Hi All

My weight loss journey started a year and a half ago. I had my surgery on Jan 3, 2012. I have lost over 110 pounds.. I went from January 2012 to mid December 2012 without one slip up, which I know is a great accomplishment. Sometime in mid December I started dabbling with sugar which has lead me to actually gaining back about 15 pounds. I have gotten myself back on track this past Monday and am feeling confident about losing my last 10 to 15 pounds.

I continue to go to counseling and also see a health coach. I know everything I am feeling is in my head and I think that is called head hunger. I have to learn how to control that.

I just want to know if anyone else out there feels like they have lost control and have been able to binge a bit. I know I cannot get in the same quantity of food as I used to be able to, but I can still binge on sweets such as Cookies and cakes and ice cream.

Thank you to anyone who has any kind of feedback for me.

You're not alone. I'm 11 months out and have been bitten hard lately by my sweet tooth. I've lost all discipline whenever I'm around anything sweet. I just can't make myself say no. So far I've managed to prevent any regain but I'm not losing anything either. I'm telling myself the same things I told myself way back when....that this will be the last donut I ever have...this will be the last chocolate easter egg....the last Kit Kat. Then a week later there's another one. It's hard. I'm trying to get a handle on it before I regain any weight.

Best of luck to you. Keep holding yourself accountable. It makes all the difference.

I am 14 months out and having the same feelings. I have so far been able to prevent regain but no loss in awhile. I know I am not holding myself accountable and keep telling myself I will get back on track. I am trying to take small steps toward eating better so it feels more like the norm and not dieting. I am happy at the progress I have made even with the long stall. I still feel great.

Same thing happened to me at the 16 month mark. I gained back 8 pounds around the holidays But I took back control and lost those 8 horrid pounds and I'm back to my low weight. I recommend a moderate approach. Cut your calories by 200 a day, and try and burn and extra 300 a day. Then you're on track to lose a pound a week. It worked for me. Boost your metabolism by lifting weights. You can take back control!!! I can't gain my weight back, it's motivation for sure.

I’ve been lurking around these forums for over 2 yrs and decided it was finally time to post something.

This coming July will make two years for me and I’m down 78 pounds, 8 pounds under my original goal.

The last time I felt that I was losing control was when I made the decision to see a doctor about weight loss surgery. I had always been an extremely active (hyperactive) skinny kid and adult through my 20s and most of my 30s. My mother called me “Skinny Malink” when I was a kid. Then in my late 30s I suffered a serious knee injury from a soccer accident that led to gradual weight gain to 245lbs!!! (I’m 5’10”).

As soon as I was able to start eating solid foods (14 days), I began tracking every morsel of food that enters my mouth on MyFitnessPal.com. I mean I track everything, from the 6 grams of coffee creamer I put in my morning coffee every day to the half serving of hash browns and ¾ portion of the Sausage McMuffin I have once a week at McDonald’s with the guys (a 10 year tradition for us that I wasn’t about to break). (I used to eat 2 orders of Sausage McMuffins without egg, 2 orders with egg, and 2 orders of hash browns in one sitting.) If my wife asks me to try a sample of a cake batter she is about to put in the oven, I figure out a way of entering that too. Everything. Strict monitoring is the key to successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance.

I wear one of those body monitors that they use on The Biggest Loser. I track every calorie I burn 23 hours a day. Everyday my goal is to eat just under or around the calories I expend, which for me is around 2200 to 2400 calories a day. That’s with some light exercise meaning a 30 to 40 minute slow walk every day (I had corrective knee surgery about a year ago and today I can walk slowly, like 2mph).

For the past six months I have also been following that British “Fast Diet” by Dr. Mosley. Basically you eat 600 calories of mostly Protein for two days out of the week (500 for women) and then anything you want on non-fasting days. This a very easy way to maintain weight loss for sleevers and the health benefits are truly amazing. Intermittent fasting lowers your chances of getting cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. I have a lot more energy now since fasting than I ever did. (I do track my food intake on non-fasting days even though you’re not supposed to). You can look up the Fast Diet on the internet or on Amazon.com. There is a U.S. version of the book and it’s available for Kindle.

