Do you ever miss it?

 Scott, I'm only six months so I don't have a lot of experience to go on but I will say that I don't deprive myself from anything.  If I want a bite...and I mean a bite....then I get one.  I've found that usually a taste of something will suffice.  My Nut. said that this behavior is totally acceptable.   Sometimes I'd like to have more bread than I can eat but that's about the only craving that I've been having.  As time goes on maybe things will change.  Hang in there.

Duane

yeah, i dont deprive either, but it is totally not about wanting a bite.  It is about sitting down and pigging out at the buffet for example.  Yes I do miss that.

I enjoy what I have, but at times, I miss not having to worry about what Im eating, and just being able to sit down and eat what I want to eat.

Scott

I think the farther out I've gotten, the more I've started wanting food again. I jokingly say I wish I'd never tried that first reeses peanut butter cup. Now I know I can eat one, but not two.

I feel you, man. Now that I'm nearly three years out, I pretty much am back to a "normal" way of eating...meaning, I don't look like I'm pretending to be an anorexic model, acting stuffed after my two tablespoons of food. I eat a good, healthy sized portion of food. It's all that fits. But it doesn't mean I can't put it in more OFTEN than I should.

Something that really helped me about six months ago is that my Dr put me back on a liquid diet for 14 days. It wasn't to loose weight, that was fine. It was to break me away from food again. Outside of VERY quickly putting something out on the table for the kids breakfast, the only time I was in the kitchen was to shake up some protein drink. I even started mixing a day's worth, and keeping it ready in the fridge. I didn't sit down at dinner, I didn't shop for groceries, I didn't plan menus. Nothing having to do with food.

At the end of the two weeks, I can honestly say I really didn't care about food like I had before. I saw it more in it's prescription form again. Maybe try it. I recommend it.

My surgeons told me that after surgery almost everyone has "surgery related anorexia", because nerves are cut, etc...you lose interest in food. But then they said after a year, hunger can return with a vengence.

Honeslty, at almost 4 years out post DS, I am so glad i have as much malabsorbtion as I do, otherwise I'd be fat again. I was never great at "control" and I'm still not. Sure I can't eat as much as I once did, but I sure can pack it away.

So you're not alone.....maybe not counting every morsal would be better? At a year out, you should be able to eye things pretty well, i'm not telling you to break your eating habits, or get unhealthy habits, but i found when I did Weigh****chers, then when I ws completely focused on food, counting points and such, I was much more hungry then I am now.



Scott

Hey Scott -
I am right there with you! I just got back from a weeks vacation in Florida - and I swear all I did was eat! I put myself in a situation I had not been in since my surgery - out of town WITH FAMILY for a week. Emotions, happiness, alcohol, tension - it was all there and the food domination put me right back where I was 14 months ago. The saving grace for me was 1 - I cant eat nearly as much as before - and 2 - the family was watching to see what I ate - so guilt kicked in.

I think the answer is getting the good habits in early on, and then practice at eating normal. I don't know if I will ever eat mindlessly again (in a positive way), but I am determined to stay healthy.

Thanks for all the responses.

It's good to know that I'm not alone in this.

Scott

I've posted often that I'm a carb addict and junk food junkie.  However, I can eat at the all-you-can -eat buffets because I simply can't eat too much at any one meal.  I like going and having broiled shrimp and some scallops and crab.  Then, I may have some veggies and fruit.  Believe me, if you can stay to protein and complex carbs, you will not have a problem at the buffet.  I remember the Dx E used to say the same thing.  Just eat that meal like you would eat at home.  If you need to pace yourself, take less than you think will satisfy yourself.  Take a few minutes after eating that and go back fo a small portion so you know that you are not overeating.   I'll be 5 years post-op in Jan and I still can't eat much at a given meal.

By the way, if I'm not getting seafood, I'd just as soon go to a regular restaurant because I generally know that I'm going to take a box with at least half of that meal home with me.  I can't do that at a buffet unless I want to pay extra for their take-out meal.

Well, I don't miss the buffet in that manner, what I miss is being able to stuff myself.  You know that roll you out of the restaurant or push away from the table and it's time to take a nap kind of full.

I actually miss the act of eating large quantities of food.  I'm not talking about 1-2 cups of food, but rather 1-2 full plates of food.  Even after a year and a half, I still find myself looking at the small portions and sayin that isn't going to fill me up.  I really didn't think I would miss act of eating as much as I would miss certain foods.  I always thought it was the food that I liked.  It has turned out to be the exact opposite (yeah I like the food, but I like eating more).  The foods that I thought I was going to miss haven't been that big of a deal.  Yeah I miss colas and I miss drinking with my meal.  I miss heavy sugary items like deserts (a bite or two and i'm o.k. more than that and I dump)  I'm still addicted to carbs, especially breads and pastas (bread would be the devils tempation for me.  He would just have to offer me a big chunk of sourdough bread with butter on it and he'd have me signing on the dotted line). 

I thought that having that feeling of fullness would help me with knowing when to quit.  I still find that I am constantly telling myself hey you are full quit eating.  There is a difference between wanting more and needing more.  I'm surprised at how powerful that wanting more sensation or feeling is.  That's what I am struggling with.  Thanksgiving for example.  I want all my favorites, I'm going to want Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, greenbeans, and all the appetizers that are put out during the day leading up to dinner.  If I eat all that, I'm going to feel like crap about myself, if I don't at least have some of it, I am going to feel deprived.  It's a constant balance struggle.  I'm just worried that I might lose that fight.

Anyhow, it's not a quality issue it's a quantity issue for me.  I wasn't raised to leave behind food.  You ate what was given to you and you were happy to get it.  If you didn't eat it you went without, so needless to say almost nothing was left behind.  And if anything was left behind there was always someone there to fini**** 

I just need to suck it up and deal with it, but I have been having these thoughts rattling around in the noodle for a while, and just needed to vent them out and see if anyone else was or had experienced anything similar.

Scott

I'll tell you what I've wanted almost everyday since surgery six months ago.....A BIG FREAKING CHEESEBURGER!!!!  You know the kind with bacon, mushrooms, and all the fixin's.  I'm talking about the Double Whopper with Cheese, or the Hardee's Six Dollar Burger, or Wendy's Big Bacon Classic...something along those lines.  I don't know why I want it so badly but I do.  I don't want or need the fries or shake...just the burger with the bread.

My wife and I still like the social aspect of going out to eat.  Especially with family or friends.  Right now we don't mind splitting a meal.  I know that we will always have to do that.  It does make us both almost nauseated to listen to people order so much food and then to watch them eat it.  Sometimes that's a little tough.

Duane

I actually enjoy it when I can split a meal with my wife.  I don't feel so wasteful.
However we have such different tastes, that it's difficult to find a meal we can both agree on.

We did split the bacon cheeseburger the other day.
And it was heavenly.  And surprisingly it was enough ... too much food.  in the past we both would have gotten one of those and an appetizer.  I'm glad those days are gone.  It's just once in a while I get those old urges back.  Food is addicting for me.  I never knew it was so powerful.

Today I'm going to start a week long liquid diet.  I have a bunch of protein powder to use up.  So between needing to do that and trying to break the bad cycle I am on right now, it's a good time to give it a run.

Scott