sillykitty

Everyone idsdifferent, but spicy food has not bothered me at all

I had the Penne with Cheddar Cheese sauce. The pasta had a surprisingly nice texture, and the sauce was tasty, but the flavor of the actual pasta didn't work for me.

I think having a strategy for fast food is smart. Life doesn't always go according to plan, so you maybe starving, or rushed, or traveling, or out with others, and need to eat. Or you may just be sick of jerky and nuts. For whatever reason at some point, most people will end up at a fast food restaurant. It's better to be prepared for it, than be caught not knowing what you should order. There are better than "okayyy ish" options available. there are actually, smart, good and healthy choices.

Honestly, days like that are easy. I only had physical hunger, and limited amounts. So that was easily sated by smart choices. Days like the below are the hardest, this was a bad head hunger day. I was constantly thinking about food, and had to work hard to make good choices. That Grubhub cart got filled up over and over again, and I had to will myself to close the app and eat some damn jerky.

7-11's also have hard boiled eggs and chicken skewers. There are plenty of good fast food options. If I'm going someplace I just look up their nutritional info menu, so I know I'm making good choices.

Not wanting to step on Jess's toes, but to clarify, she is referring to Genepro. It is not possible for it to contain the 30 g of protein it claims to, with the calorie count it claims (and actual weight of the product)

Lol ... I get it! You don't want to see the days I'm traveling. Seriously who wants an egg white omlette when there is biscuits and gravy on the menu! Actually yesterday I did have some physical hunger. I was in my HQ office, I got tied up and missed lunch. Was hungry and scrounged around for some healthy snacks. I got home late and was hungry again, so I had the yogurt to get my protein in.

Here you go, I just rearranged everything into breakfast so it would fit on one screen

Don't worry Creek, I know you're coming from a good place Short answer: Because I'm happy with my current weight loss rate, and have a tight timeline for plastics by the end of the year, and don't want to risk throwing that off track. Long answer: There are two big factors of how I got to my high weight, grazing and dining out/drinking. The dining out will always be a struggle because travel and wining & dining is part of the job. The grazing part comes in during the non travel part and I work from home. Eating because food is delicious, and to break the tedium became an issue. When I had WLS I resolved to only eat when I was hungry, physically hungry. I feel like eating just to get calories in is a dangerous path for me. I already have to do it somewhat to met my protein goals, and that I can justify. But eating more to stave off future head hunger, worries me. And to clarify, days when I struggle with head hunger (and I'm home), I do allow myself to eat, healthy choices for the most part, so my calories naturally go higher. For instance on a recent head hunger day I was at 800 calories, and yesterday, a non head hunger day I was at 400 by comparison. So I do allow my cravings to be somewhat satisfied by healthy foods, and I don't totally deny my desire to eat.

Matt ... I've done a lot of researching, and haven't found anything that shows VLCD area cause for concern, under medical supervision. The small amount of research that is out there shows promising correlations with diabetes and aging.

Not disputing he source, but it is not a study that shows WLS leading to eating disorders.

Yep, I absolutely do this. On days when my head hunger is the worst I allow myself to graze, but healthy options only, and all tracked, jerky, cheese, cucumbers with low cal dip, sf jello w yogurt etc. It's a compromise with satisfying the desire to eat, but keeping it under control with smart choices. It's a bigger challenge when I'm traveling. Head hunger is raging and I have a menu in front of me, it's tough to choose the rotisserie chicken over something less healthy.

I agree with all of this. That was basically my point, no type of hunger is more "real" than the other. They just have different sources. What is frustrating is when any suggestion of head hunger is dismissed and as you said, looked at upon as a weakness, instead of being legitimate. We all come to this forum to learn from other experience, and to help others by sharing our experiences. So you share yours with physical hunger, and I share mine with head hunger. But physical hunger is viewed legitimate, but head hunger is not.