Because I’ve been using intermittent fasting for half a year, I guarantee that the hunger I feel is not just “head hunger” (if by head hunger you mean purely psychological). It is true that the docs remove a part of the stomach that produces the majority of one of the hunger hormones, ghrelin, but there are many chemicals in the body that cause the sensation of hunger, not just one. Besides, not all the ghrelin is eliminated from your system because 15% of it is produced in other parts of the body. When you have some free time, look up a protein called neuropeptide-Y. It plays a major role in hunger sensation and regulation and it increases during periods of stress. It is true that the hunger pangs I feel today are different in intensity and quality from what I used to feel before the surgery but not all sensations of hunger that I feel are in my head. Even after a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, there is a chemical basis for hunger, it’s just that the chemical composition is different for VSG patients.

I eat exactly the same foods today that I ate before the surgery except just a lot less of them. That includes pizza, my famous homemade Texas chili, Red Lobster’s lobster bisque, and spaghetti with meat sauce. I don’t think of any food as “bad”, not even candy bars like Baby Ruth, my favorite. I just monitor everything I eat on MyFitnessPal.com and force myself to stay within my daily maintenance calorie intake of 2200 to 2400 calories. What is different for me today than from two years ago is that because I am tracking all my food, I am aware of how many carbs, Proteins, and fats I am eating for the first time in my life. I follow the nutritional guidelines recommended by MyFitnessPal.com (just select "guided" goals).

If you’re in a stall or having trouble losing those few extra pounds, I encourage you to try the Fast Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley. It’s also called the 5:2 Diet. Especially for people who have had 75 to 80% of their stomachs removed, it’s a very easy way to lose and maintain weight and the long-term health benefits from intermittent fasting are awesome.

IMHO, stick with the counseling and try to allow yourself to enjoy your comfort foods in moderation without guilt. The more you beat yourself up for eating foods you enjoy, the more stress you feel, the more your hunger proteins will surge, and the more you will crave those foods you are trying to avoid. That’s why will power alone never works over the long haul. I have more will power than anyone I know and I still got uncomfortably fat.

Instead of seeing yourself as losing control whenever you eat comfort foods, try to turn that around so that you are gaining control. What I do is I take out one portion of candy or cake or whatever it is I feel like eating for that day and then deliberately plan on eating it at my usual snack time. For me, I take out my Baby Ruth bar and leave it on the end table for when I am watching TV at night. Every time I pass it, I smile in anticipation. I also make allowances during the day for that snack by monitoring everything I eat and by exercising so I know I have enough calories to “spend”. This way, I am gaining full control over these food choices instead of feeling like I am losing control every time I eat them. Anyway, this approach has worked beautifully for me.

Everyone has a different history with weight and health issues so I don’t know if this method will work for everyone. I’ve been able to comfortably stay under goal for over eight straight months by using this system of intermittent fasting combined with strict monitoring of all the calories I eat and use. I wanted to share my experience with it in case others can benefit too.

Best of luck.

I’ve been lurking around these forums for over 2 yrs and decided it was finally time to post something.

This coming July will make two years for me and I’m down 78 pounds, 8 pounds under my original goal.

The last time I felt that I was losing control was when I made the decision to see a doctor about weight loss surgery. I had always been an extremely active (hyperactive) skinny kid and adult through my 20s and most of my 30s. My mother called me “Skinny Malink” when I was a kid. Then in my late 30s I suffered a serious knee injury from a soccer accident that led to gradual weight gain to 245lbs!!! (I’m 5’10”).

