Need some Support...

Ok...I know this board is for support and that is what I am coming for... I am nearly 13 months out from RNY. I have lost over 120 or so pounds and feel pretty spectacular physically...The best decision I ever made and would do it again in a hearbeat...Now the problem is...I cannot stop snacking!!!!!!! I know exactly what I need to eat and what portions to eat them in. I know I have to excercise (I do this albeit occasionally but nearly 2 times a week is regular for me) My weight is not creeping up or down. I feel good in my clothes everybody says I look great... Is anyone else having problems with the snack monster? I don't dump and have been eating an enormous amount (for a post rny-er) of baby size chocolate candy (bite size) and semi-large amounts of snacky foods (chips). I KNOW I have to stop or this will eventually reverse the good work I have done with my tool.  This morning my boss said something to me and It really helped (her desk has the blasted chocolate dish) she said "Flora don't eat that ...you have done too much hard work to sit there and eat something that is bad for you all day long...Dont eat anymore" That just clicked with me ya know... Are there any other things I can do besides chew gum all day...I feel like I need to have something in my mouth all day long...sounds funny but it really isnt!!! Please any suggestions would be soooo helpful....(I do sip water all day long and get between 64-100oz water daily!!) Thanks in advance! P.S. I have not had any chocolate so far all day!!! Yea me!

I dont know how to help you but I just wanted to tell you goodjob on the weight loss! You look great and have worked very hard on it. Just this morning I was reading a post from another site that I belong to and it was a bunch of moms debating about weight loss surgery. One lady said she had it done 5 years ago and had lost alot of weight but had put almost all of it back on because she loved eating chocolate all the time too... and she didnt think that there was anything wrong with her eating like that... and didnt think anyone else should waste their time having the surgery. So I just wanted to show you some support and tell you that you have come along way and I would hate for you to sabotage from those little devil brown squares.. lol. Goodluck sweetie!

Thank you so much...I am very "proud" of myself and my body for coming so far...I love my tool I should just get back in touch with it and work on being determined to keep the weight off...Thanks for the support!!

The Snack Moster attacked me at that time and has been going strong since.  But about six weeks ago I made the conscious effort to full return to the correct path and stay healthy.  I have water with me all the time... if I *think* I'm hungry I take a sip.  I want that something, I'll take a sip... if I still want it, one bite/piece should be enough.  At least I've satisfied that craving/want...  My brain tends to focus on what I'm not having, so if I at least have a piece, its happy! AND get to the gym more.  OMG, I can't tell you how motivating it has been for me!  I work everyday now through school... three different classes get me out of a rut and into a routine, totally energizing! W00t W00t!! Congrats on your success already and kudos to your boss!  My granma is the food police around here, lol. 

Maybe try some SF hard candy or Werthers (sp), or lolli pops those might help the cravings of getting something in your mouth, you've done so well i know you'll be able to keep it up.  hope this helps

OMG, i can definitely relate with you! You sound just like me, but I dump, so generally I don't snack on chocolate (but I have figured out exactly how much dark chocolate - which is lowest in sugar - I can eat without dumping)....The best advice I have is to rededicate yourself to waiting 3 hours between meals - give or take a half hour, and always enforcing the 30 minute before and after ban on drinking - if you break it down that way then there is only a ninety minute window to enforce no snacking - and if you can't handle that, then just have a single bite of something healthy - like a few nuts or a banana or something. Most of the time I can get through the day with only one or two of those little snacks witch usually equates to less then a whole meal, and since I only wind up eating about 4 mini-meals (about 300 calories) I'm still under the 1500-1800 calories a day I've been instructed to consume for maintenance....Good luck!

I know this is probably weird but my DH has the chewing thing too...he is constantly chewing on things.  Pen caps, rubber bands, pens, paper balls.... While I don't recommend that exactly, maybe there's some kind of item out there that's non-edible but you can still chew on it?  And also, not potentially toxic LOL.  I know, not the most helpful advice, I'm sorry LOL. You HAVE done a great job.  Just wanted to say congrats

I totally feel you.  Snacking, a few bites here, a few bites there, is the way a RNY-post-op can gain back every single pound lost with a pouch that is still small and a stoma intact.  Sometimes I am, as my husband and I have nicknamed me, "Bessie the grazing moo-cow".  It's like you know you shouldn't, but you do anyway out of habit or whatever, and the amounts are small but they add up.  It is human and something we are all going to have to work on, I'd probably say forever. Strategies that have helped me: -Food journal.  I don't want to write down that I ate a handful of chips, 2 mini chocolate bars, 3 cups of popcorn and a pickle in between my feedings.  So simply having to sit there for a half a second and think about how much I do not want to write down that I grazed on whatever food helps me pull myself together and re-prioritize as in "my healthy new body is worth a heck of a lot more than potato chips." -Drink a low or non-caloried beverage.  Water is my beverage of choice (after 10am and my morning coffee concoction that is) and a gut full of water usually is enough to make my head stop pretending to be hungry.  A beverage of some kind also gives you something to put in your mouth and swallow.  If you are drinking diet sodas, there are studies out that say drinking diet soda makes people eat more.  Not sure why, it just does.  So that is something to think about.  -It sounds like you are a tactile girl (me too) who gets pleasure from food by physically chewing and swallowing it.  So I suggest: If you are having a chocolate craving - get high quality (expensive if necessary) dark chocolate and break it into servings (for example - 2 squares in a little snack size baggie for a day's worth of chocolate) and when the craving hits stop and put the square on your tongue and let it melt.  Really experience it, don't just wolf it down.  Get chocoalte without nuts, since nuts and other solid filler force you to chew and be done with bites sooner, so my gourmet chocolate-eating friends who do the tasting squares recommend that if you are craving chocolate, nuts and other fillers only distract.  If you want something to chew  that is crunchy get veggie sticks.  Cellery, carrots, pepper strips, cucumber - all nice and crunchy and refreshing without a ton of calories, and the fiber in them will fill you right up.  I love fresh cucumber slices, they just crunch really nicely and feel good going down or something.  -Count your age.  If you are having a craving or a moment of weakness, before you give in to head hunger count down from your age, slowly.  This is similar to the food journaling technique.  It forces you to stop and re-focus.  If you get all the way back down to 1 and you still feel like you cannot go on without a bite, then have a bite and move on. You have done an amazing job, and you are going to figure out a way to beat this.  I think grazing/snacking are demons all post-ops have to deal with, so you are definately not alone and you definately can do it.