I had RNY back 4 years ago....NEVER not once has any thing I ate caused me distress or change my ability to eat anything, I was never a sweets fan before I just happened to not leave the table in the correct time... but now I am craving sweets NEVER!!! before and DANG IT I can eat anything I'm not a soda fan so that's a good thing but I can drink anything..I wanted so to loose more than I have, I still eat small portions but unfortunately the world is my oyster in a form of speaking ......Also I still have some that I want to loose any suggestions for a 4 years out person??????????

I can eat or drink anything but if I take in too many calories I gain weigh.  If you want to lose more weight than you must learn how to track calories.

I can eat anything I want, but I CHOOSE not to.  I CHOOSE not to eat bread, pasta, crackers, chips, sugar, rice, potatoes, etc.  I CHOOSE not to drink soda.  I CHOOSE not to give into cravings.  I make the choice every day to eat right and take care of myself.  Food is nothing more than fuel for my body.  It is not for my emotional comfort, celebrating, or entertainment.  It is not a way to appease my boredom.  

The hard truth is you are the only person responsible for what you eat.  The surgery was NEVER going to do the hard work of making the right food choices for you.  The surgery was only a tool given to you to help you eat less volume.  Many of us can eat anything and not feel discomfort.  Only 30% of RNY patients dump.  You can't count on that to keep you honest.  They operate on our stomachs, not our brains.  The getting "head stuff" right is the only way to success.

Get back to basics.  Dense protein first and then veggies.  Limit fruit to one serving per day ( a serving size is 1/2 banana, or 1/2 apple, 4 strawberries).  Get all of the processed, starchy carbs out of your house.  Those kind of carbs are the BIGGEST reason for re-gain and the more you eat of them, the more you want.  They are causing your cravings.  After a few weeks of clean eating those cravings will disappear.

If you are drinking with your meals, STOP!!!!!  This is the OTHER reason for re-gain.  Wait at least 30 minutes after your meal to begin drinking.  Drinking with your meals allows you to eat more and you gain weight.  It also will make you feel hunger much sooner.

Start measuring your portions out.  Portion sizes creep up over time.  We obese people have a skewed idea of what a proper portion looks like.  I had my surgery the same year you did and I STILL measure EVERYTHING I eat.  I can't trust myself to eyeball portions.  I KNOW I would over eat.  I eat 6 very small ( 200-300 calorie) meals per day.  That means I eat about every 3-4 hours.  ANYONE can wait 3-4 hours before they eat again.  If you feel hungry or are craving something IGNORE IT!  Hunger is NOT AND EMERGENCY!  Nothing terrible will happen to you if you allow yourself to feel hungry for a few hours until you are scheduled to eat again.  

The good news is you can still lose the weight.  You have to take control and change your relationship with food.  Those "sweets" have no control over you.  Stop giving away your power to food.

I wish there was a love button for this, Rocky. Thanks for typing that out. A good reminder to all of us no matter what stage we are in. 

I agree with Ravens above.  Rocky is a wise vet indeed.

 Hunger is NOT AND EMERGENCY!  

-This actually has become one of my mantras when I know when I am head hungry and just want to stress eat at the end of the quarter.

I play your posts in my head whenever I am starting to feel weak. "Hunger is not an emergency."   Thanks, Rocky! 

I agree with WhiteDove and Rocky.

I can eat anything and can eat a ton, but choose not to MOST of the time.

I am almost 7 years out and have managed to lose all my excess weight and keep it off. I choose to put myself and my health first every day. You can, too. It's hard work but worth it. Get your mind back in the game!!

I get ill from sweets, but I am surprised at how much I can put away if I linger at the table (i.e. eat/graze over 1.5 hours...which my surgeon's plan says NOT to.  But sometimes, dinner is a social event with ceremony, pomp and cir****tance.

Not that I encourage a diet mentality, but perhaps you may need to change up your diet with low cal options that you can live with. For example, my husband and I substitute spiralized zucchini noodles for pasta, in pasta based dishes. The fiber in the zucchini helps one feel full, gives one the benefit of fiber, and one gets the vitamin and minerals in the noodles without all the calories.

Another substitution I like is using zucchini or cucumber coins with hummus or tzaki instead of crackers and dip. I ate too much lettuce and too many carrots in my time when I was MO..so these foods will never be used by me to scoop hummus. Never. I have OD'ed.

For times when I want to pop thigns in my mouth, I love/plum cherry tomatoes. When one bites down, you get that satisfactory burst/pop/squirt. This is my stress chip eating replacement.  

Someone also suggested dehydrated zucchini coins as a chip replacement.

I would say cut back on cheese but I cant do that myself. That is my GUILTY pleasure.

I also exercise.  It helped me tone up.  Somehow being bad at an exercise, practicing it over and over, and seeing improvement in my ability to do it/perform it really makes me feel empowered.  I use these improvements as a mental memo to myself when I get the urge to overeat. For example, I say to myself, "Remember when you couldnt even jog, or when your jog was 17:00 MO?  You dont really want to eat this, gain weight and LOSE your 11:00 mile do you?"   Since I have been jogging for a 1.5 years, I really really dont want to throw 1.5 years worth of work and sweat away. Associating my behavior with a "cost" really helps me to snap out of it.

I am 7 years post op. 

If I want, I could eat anything...eat around my limitations, dumping, fat flashing...etc etc.

I chose not to. I can eat a lot, as long as I take time, one bite at a time... 

I chose to stop eating either after I am done with my premeasured meal, or when I start feeling that I may be getting full...even if all what I had was a bite or 2 of my food.