As soon as I was able to start eating solid foods (14 days), I began tracking every morsel of food that enters my mouth on MyFitnessPal.com. I mean I track everything, from the 6 grams of coffee creamer I put in my morning coffee every day to the half serving of hash browns and ¾ portion of the Sausage McMuffin I have once a week at McDonald’s with the guys (a 10 year tradition for us that I wasn’t about to break). (I used to eat 2 orders of Sausage McMuffins without egg, 2 orders with egg, and 2 orders of hash browns in one sitting.) If my wife asks me to try a sample of a cake batter she is about to put in the oven, I figure out a way of entering that too. Everything. Strict monitoring is the key to successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance.

I wear one of those body monitors that they use on The Biggest Loser. I track every calorie I burn 23 hours a day. Everyday my goal is to eat just under or around the calories I expend, which for me is around 2200 to 2400 calories a day. That’s with some light exercise meaning a 30 to 40 minute slow walk every day (I had corrective knee surgery about a year ago and today I can walk slowly, like 2mph).

For the past six months I have also been following that British “Fast Diet” by Dr. Mosley. Basically you eat 600 calories of mostly Protein for two days out of the week (500 for women) and then anything you want on non-fasting days. This a very easy way to maintain weight loss for sleevers and the health benefits are truly amazing. Intermittent fasting lowers your chances of getting cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. I have a lot more energy now since fasting than I ever did. (I do track my food intake on non-fasting days even though you’re not supposed to). You can look up the Fast Diet on the internet or on Amazon.com. There is a U.S. version of the book and it’s available for Kindle.

Because I’ve been using intermittent fasting for half a year, I guarantee that the hunger I feel is not just “head hunger” (if by head hunger you mean purely psychological). It is true that the docs remove a part of the stomach that produces the majority of one of the hunger hormones, ghrelin, but there are many chemicals in the body that cause the sensation of hunger, not just one. Besides, not all the ghrelin is eliminated from your system because 15% of it is produced in other parts of the body. When you have some free time, look up a protein called neuropeptide-Y. It plays a major role in hunger sensation and regulation and it increases during periods of stress. It is true that the hunger pangs I feel today are different in intensity and quality from what I used to feel before the surgery but not all sensations of hunger that I feel are in my head. Even after a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, there is a chemical basis for hunger, it’s just that the chemical composition is different for VSG patients.

I eat exactly the same foods today that I ate before the surgery except just a lot less of them. That includes pizza, my famous homemade Texas chili, Red Lobster’s lobster bisque, and spaghetti with meat sauce. I don’t think of any food as “bad”, not even candy bars like Baby Ruth, my favorite. I just monitor everything I eat on MyFitnessPal.com and force myself to stay within my daily maintenance calorie intake of 2200 to 2400 calories. What is different for me today than from two years ago is that because I am tracking all my food, I am aware of how many carbs, Proteins, and fats I am eating for the first time in my life. I follow the nutritional guidelines recommended by MyFitnessPal.com (just select "guided" goals).

If you’re in a stall or having trouble losing those few extra pounds, I encourage you to try the Fast Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley. It’s also called the 5:2 Diet. Especially for people who have had 75 to 80% of their stomachs removed, it’s a very easy way to lose and maintain weight and the long-term health benefits from intermittent fasting are awesome.

IMHO, stick with the counseling and try to allow yourself to enjoy your comfort foods in moderation without guilt. The more you beat yourself up for eating foods you enjoy, the more stress you feel, the more your hunger proteins will surge, and the more you will crave those foods you are trying to avoid. That’s why will power alone never works over the long haul. I have more will power than anyone I know and I still got uncomfortably fat.

Instead of seeing yourself as losing control whenever you eat comfort foods, try to turn that around so that you are gaining control. What I do is I take out one portion of candy or cake or whatever it is I feel like eating for that day and then deliberately plan on eating it at my usual snack time. For me, I take out my Baby Ruth bar and leave it on the end table for when I am watching TV at night. Every time I pass it, I smile in anticipation. I also make allowances during the day for that snack by monitoring everything I eat and by exercising so I know I have enough calories to “spend”. This way, I am gaining full control over these food choices instead of feeling like I am losing control every time I eat them. Anyway, this approach has worked beautifully for me.