I appreciate the link, but this an anecedote from the director of one eating disorder program. It is not a study WLS leading to eating disorders. And, IMHO, most of those who have an eating disorder post WLS, more than likely had it to some degree before WLS

That's the thing, I do eat very low cals, usually under 500. But I have little physical hunger. I will feel hungry, but the only appealing foods are delivery or fast food. My home is full on healthy options, but I keep browsing Grubhub. So in my case I'm eating at "starvation level calories" and my hunger is absolutely in my head.

Are you any sort of PPI, acid reducers? Stomach acid can mimic hunger.

This is the definition of head hunger. It feels identical to real hunger, but it only happens when you are triggered. So in your case seeing and smelling food is a trigger, but it can be a TV commercial, or someone talking about a meal, etc..

I had that starting in week 4, and continued for a few weeks, diminishing day by day

I take Rantadine. It was prescribed as a liquid right after surgery, and after about a month I switched to a pill. It is OTC, and super inexpensive. It works for me.

A lot of programs, including mine, don't focus on calories. The theory is, if you eat your protein first, veggies second, and carbs third, and only eat 3-5 times per day, then your calories will automatically be inline.

https://asmbs.org/patients/bariatric-surgery-misconceptions As many as 50 percent of patients may regain a small amount of weight (approximately 5 percent) two years or more following their surgery. However, longitudinal studies find that most bariatric surgery patients maintain successful weight-loss long-term. ‘Successful’ weight-loss is arbitrarily defined as weight-loss equal to or greater than 50 percent of excess body weight. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/868216 Ten-year data suggest that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery yields greater, more sustained weight loss compared with no surgery https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/05/492276487/bariatric-surgery-can-help-people-keep-weight-off-long-term Researchers with the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Carolina recently tracked the progress of 1,787 veterans who underwent gastric bypass surgery. They found that one year after surgery patients lost 98 pounds on average. Ten years later they gained back only about 7 pounds. There is tons of stuff on the long term success of WLS

From reading what you ate today, I'm not seeing that the issue is with restriction at all. Just about everything you named is a slider food. I assume you didn't eat this all at once, you ate it throughout the day, right? So these types of foods will just slide right down, not give you the satisfaction of feeling full, so you want to eat again in a little while. To feel the restriction, and getting the feeling of fullness and satisfaction, protein and fibrous veggies are the most effective, and at the same time, what your body needs. It is cliche because it has been repeated over and over again, but VSG is only a tool. It has to work in conjunction with us making good choices. Sorry, if this is harsh, but I see some blame shifting in your post, that you need bread, crackers and potatoes in the house for the dogs (huh??), that you didn't read this forum presurgery, that you don't have enough restriction, that you have unexpected hunger, the mental health resources available to you. We each need to take responsibility for what we put in our mouths. Some days it is really easy to make good choices, some days it is really hard. As far as resources go, Barbados has universal healthcare, so can you see a psychologist or counselor? They may not specialize in food addiction, but they will have experience in addiction, compulsive behavior, self destructive behavior. You can supplement that with online resources dedicated to food addictions, if necessary.

@sideeye Sorry to hear that, at least we have good company to commiserate with. I'm a little glad to know it's not the low calories. I just came out of a stall, so really don't want to up my cals. Have you done short hair before. I love the sound of a "messy layered bob", but I'm afraid it will be unflattering, and then I'm stuck with it. For some good news. my mom confirmed that my hair loss isn't obvious at all when my hair is down and freshly washed.

Have you talked to your Dr? Are you on Zofran or Transderm-Scop? Have you been evaluated that you don't have a complication like a stricture?

That looks good @Tealael I've done authentic ramen restaurants a few times and that didn't slide. But it has been over a month or more, so maybe that has changed. What slid was instant ramen done as as cold salad, dressed with basically chinese chicken salad dressing. I crave that during the summer, so I think I will see if I can sub spiralized cucumbers for the noodles.