaining all this because I want you to know that 1) you aren't alone by any stretch of the imagination and 2) yes, it's very common to struggle with it after surgery.

I have not regained weight since surgery, but I am sure my eating disorder hasn't helped, to say the least. As for what is going on with you, it seems you already have insight something is amiss.

I would encourage you to seek out counseling to figure out why. It really makes a huge difference in terms of outcomes, and it can drastically reduce binge episodes. And, a professional can determine what type of disordered eating (if any) you have, if you do not know. Don't rely on surgery alone to remove cravings, because it won't, and it often doesn't, for true binge eating.

Whatever you decide, good luck :)

Thank you for your wise words. I an currently seeing a therapist and working on my abusive relationship with food and to get to the root of the problem as to wise I feel a void with food.

Thank you for your wise words. I an currently seeing a therapist and working on my abusive relationship with food and to get to the root of the problem as to wise I feel a void with food.