Everyone has a different history with weight and health issues so I don’t know if this method will work for everyone. I’ve been able to comfortably stay under goal for over eight straight months by using this system of intermittent fasting combined with strict monitoring of all the calories I eat and use. I wanted to share my experience with it in case others can benefit too.

Best of luck.

interesting! I'm just hearing about some fasting type diets. Mostly the 8 hour diet: you only eat 8 hours a day- and the other 16 you fast. So you can eat Breakfast at 9am and then eat normal but you last bite would be at 5pm. I have a patient (I'm a nurse) that went from 155 pounds to 129 in 3 months! She wasn't very heavy to begin with! I have thought about trying it to lose 10 more pounds! Thanks to your story I might just this

I have a patient (I'm a nurse) that went from 155 pounds to 129 in 3 months! She wasn't very heavy to begin with! I have thought about trying it to lose 10 more pounds! Thanks to your story I might just (try) this

It's an easy diet to follow, especially for sleeved people. This diet helped with those last 10 pounds to goal and then another 8 after that. This diet is great for maintenance because you get to eat the deficit you are creating on your fast days over the non-fasting days (if you want and if you don't, you will continue to lose weight).

For example, in order to reap the health benefits of the fast, you cannot eat more than 500 to 600 calories two days out of the week. For me, this creates a calorie deficit of 1451 per fasting day or a total of 2902 calories for the week. According to my body monitor armband, I need to eat 2050 calories per day (without exercise) to maintain my current weight (much more if I walk around or if I’m even moderately active instead of just sitting around). If you divide that 2902 calorie deficit by five days and then add it to 2050, that means that I should eat 2630 calories on non-fasting days to maintain my current body weight of 167 pounds.

That’s a lot of food to eat in one day and I can rarely do it, which is why I’m still losing weight and I'm eating freely without guilt or fear.

There are lots of variations on the Fast Diet. The one that Dr. Mosley recommends and that I follow is to eat a breakfast of 250 calories at around 7:30 am and then a dinner of 250 (for women) and 350 for men 12 hours later at 7:30 pm. Then the idea is to hold off on breakfast until 7:30 am the next day so you’re getting in two 12-hour fasts in a 24 hour period. You should drink lots of Water with lemon or herbal teas.

My fasting days are Monday and Thursday (you can switch at the last minute if something comes up). I will typically eat a mushroom and cheese omelet (half a slice of American cheese) with sautéed onions for breakfast with coffee, skim milk and coffee creamer, and then, for dinner, a hefty sliced smoked turkey and roast beef salad for dinner with one tablespoon of French dressing. The lettuce bulks up the meal and really fills you up, especially if you have been sleeved.

It works and fasting two days out of the week for six months has done wonders for my blood work. My doctors can’t believe I’m the same person from even one year ago. Moderate intermittent fasting in this way prolongs life and doesn’t negatively affect muscle mass.

OP I'm so sorry to hear about your struggle with sugar

*This isn't directed towards anyone but merely me rambling about myself*

Before I started my journey I knew that something had to change and that I couldn't approach life after sleeve surgery with the all or nothing approach. I needed to find a way to incorporate a treat now and then (at least once a week). I usually pick Friday or Saturday as my day to not stay so strict, I still keep track of cals though. It's easy for me to avoid certain things when I know that I can have it Friday or Saturday. If I tried to take away that food forever then I would probably binge. My nutritionist also agrees with moderation and she doesn't want me to severely restrict carbs. I usually end up around 100-150g of carbs a day. I've been losing about 1-2 pounds a week, so kind of slow but it's a healthy rate of weight loss (plus I'm still breastfeeding). I've always loved "sleeve of steel" approach. I also haven't lost any hair and I'm 6 months post op. I guess in all my rambling is that maybe you should incorporate some sugar into your diet every now and then, and possibly try the moderation approach? Also start tracking your cals again. I keep my cals between 1000-1400 during the week and on Friday or Saturday I go up to about 2200, hell you gotta live life and have fun sometimes, have a couple of drinks Good luck

I want to thank all of you for all your great comments and advice. I had my first great eating weekend in months. I started going to the gym this past weekend. I feel like I am taking back my control in baby steps. It really helps when I know I can reach out to people who are going through the same issues as me and get some good advice. I am wishing all of you good luck and continued success in your individual journeys. Thank you again. I am glad I started coming to this site again after a long while. Speak too you all soon.

