jessridge

I second @Jeanniebug’s suggestion of seeking help from a therapist. Many find them very helpful in identifying the why behind overeating & head hunger & can help you develop ways to better manage the cause & effects.
The suggestions of measuring your food & drinks are a good place to focus. Set a timer on your phone for a couple of minutes so you only take a single bite or single sip at a time. I still ask myself if I need the next bite or do I just want it & find this helpful for really thinking about my eating. Working out what your real hunger cues are will help too. I feel restless. I think something is wrong but don’t know what until I realise it’s hunger. I never crave a specific food, flavour or texture with real hunger. And this is a legitimate reason I am hungry (missed a meal, didn’t eat much at the previous meal, my calorie intake for the day is low,…). Real hunger doesn’t really disappear. You can distract a lot of your head hunger away.
To distract yourself, try going for a walk, craft, garden, call a friend, check social media or this forum, clean out a cupboard, read, have a cup of tea or another drink, etc. Try to work out why you want to eat. Are you bored, stressed, angry, sad, hormonal? Are you wanting to eat out of habit - because of a time (lunch time, snack time) or activity (watching tv, socialising).

Congrats! You've done fantastic!! I'm almost 3 years out and can relate to much of what you've said with regards to hunger coming back and being able to eat quite a bit more. Just curious though, do you find that it "comes and goes"? There are some days I feel huge restriction - like I can only eat a few bites of something, and then others I am hungry all day. Doesn't seem to matter what type of food it is (protein, salad, or slider foods).
Also, much like you, I've had no issues with any different foods (sometimes I wish I did!).

Hey guys! I’ve been struggling again for a few months. And I was wondering if you could share some tips or inspirations to help me get my mind right. I still don’t get real hungry but my job has become real boring and desk centric so I find myself wanting little things to snack on. I keep healthy choices nearby or I just drink Water but I can’t seem to get back on the losing side of life. I’ve been tracking my intake and some days I wonder if I’m taking in enough calories even if I’m hitting my Protein and keeping my fats and carbs to a minimum. I have about 60 left to lose and I’m almost at my one year anniversary.

I am struggling with over eating after 10 months post op. Lost 90 pounds quick from May to October then stopped. Trick or treat, thanksgiving, Christmas, now Easter causing me to fall off the program and has carried into my daily eating. Anyone else struggling with binge eating?

Losing a pound a week is ... a lot ! I look at it this way... how much weight were you losing before you started this journey - before dieting to shrink your liver, before you even thought about surgery ? For me the answer was that I would lose a few pounds and put it right back, and obviously, I was gaining net weight !!!!
If you lose 5 pounds a month; in a year, you will have lost 60 more pounds !!! THAT is an achievement of huge note ! How many pounds does it take to lose a "dress size" ? 10 to 15 pounds. Are you ready to lose 4 to 6 sizes in a year ? THAT is another huge victory !
We start out losing a lot of weight and forget that the weight we lose after those first few months are added to the weight we have already lost. Keep at it. You are doing great. Do not think about the WHAT IF's of a different surgical procedure. Instead think about the Where would I be without surgery ?
You are fine. Your surgery is fine. Keep up the GREAT WORK !

I have "big pouch days" and "small pouch days". Like Tek said, my pouch is the boss. Unfortunately, I seem to have more "big pouch days" than small. It's a constant battle...

Thank you ALL for the feedback. I needed that swift kick in the rear to get my head right. I was in a rough place last week when I posted and I was being so hard on myself. I’m just trying to figure out this new lifestyle one day at a time. I’m constantly worried that I’m doing something wrong, especially when I notice something different or changing. Again, your feedback truly helped!

I am 6 months post op and I’ve only lost 62 lbs. I’ve struggled with Hair loss and I’ve slipped with all the sweets this holiday season. Nothing too crazy though, just enough to be disappointed. Have I wasted my time and money at this point?

Thank you ALL for the feedback. I needed that swift kick in the rear to get my head right. I was in a rough place last week when I posted and I was being so hard on myself. I’m just trying to figure out this new lifestyle one day at a time. I’m constantly worried that I’m doing something wrong, especially when I notice something different or changing. Again, your feedback truly helped!

I am 6 months post op and I’ve only lost 62 lbs. I’ve struggled with Hair loss and I’ve slipped with all the sweets this holiday season. Nothing too crazy though, just enough to be disappointed. Have I wasted my time and money at this point?

Thank you ALL for the feedback. I needed that swift kick in the rear to get my head right. I was in a rough place last week when I posted and I was being so hard on myself. I’m just trying to figure out this new lifestyle one day at a time. I’m constantly worried that I’m doing something wrong, especially when I notice something different or changing. Again, your feedback truly helped!

Thank you ALL for the feedback. I needed that swift kick in the rear to get my head right. I was in a rough place last week when I posted and I was being so hard on myself. I’m just trying to figure out this new lifestyle one day at a time. I’m constantly worried that I’m doing something wrong, especially when I notice something different or changing. Again, your feedback truly helped!

Thank you ALL for the feedback. I needed that swift kick in the rear to get my head right. I was in a rough place last week when I posted and I was being so hard on myself. I’m just trying to figure out this new lifestyle one day at a time. I’m constantly worried that I’m doing something wrong, especially when I notice something different or changing. Again, your feedback truly helped!

I’ve seen it described as lasting 18months. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I think how long the honeymoon phase lasts is individual much like most things during this process. There are just averages which you can use as a guide. Some people find their hunger comes back after 6 months which is a signal of the beginning of the end of their honeymoon. It doesn’t mean they’ll stop losing, they just have to work harder. Another signal is when your weight loss slows down considerably which happens to everyone when they get closer to their final weight. Mine started slowing a lot at 5 months when I was almost at my goal. I continued to lose for about another 11 months without meaning to. I lost around a kg +/- a month during that time.

