Question:
Should I force myself to eat breakfast (or any meal) even though I am not hungry?

I am 5 1/2 months post op Open RNY. I just sometimes (a lot of times lately) just don't feel like eating breakfast, sometimes I don't feel like eating at all. And sometimes I COULD (but don't) eat more than normal for me. I don't take protein supplements so the only nourishment I get is from food. Should I force myself to eat something just for the nourishment? I am also finding myself snacking in the afternoon and before bed time......could this be the problem? How can I stop the snacking.....Would protein supplements help?    — Tammy K. (posted on December 14, 2000)

December 14, 2000
Hi Tammy, I'm having the same problem as yourself. I'm an evening shift worker and breakfast is out of the question for me. I don't see why snacking would be a problem as long as you are eating healthy. Things such as fruit, cheese and crackers, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, slim fast or boost supplements etc. These are the things I'm taking to work with me. I've just started back this week. I guess we have to learn new healthy eating habits. Also, most people are told to eat several small meals a day. To me, just another word for snacking. Again, if we are eating the foods I mentioned above, I think we should be ok.
   — Jan M.

December 14, 2000
Hi Tammy: I am 8+ months post op RNY. In the mornings, I am not hungry either but yes, I believe we should be putting something into our stomachs anyway for nutrition and for the sake of our metabolisms. We don't want to slow out metabolisms and not eating can certainly do that. Try to eat something with protein. I've found that Dannon lite vanilla yogurt is very good for breakfast - it can be spruced up with a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or orange zest. Yummy! If it works for you, scramble an egg and put in a little grated cheese. That's yummy too. Personally, I cannot eat cereal or toast for breakfast, but that's ok because neither are protein sources. In the evenings, I too am tempted to snack or graze. It is best to choose protein foods for snaking like cheese, pepperoni chips (cook pepperoni chips in microwave for 2 minutes on high - cook them on a stack of napkins to absorb the grease). This should help
   — Cindy H.

December 14, 2000
Hi Tammy. I guess there's a couple schools of thought about eating a breakfast or any meal for that matter. Some doctors suggest sticking to the old "3-square" a day, while others prescribe eating 5-6 mini-meals a day. I personally feel we have to find a "middle ground" somewhere that fits into our individual lifestyles, but we need to remember that before our wls, most of us pretty much ate whatever and whenever we wanted to and that was part of our problem and a big part of the reason why we gained our weight to begin with. When we chose wls as our preferred method of weight loss, we COMMITTED ourselves to changing those old, unhealthy eating habits into good, solid and consistantly healthier ones. Eating "balanced" meals on a "regular" basis is often very foreign to us, but it is essential to the formation of that "healthier" lifestyle we committed ourselves to when we chose wls. Breakfast is tough sometimes because we honestly DON'T "feel" like eating, but when we "force" ourselves to stick to our COMMITTMENT, we actually give ourselves the best chance to use our wls to it's fullest advantage and OUR ultimate goal. Supplimenting doesn't have to be a bad thing and drinking a protein shake AS a breakfast can be a good start to the day. Eating (or even "drinking") a breakfast can help curb those "urgings" to snack or overeat at other meals throughout the day. Eating "balanced" meals on a "regular" basis, helps prevent hunger from becoming so overwhelming that it leads to overeating and snacking too. The idea here is to develop an eating "plan" that fits into your individual lifestyle and then STICKING to that plan. Having a snack in the afternoon or evening is ok as long as it fits into that "plan" and doesn't take you over your individual, daily caloric intake amount. Just like kids having to wear a uniform to school helps them to focus on what's really important (their education) instead of "worrying" about what they're wearing, having a daily eating "plan" helps us to curb the "obsession" we've had throughout the years with food and helps us to concentrate instead on living LIFE. (I hope you get my drift here) I think we all need to take a step back sometimes to reexamine our commitment and remember WHY we wanted to lose our weight to begin with. There's a whole lot of living to do out there and we need to finally be able to put food in it's proper prospective and not allow it to stay first in our lives anymore. Sticking to our "plan" helps us to do that. Good luck, sweetie, and God bless. cj
   — cj T.

December 14, 2000
From what I have learned and experianced, if you are not hungary don't eat. Your body will not let you starve. If you are taking your vitamins, there shouldn't be a problem. Also, if you are snacking and not eating meals, maybe you should re-evalutate your meal times. You know if you are "snacking" at 10:30 in the morning, maybe that is when you should have bfast. I don't eat bfast until atleast 10 or 11 and lunch at 2 or 3. You only have to eat when you are hungary. We need to retrain our minds as to what to eat and when and why. I sometimes don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 at night, b/c that is when I am hungary. Now there are people who believe that you shouldn't eat after blah blah blah. Not the case anymore. You should eat when your BODY tells you too not the CLOCK. The clock used to dictate when we eat, but not any more. I read a bood that helped tremendously w/my post op eating "The 7 Secrets of Slim People" I could only get it online, but it is so worth the 7 bucks I paid for it. Now if you are eating reg meals and still snacking, yes the protein supps will help tremendously. They will even help cut down on how much you eat when you eat real food. Instead of your snack, have a drink. You can also increase your water. That always helps me. I am sorry for preaching, I just don't like when people think they need to eat if they are not hungary. That is how we got fat in the first place. That is how we became dependant on food. Even when we didn't want it, it was still our friend. Well no more. Good Luck
   — Alison B.

December 15, 2000
That would depend on what you mean by a protein supplement. Some types are actually sugar supplements, such as the canned things like Ensure or Boost. Very high in sugar, almost no nutritional value. They will fuel your appetitie, but not in a healthy way. I've been using a high protein, low sugar supp for 6 yrs now. I do one for breakfast, but then I do several per day. They work great to control my cravings and keep me away from sugars and snacking. We were told to eat 5-6 tiny meals per day, but that's not the same as grazing. Eating continuously is very dangerous as it stretches your pouch painlessly and you really don't want that! You want to hold that fresh post-op size until you reach goal wt. Better to start your day with protein, then again mid-day. Work another 4 or 5 "meals" around that. But they start & stop. Don't leave a box of crackers on your desk, put 6 or 8 on a plate and that is your "meal". You need to feel that full/empty thing, as well as breaking bad habits. Eventually, you won't need to eat every few hours, but it's OK while you do. Do stay well nourished or your cravings will soon dominate your diet and leave you helplessly out of control.
   — vitalady