I want to thank all of you for all your great comments and advice. I had my first great eating weekend in months. I started going to the gym this past weekend. I feel like I am taking back my control in baby steps. It really helps when I know I can reach out to people who are going through the same issues as me and get some good advice. I am wishing all of you good luck and continued success in your individual journeys. Thank you again. I am glad I started coming to this site again after a long while. Speak too you all soon.

good!! nothing too drastic. That's how we all got here! Dieting and then well, not dieting. good for you !

This Fast Diet @SkinnyMalink speaks of sounds very interesting and darn good lol. Is there a max amount of calories we can intake after we have the sleeve done? Sorry I'm brand new to this whole process, but that'd seem like a lot of calories to try and take in per day.

Don't beat yourself up, choose to be strong. It is just your body trying to "recover" itself. It is sooo important to keep the weight off for that year after you level out until your body creates a new set point weight. (It's new normal) We have a Dr. that comes to our support group who has spent his life dealing with the medicine of obesity. He told us how they are now using functional MRI's to prove that certain foods, even just the smell, triggers the same neuro-pathways as heroin. They are just as addictive. Unfortunately, just like in drug addicts or alcoholics, even a taste of sugar or fat, even the smell of one of those old unfriendly foods, can make your body remember all those "good times" and trigger your food addiction. The best way to get off of it, is to go back on your week 1 post surgery diet. Protein and water only for 2 weeks. You will lower your blood sugar levels and detox your body. This will quash those cravings again. You did it once, you can do it again. Then Stay Away from the crap food. You worked too hard to go back there!! Good luck!

To Skinny Malink- you should have 400-600 day 1 - 3 months, 600-800 3-6 months, 800-100 6-12 months and no more than 1200 at 1 year plus. You should also have 60-80 g of protein thru 6 months, 80-100g 6-12 months and 100-120g from 12 months on. Note, the lower number is usually the best for women, the larger for men. Hope that helps. = )

Sorry, obviously that should have been 800-1000 @ 6-12 months!

I’ve been lurking around these forums for over 2 yrs and decided it was finally time to post something.

This coming July will make two years for me and I’m down 78 pounds' date=' 8 pounds under my original goal.

The last time I felt that I was losing control was when I made the decision to see a doctor about weight loss surgery. I had always been an extremely active (hyperactive) skinny kid and adult through my 20s and most of my 30s. My mother called me “Skinny Malink” when I was a kid. Then in my late 30s I suffered a serious knee injury from a soccer accident that led to gradual weight gain to 245lbs!!! (I’m 5’10”).

As soon as I was able to start eating solid foods (14 days), I began tracking every morsel of food that enters my mouth on MyFitnessPal.com. I mean I track everything, from the 6 grams of coffee creamer I put in my morning coffee every day to the half serving of hash browns and ¾ portion of the Sausage McMuffin I have once a week at McDonald’s with the guys (a 10 year tradition for us that I wasn’t about to break). (I used to eat 2 orders of Sausage McMuffins without egg, 2 orders with egg, and 2 orders of hash browns in one sitting.) If my wife asks me to try a sample of a cake batter she is about to put in the oven, I figure out a way of entering that too. Everything. Strict monitoring is the key to successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance.

