So Im 6 months post-op and down 91.5 pounds.

I have just dropped 4 pounds after a 3 week stall and then dropping my cals super low for 2 days.

My problem is today I am feeling super hungry!It is most likely just in my head but I am thinking of food all the time.On days like this I do tend to grab something here,take a bite there and even though I dont do more carbs I do more calories.

Why am I the only one that feels 800 calories are so little?

I track on fitday.com com as MFP seems to be geared to the US food market and I find fitday so much easier but damn,my 800 is finished long before the day.

And please tell me,how are you ok on a Protein shake for dinner?(I often see people doing just that) I just cannot give up on the idea of eating food.Not rubbish but real food.How do you overcome the head that thinks about food?why is this so difficult for me?

Please help!

Hi Benjamin

Im not hurt by what you are saying.

But Im not saying I want to eat a lot or like before.I just really sometimes feel like something nice!

I have hunger.I dont think I lost all of the physical hunger but most of it is in my head,I know.

Until 5 months I didnt have to deprive myself.I could eat baby portions of all the healthy food I made my family.(my kid is a gymnast,they eat super healthy) But from 5 month out I have to work for every pound.

I suppose I know what will allow me to still eat like that and that is adding more cardio into the mix.I have a bodybugg and before it worked out exactly,my burn versus my intake.I dont burn as much calories now as I had before and I will just have to sit and make sums to figure out the amount of movin I will have to add per day to lose what I want to lose.

I have always felt depressed when I low carb and I suppose this is whats happening now that I low carb.

This surgery was the best thing I have done for myself but for me anyway,it is by no stretch of the imagination easy.

Ok,and if there was sugarfree popcicles in this stupid country then I never would have complained...that was my something nice before it disappeared.There is no sugarfree anything but the jello pudding here at the moment and I really miss having that little treat.

O by the way.I dont crave rubbish.I crave fruit.I crave vegetables.A glass of red wine every now and then would be nice!I havent had crisps in 4 months and I frankily dont want it.But a turkey,swiss cheese and pickle on rye sandwich would be so nice every now and then.

Ok,enough of this.I am going to put my ice cream maker on now and make some sugarfree frozen yogurt.

Thanks for the reply.I am sure my food issues are 80 persent resolved,I mean the emosional eating part of it.the other 20 is older than 45 years and might take a little while to go.

As long as your sticking with protein first, veggies and then maybe a little starches, you will do just fine. In fact I love what Benjamin said. I have the tendency to eat when I have some head hunger and I'm working on that. I'm increasing my exercise right now and I know I need more than 900 calories to replenish my energy. I have been eating 1200 to 1500 calories and am building muscle right now. I am at goal and really need to just tone up now. So I have to watch my thoughts that tell me "I can have this because I'm at goal," and rekindling those old negative eating habits. I have to watch my sugars because they are so addicting for me. So I try to avoid sugars. Keep up the hard work everyone.

I believe Benjamin on that aspect also. My grandfather always ate fat and he was so darn skinny! He barely ate sweets.

I am a little over 4 months post op and my nutritionist said that I should be eating 1200 calories a day. I actually was not eating enough and found when I upped to 1200 a day I started losing again. She said that our bodies are really not intended to function long term on the lower calories. If you had a three week stall, I would strongly consider taking a couple of weeks and trying to experiment with your calories and find a level of calories that your body likes. Mine likes to get around 1200-1400 and I lose about 0.8 every day that I hit that target, of course if I go over, then it doesn't but if I have a really low day in the 800 range, I also gain.

I know that this is not what a lot will say, but I find that it works well for me and I wanted my lifestyle to be something i could maintain forever and I know that I could never last long term eating 800 calories a day. I intend to eat 1200-1400 per day for the rest of my life with the occasional day that will go over that.

- to completely cut out is to deprive ourselves' date=' which in the end does make you cheat - if you allow yourself to have the "fun" stuff every now and then, you won't go as nuts with it. People who constantly deprive themselves of "bad" things are only going to rebel and turn to those "bad" things when it's the last thing they should do. ... [/quote']

I keep reading this on these forums and I just want to say....this is not true for everyone in every situation. I was a total starch fiend before surgery. I was addicted to them and I basically lived on them. When I did go on a diet, I deprived myself of everything but starches...and I felt awful.

Now I have kicked my starch addiction and I don't eat them anymore at all. I have said goodbye to them forever and I don't feel like I am depriving myself of anything. I am completely disgusted by them now that I understand how they affect my body.

It's kinda like a person who has finally broken free of a bad relationship. Once you've broken free you wonder why you stayed in it so long. You certainly do not go back occasionally for some more abuse.

I realize that my situation does not apply to everyone, but I can't be the only one here who had a food addiction going into surgery.

I agree with ButtertheBean. I CANNOT go back to drinking 7-ups. My addiction. And I

...hit Send too soon!

I realize now what 7-up did to me, and I have no desire to go back to it. Not even a sip. And I don't feel deprived. But...everyone is different! Some people go overboard if they feel deprived.

Hi

Now I had my home made sugarfree,fatfree lemon meringue ice cream and am ready to talk...hehe!

Sometimes I do feel deprived.When I low carb it does affect my serotonin levels.It takes very little complex carbs to fix this.I dont want to lose weight slowly,I want to lose weight fast so I unwisely cut my carbs super low.Stupid as it takes only a few days for me to become moody and life starts looking a bit senseless.It also only take a tiny bit of carbs to fix that.

Like I have said,I hope this will get easier for me in future but my battle with food started when the folks put me on diet at the age of 5.I never knew what normal eating was until the age of 44.It almost worked and I lost 70 pounds just eating normal while being supervized by a shrink.Then she left and I regained it all.

Now normal means something different again and I am relearning the new normal.I just find it challenging some days.Anyway I need to get to goal.Thats all that matters for now!

xxo

Hi

.

Now normal means something different again and I am relearning the new normal......

This is exactly how I feel.

Benjamin,I missed your post about the fat intake.I believe my fats are too low.And whenever I have a day that is a little higher in fat it is also a day that had no cravings a lot less food and the little was way more satisfying.When I cut the fat way back I keep wanting to eat too much volume of Proteins.

So maybe this is one of my problems.

Tomorrow I wll use healthy fats and see if I have a better day.

Thanks

I have an addiction for sugar and diet coke or diet pepsi. I know that when ever I go back to eating something with sugar, I keep craving more of it. I believe that I began this journey to make changes in my diet. I'm working on choosing organic foods with no more than 5 other ingredients in them. I know that I have tried doing moderation and I still try to sneak something in now and then to find out that I start craving more of it. So my demon (sugar) is torturous to me. I have tried many diets and my negative self talk can talk me into anything. I am my worst enemy and have gained back numerous times.