Hunger or craving

I am in the trenches with those of you really trying to make your surgery work. I am a work in progress and this is helping me for a couple of weeks now. I can lose weight when I diet. If I put duct tape over my mouth I will lose weight.

Last month a light bulb came on! Too often people think that "emotional eating" when life throws you a curve ball is the problem. Those episodes are less frequent than my overeating. Cravings and hunger are two different things. I can deal with cravings if I am not hungry. Hunger is when you need to eat healthy food. Cravings are a different animal though. When I look at or smell or think about a food that triggers "excitement or desire" that is a craving. Cravings are hormonal desires. We are looking for a dopamine release when we have a craving. Think of a luscious hot fudge sundae with whipped cream, jimmies and a cherry. That is a craving. I can be happy and calm and have a craving so it is different than "emotional" eating. It is worse because it happens frequently. I can deal with cravings if I am not hungry. If I am hungry I give in to cravings. So how does someone make real hunger less?

To decrease hunger eat fewer carbohydrates. I eat protein, veggies and healthy fat with fruit and starches limited or none at all. I once read that Jennifer Aniston never eats more than 100 gm of carbs. in a day. Susan Summers program and South beach diets are built on the same reasoning too. I have read in the Back on Track books, which I purchased on line, that 50 gms in a day and less than 10 at a meal if the right amount. I find 60 gms a day is decreasing my hunger. I take the total carbs and subtract the fiber to arrive at my carbs because fiber doesn't get absorbed. I am not sure if that is right or wrong but it works for me. It is difficult for me to eat less than that and eat a balanced diet. I plan my food in the morning and make conscious decisions before I eat because a slip up can cause hours of hunger afterward. I eat 6 meals a day. I drink my water because sometimes a glass of water will get me through to the next meal. If I need to eat though I choose my food.

I don't keep junk foods in my house. I make fat free/sugar free desserts to replace them so that I don't feel deprived. This helps a lot because sugar increases the insulin in our bodies and insulin increases real hunger so real desserts even in small amounts increases my hunger. I am much less likely to eat junk if I don't have it in the house and have to go out for it. I also don't see it if it isn't in the house. I record TV shows and fast forward through food commercials so I don't have to look at a "Big Mac on a big screen". I follow the glycemic index as well when I choose foods because they absorb slower and decrease the rate of insulin released.

I use the OH nutrition tracker to count calories and nutrients. I try to stick to the USDA numbers because often member added foods don't contain vitamins and minerals (especially calcium). Calcium gets absorbed in the first part of the intestine so even with a short bypass I want to make sure I get enough of that. In the winter I add vitamin D because here in Wisconsin we don't get sunshine (which helps us make vitamin D). I am 57 years old, 5 years post op and have normal bone scans so I think it is working.

I always have exercised but was surprised at how many calories are used "heavy cleaning" like washing windows and cars! I find that overeating not lack of exercise is my real problem though.

I don't know if this helps any of you, but after a lifetime of hunger I think I am managing mine now. My plan is to weigh myself every morning and eat low carb if I am over my normal BMI. It has been 40 years since I was a normal bmi so I will be eating like this forever. Best of luck to you. Tri