Oops I meant to imply that the honeymoon stage lasts 12months, not 10. That's what the Kaiser employee at my program told me at least! If anything, I hope it's 18 months lol

Stop putting yourself under pressure. You won't magically stop losing weight after a certain time span.
You stop losing weight when you're in a caloric equilibrium and you start losing again when you're in a caloric deficit (even years out).

I thought the "honeymoon stage" for bariatric surgery was 18 months, not ten?

I'm almost five months past my surgery date, and I've lost a little more than half of the excess weight. I doubt I will lose it all in the next five months, as my weight loss has slowed down from the first month or two. I'm hoping I will have more time than that.

10lbs per month is still WAY better than the majority of the population. Plus you recognize eating sweets may be a problem. That's an easy solution! Esp now that the holidays are over. Keep at it, you still have 4 more 'honeymoon stage' months

You’ve lost 62 pounds in 6 months and you’re dissatisfied with that? I think that looking at other bariatric patients can skew our perspectives on weight loss. If you are expecting the same rate of weight loss as the patients on My 600 Pound Life, for example, that is not realistic because you don’t have nearly as much weight to lose.
Your expectations for weight loss may not be realistic. At your height of 5’6”, your goal weight of 140 pounds puts you at a BMI of 22.6. The average gastric bypass patient loses 50-70% of excess weight, which means that the average gastric bypass patient doesn’t quite get to a BMI below 25 (which would be 155 pounds for a 5’6” person). With a starting weight of 270 pounds, your excess weight was 115 pounds. If you lose 70% of that, it’s 81 pounds of weight loss and a final weight of 189 pounds. A loss of 62 pounds in 6 months puts you on track to achieve that in a year (but remember that there are a lot of factors that can affect rate of weight loss, and you may lose faster or slower than others).
Keep in mind that this is an average and not indicative of any individual patient. It is certainly possible to lose more than that. Some gastric bypass patients do lose all their excess weight and end up with a BMI below 25. You might be able to get to 140 pounds, but it is probably going to take a lot of work. The surgery is just a tool, not magic. If you were expecting to shed all your excess weight in 6 months without trying, then maybe you did waste your time and money, but if you are willing to put in the effort and use the WLS to your advantage, then you can achieve more weight loss than you ever have before.

No, you haven’t wasted your time or money. So you ate some dessert & other treats over Christmas. It’s not Christmas every day & if you’ve recognised it for what it is (a special occasion exception) & gone back to eating as per your plan you’re fine. You’ll always be faced with these type of dilemmas (travelling, dining out, holidays, etc.). Over time we learn how not to beat ourselves up about it, make the best choices we can in the situation, accept it & move forward.
Part of the weight loss process is learning about your eating, what foods you can or can’t eat (or are or are t willing to eat) & how much or how often you can eat some foods. I described it as discovering what foods I could eat regularly, occasionally, rarely & which foods it was best if I avoided. I don’t eat sweet foods except at Christmas & certain special events - rarely. Some people work out they can have a small serve of say pizza with the family or they work out healthier ways of eating old favourites like a bun less burger - occasionally. I don’t eat high processed carbs like bread, Pasta & rice - avoid.
Oh, and I’d lost about 68lbs at 6 months so not much difference. Seems like you’re pretty much on track. And the accelerated loss of the hair you would naturally be shedding usually lasts about 3months +/-. Your new hair is still growing just at it’s usual rate. Losing some hair, which regrew, was a small temporary price to pay for my weight loss.
You’ve got this.

Only lost 62lb in six months? Nothing only about that, I would say it was pretty significant.
Hair loss is common after any surgery, and for the majority of the people, the issue resolves itself in time. Sweets well tis the season and all that, what matters there is ensuring that you get back on track.
You've lost 62lb how can that be a waste of time and money. Surely your health has improved? Surely you are walking lighter and breathing easier?
While the end goal maybe a much healthier weight, sometimes its useful to focus on non scale goals. Improved health and fitness...lower blood pressure and cholesterol, able to walk faster or jog, fitting into smaller clothing sizes, able to play with children/grandchildren easily etc etc
Well done, keep up the great work!

62 pounds in six months is a totally decent rate of loss. I had lost around that much at that stage. Hair loss is normal and most of us go through it, and I daresay all of us have had a day or so of going over the calorie allowance due to a birthday, or Christmas, or a holiday.
There's absolutely nothing to lose hope about here - everything you've described is perfectly normal.

Wasted all your time and money? You will have if you let this small bump in the road take you back to where you started. New Years Eve. Time for another reset to health. You got this.

You will "slip" again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Get used to it.
Only if you don't learn how to handle the food world (including situations like the ones you described). Then there might be a not-so-low possibility that you're one of the people who're gung-ho during their first post-op year, then "something" happens, the weight first stalls despite "still wanting to lose these 25 lbs" and finally the weight gain starts, maybe gaining until they reach their starting weight again.
That "something" seems to be some kind of burn-out after having gone full throttle for some months. Other people say that "life happened" (however, I think burning out and "life happening" are related closely).

Sixty two pounds in six months is a job well done. I've lost nearly 47 pounds in four months and three weeks, so almost four months. I'd be very happy with 62 pounds in six months, although most likely I will lose less than that.

I ate a little bit of Cookies and candy during Christmas. It didn't make me gain weight. The key is to stop in January, and make sure the sweets are just a seasonal treat and not an everyday occurrence. Start the new year with a new exercise routine and stop being disappointed in yourself. You're doing great.