I wear one of those body monitors that they use on The Biggest Loser. I track every calorie I burn 23 hours a day. Everyday my goal is to eat just under or around the calories I expend, which for me is around 2200 to 2400 calories a day. That’s with some light exercise meaning a 30 to 40 minute slow walk every day (I had corrective knee surgery about a year ago and today I can walk slowly, like 2mph).

For the past six months I have also been following that British “Fast Diet” by Dr. Mosley. Basically you eat 600 calories of mostly Protein for two days out of the week (500 for women) and then anything you want on non-fasting days. This a very easy way to maintain weight loss for sleevers and the health benefits are truly amazing. Intermittent fasting lowers your chances of getting cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. I have a lot more energy now since fasting than I ever did. (I do track my food intake on non-fasting days even though you’re not supposed to). You can look up the Fast Diet on the internet or on Amazon.com. There is a U.S. version of the book and it’s available for Kindle.

Because I’ve been using intermittent fasting for half a year, I guarantee that the hunger I feel is not just “head hunger” (if by head hunger you mean purely psychological). It is true that the docs remove a part of the stomach that produces the majority of one of the hunger hormones, ghrelin, but there are many chemicals in the body that cause the sensation of hunger, not just one. Besides, not all the ghrelin is eliminated from your system because 15% of it is produced in other parts of the body. When you have some free time, look up a protein called neuropeptide-Y. It plays a major role in hunger sensation and regulation and it increases during periods of stress. It is true that the hunger pangs I feel today are different in intensity and quality from what I used to feel before the surgery but not all sensations of hunger that I feel are in my head. Even after a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, there is a chemical basis for hunger, it’s just that the chemical composition is different for VSG patients.

I eat exactly the same foods today that I ate before the surgery except just a lot less of them. That includes pizza, my famous homemade Texas chili, Red Lobster’s lobster bisque, and spaghetti with meat sauce. I don’t think of any food as “bad”, not even candy bars like Baby Ruth, my favorite. I just monitor everything I eat on MyFitnessPal.com and force myself to stay within my daily maintenance calorie intake of 2200 to 2400 calories. What is different for me today than from two years ago is that because I am tracking all my food, I am aware of how many carbs, Proteins, and fats I am eating for the first time in my life. I follow the nutritional guidelines recommended by MyFitnessPal.com (just select "guided" goals).

If you’re in a stall or having trouble losing those few extra pounds, I encourage you to try the Fast Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley. It’s also called the 5:2 Diet. Especially for people who have had 75 to 80% of their stomachs removed, it’s a very easy way to lose and maintain weight and the long-term health benefits from intermittent fasting are awesome.

IMHO, stick with the counseling and try to allow yourself to enjoy your comfort foods in moderation without guilt. The more you beat yourself up for eating foods you enjoy, the more stress you feel, the more your hunger proteins will surge, and the more you will crave those foods you are trying to avoid. That’s why will power alone never works over the long haul. I have more will power than anyone I know and I still got uncomfortably fat.

Instead of seeing yourself as losing control whenever you eat comfort foods, try to turn that around so that you are gaining control. What I do is I take out one portion of candy or cake or whatever it is I feel like eating for that day and then deliberately plan on eating it at my usual snack time. For me, I take out my Baby Ruth bar and leave it on the end table for when I am watching TV at night. Every time I pass it, I smile in anticipation. I also make allowances during the day for that snack by monitoring everything I eat and by exercising so I know I have enough calories to “spend”. This way, I am gaining full control over these food choices instead of feeling like I am losing control every time I eat them. Anyway, this approach has worked beautifully for me.

Everyone has a different history with weight and health issues so I don’t know if this method will work for everyone. I’ve been able to comfortably stay under goal for over eight straight months by using this system of intermittent fasting combined with strict monitoring of all the calories I eat and use. I wanted to share my experience with it in case others can benefit too.

Best of luck.[/quote']

Very interesting, going to look into this, I've only lost 10lbs since jan I'm 10months out and have lost 85lbs but I've been stuck now up n down same 2lbs for bout a month, grrrr

SkinnyMalink can I add you on mfp?