Reading through some other threads I ran into something that seemed familiar. The OP had eaten some carb-rich foods on vacation and was now experiencing hunger issues. I know that I have to avoid sweets and other high carb foods completely, especially in the morning, or I will crave them all day. I'd love to hear the experiences of experienced sleevers with regard to this phenomena.

A lot of us find that our hunger sensation is triggered when we eat junk carbs. I think it's because those carbs slide right through our system and leave us not feeling full. Sugar is one of those things that sets me off. If I eat something sweet, my body then thinks I should keep eating sweets and I crave them. If I can leave the sweets alone (or use protein bars as a substitute for them), then I don't even think about sweets for days at a time.

I avoid carbs (except for non-starchy veg and a few fruits) like the plague that they are. If I want something sweet, I use Quest protein bars, or maybe an Atkins product if I'm out of Quest bars. Calories don't pack on the pounds, insulin does, and that's triggered by eating carbohydrate. Thanks, but no thanks.

What I find amazing are the people that could eat anything and not gain weight. Even when I was at a normal weight I had to watch it. I'd see people drinking soda and eating Hostess cupcakes and I couldn't comprehend how they were getting away with it.

That was then this is now. Flash forward a few decades and obesity has become a terrible epidemic. When I was in high school we wore tight clothing, now fashions have changed and are unlikely to revert because the proportion of overweight teens has increased so dramatically. There was one truly obese girl in my high school, which had 1,500 students. There was one truly obese boy that I remember as well. There were a handful of kids in the 30 - 34 BMI range but many more in the 20 - 25 BMI range. Thing sure have changed. The two truly obese kids I remember from school wouldn't even stand out in today's schools but the slender kids would definitely be in the minority. I fear for the kids of today. When they hit their 40s it's not going to be good.

I avoid carbs (except for non-starchy veg and a few fruits) like the plague that they are. If I want something sweet' date=' I use Quest Protein bars, or maybe an Atkins product if I'm out of Quest bars. Calories don't pack on the pounds, insulin does, and that's triggered by eating carbohydrate. Thanks, but no thanks.[/quote']

As long as I stay away from sweets altogether things are fine but even one minor lapse can contaminate an entire day. A Granny Smith apple is a far better treat than any candy ever made.

I really believe it is a multi-layered issue - I know that I am much better to able to control my own, as well as my family's weight gain and moods by eliminating processed carbs and sugar from the house. I read a great book last year about these issues called The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite - by David Kessler, former head of the FDA.

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Overeating-Insatiable-American/dp/1605297852

He himself wanted to lose a few lbs and found it quite challenging, as a scientist he started to do research as to why humans have been roughly the same body composition since the beginning of time (with considerations for improved hygiene, advances in medicine etc.) and why in the 1980's obesity numbers began to skyrocket.

He talks about how the combination of sugar and fat is one that does not exist in nature - two substances that we are genetically hardwired to want to consume in quantity when available - our biology has not had time to catch up with our industry in nutshell. Lab rats consume 'rat chow' as their main form of nutrition, when scientists started to feed them layered combinations of fat, sugar, salt (as restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, and the like do.) these rats no longer would eat their nutritious yet bland rat chow - their dopamine centers lit up like a Christmas tree, setting up a cycle of addiction - so much so that these rats would cross electrified floors that would almost kill them to get to the bad stuff.

These substances do the same things to us. It is a good read. One thing that the nutritionist at my surgeon's office said is that there are no essential carbohydrates - our bodies will make what we need from Protein and fats.

I have noticed that when I drop the carbs down to 20g or less a day - which is akin to Atkin's induction levels and my pre-surgical recommendation - I am always satisfied with very little and do not have hunger cravings like I do when I consumed carbs, sugar, caffeine, and diet soda.

Thanks for the recommendation. I bought a Kindle copy before I even finished reading your post.

Over thirty years ago I worked in a convenience store for about two months and I was appalled by what I saw. At the time I was probably the most slender I had been in my adult life, perhaps 160 lbs, and that was the result of hard work, exercise and saying no to all sorts of things. People would come in and buy absolute garbage and eat it all the time. Because I was the one selling it to them I quickly became aware of how much junk food some of these people were consuming. It was nothing to see a teen buy a huge frozen slush drink or a 32 oz Pepsi plus some sort of pastry. Some of these kids were in several times a day and bought junk every visit. Our biggest sellers were Miller Beer, Pepsi and Marlborough cigarettes. It's no surprise to me that the same age group are now fighting obesity as an epidemic.

Sweet! I think you might like it DesertRat, I know I certainly did. The comments section on Amazon from readers has great information too - paraphrasing from one post, and the author:

We are biologically wired to respond to sugar, fat, and salt. As processed food became an industry designed to create a profitable product, our waistlines grew. In 1960 women between the ages of twenty and twenty nine weighed an average of 128 pounds. In 2000, that number grew to 157. In the forty to forty-nine age group, it grew from an average of 142 to a whopping 169 pounds! Yes, ladies, the average perimenopausal woman in America weighs 169 pounds, so don't feel alone.

It is so true - I was watching news footage from the mid 70's last week, and just about everyone is thin.

Link to the comments:

http://www.amazon.co...howViewpoints=1

If you guys have HBO - this new documentary The Weight of the Nation is very enlightening - I am so glad that I am able to have the surgery after seeing the truly staggering statistics of how obesity is ravaging our culture.

http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/

Sweet! I think you might like it DesertRat, I know I certainly did. The comments section on Amazon from readers has great information too - paraphrasing from one post, and the author:

We are biologically wired to respond to sugar, fat, and salt. As processed food became an industry designed to create a profitable product, our waistlines grew. In 1960 women between the ages of twenty and twenty nine weighed an average of 128 pounds. In 2000, that number grew to 157. In the forty to forty-nine age group, it grew from an average of 142 to a whopping 169 pounds! Yes, ladies, the average perimenopausal woman in America weighs 169 pounds, so don't feel alone.

It is so true - I was watching news footage from the mid 70's last week, and just about everyone is thin.

Link to the comments:

http://www.amazon.co...howViewpoints=1

If you guys have HBO - this new documentary The Weight of the Nation is very enlightening - I am so glad that I am able to have the surgery after seeing the truly staggering statistics of how obesity is ravaging our culture.

http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/

I know it's pretty bad.

I've never been much of a cook, too afraid that I would overindulge in my own cooking. Maybe with some help from the sleeve I can turn this around and eat more healthfully by cooking my own food.