I know I know....another person complaining...

but I'm having a major issue breaking through to the 230s...I've been in the 240s for 3 weeks now....bouncing back and forth 4 pounds....

I need some direction, positive thoughts right now...

I'll be 9 months post op March 11th.....and I feel like if I just go on protien drinks and yogurt I can breakthrough, but I really dont want to manipulate my body like that because, well I know I will regret it later....

any thoughts or suggestions

I know that Protein drinks are not the first choice for people but.... The premier pre made shakes are "shelf stable" and don't need refrigeration so I keep them on hand when I am out and about.

Just a thought

I'm going to have to try those....heard nothing but good things about them

Hi, I had someone suggest to me before, but its difficult for me to eat small meals during the day, because I'm a teacher and my planning period isnt until 11:45am....so I have to go from 7:45am to 11:45am just drinking.....and drinking just goes straight through me....I'm now trying to keep turkey jerky at my desk, but now I think I will keep nuts now.....I need things easy to get to, sneak and munch on without refrigeration....

life of a teacher

You could consider seeds as well, some nuts are high calorie and higher fats, seeds are a fat source as well, some have good fats that are considered healtiest, I like Almonds, pumkin seeds,chia seeds, walnuts too, keeping some moderation on it all. I also eat edamame thats dry roasted and has a good Protein content, recently tried something called, chia chips and mushroom chips at an on line I use for a few items and it's all about nuts and Snacks, yet, there is allot of caution I take when selecting whats good as this site also has got to many bad things that are way bad for a healthy weight loss regiem.

http://www.globalhea.../healthy-seeds/

http://www.globalhea...h/healthy-nuts/

http://www.nuts.com/...chia-chips.html

http://www.nuts.com/...d-unsalted.html

http://www.nuts.com/...s/mushroom.html

My suggestion is along the same lines as above post. I would like to recommend eating some energy squares from nuts.com. There are so many flavors to choose from and eating one square has 60 calories. They are loaded with good carbs and good fats, which might be what your body is craving. I also ate a protein bar yesterday for the first time since surgery and, boy, was it good. It satisfied and was about 170 calories. I was surprised that it didn't trigger a desire for more like protein bars sometimes did for me pre surgery. I got them from Costco and they are called Stabilyze. They have 170 calories, 16 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein. Not the best ratios of Nutritional DV amounts, but not too bad either. There are many different protein bars out there that are more low carb and higher protein. I wanted to try these because they are designed for the nutritional needs of diabetics, not too far from our own nutritional needs as post op sleevers. You might try a protein bar when you have a craving, just be careful about the sugar content. Also I have found an edamame salad from SAMs club that is really filling and satisfies. It has good protein and some good fats in it. About 3-4 ounces is really good as a snack.

I'd like to put a plug in for natural Peanut Butter, the kind that must be mixed and then refrigerated. I get a small bowl of it and use thick pretzel sticks to dip it out. Hits the spot just about every time. Lots of good fats and Protein.

Here's a big build-up on a bodybuilder's website:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other31.htm

I drink the atkins rtd advantedge carb control when I don't just use a powder, and its shelf stable, 110 cals.

I have to have my snacks. I love the cocoa roasted almonds in 100 calorie packs. Then I can't eat more than I am supposed to . they are only 4 carbs.

i am struggling with head hunger too and I am noticing a carb connection. I am trying to keep my caloried below 1000 a day. I do great in the morning, starting off with premeir protein shake for breakfast and a meat/cheese/lettuce roll up for lunch but by 2 pm I am craving carbs BAD and it goes downhill from there. I did great last week by adding pb and celery snacks in the afternoon. I have been snacking on dried apricots as well, is that causing more cravings? I don't understand why sometimes it is so easy to keep that monster undercontrol and sometimes it kicks my butt!

Wow, am I glad I found my way back (yet again) to this forum today of all days and find this thread. I have been getting my butt kicked huge for 5 months (yes, I said months .. ack!!!!) by head hunger. I am so ridiculously beyond frustrated and every time I get my little head hunger under control for a day or two, whoop there it goes again.

I'm usually really great during the work day but any time I'm at home ... yeah, not so much and it's making me nuts. I am great at taking and planning my day out, but I don't stick to it the second I walk through the door at home. It's not that I'm making poor food choices; I'm just making too many food choices. I drink my shakes, have good healthy snacks and meals and rarely have anything sugary or fatty. Here's the other thing that I realized actually earlier today, and the reason I reminded myself to come back to the forum that has always been a lifeline for me ... I think I've identified why I have my head hunger. Real long story short, 2 years ago I broke up with my BF of 5 years (he told me I was too overweight for him). I had dated off an on since that time but nothing serious. I had my surgery in June 2012 and decided I was just going to focus on me. Well, 5 months ago bam, this amazing guy drops into my life and I've been dating him ever since - he is wonderful, supportive, everything great, etc. Now did you notice the trend? I've been seeing him for 5 months ... and I have been on a 5 month stall / head hunger bonanza.

So I think I've identified the problem (kind of). I know it happens only when I'm at home, I know that it's been happening since I started dating again. I track, I plan ... I fall off that plan every single time when I am at home. How the heck do you get around that kind of head hunger?

I believe in many cases here there may be a misdiagnosis. It is not head hunger, but just plain out HUNGER. With this surgery most of us fall into a 'anorexic' type of thinking. Oh Lord, if I eat one bite over 700, 800, 1000 calories a day I'm going to get fat again. If you had anyone else other than a WLS person tell you that they led a normal life and only consumed 800 calories a day, you would say that there was something wrong with their thinking. Living the rest of our lives in starvation is not feasible. After all the excess fat is gone the body is going to HAVE to have some fuel to burn. If it does not get it from what you consume it will start to burn its own muscles and vital organs. I have upped my calories to 1000 and actually consume closer to 1200 a day. I am finding it almost impossible to function on less than that now. I am still actively losing and I only have 5# of excess weight left. My body is obviously needing this. I would also like to note that generally I do not exercise. If you do, you are going to need more. When I have a hard day, I have to eat more or I will literally get faint. So I guess I took the long way around to say this; we were not told we would NEVER be hungry again. If you are feeling hungry maybe your body is trying to tell you something...FEED ME!! Remember being anorexic is just as dangerous as being fat. We were not looking to trade one eating disorder for another. Just keep it in check. Add a 100 extra calories a day in the form of a good quality fat/protein combo and see how much better you feel.

Mine is plain ordinary head hunger. It's for the most part, only at night. There's a lot of good healthy snacks, but they add up in I snack all evening long. It's like after dinner, even if I am full, my mind wanders and starts planning snacks for later.

Its been almost a week now and I think I've gained some control over it....I've managed to keep my eating to around 1200 calories a day, sometimes I go a little over sometimes a little under....

I've lost the 7 pounds I had gained...and now I am 0.3 pounds away from being 100 pounds lost!!

Even though I haven't hit 100+ pounds lost yet, I'm still celebrating