I'm pre op. I'm 23. BMI 43.

I've been told (by people who don't know me very well) that people my size HAVE to have emotional eating issues to get this big.

But I don't think I have those issues. When I am sad/angry/disappointed, I usually tend to eat less because I withdrawal a little into myself. My therapist doesn't believe I emotionally eat either. My family is not large like me and we don't have things centered on food.

Do I overeat? Absolutely! I struggle a lot with insulin hunger (I have PCOS and insulin resistance) but I also just plain love food! I just love how most things taste! I'll overeat sometimes because I love the taste and I think I'm addicted to that.

Okay, so one time, I got a horrible sinus infection that rendered me unable to smell or taste for 2 weeks. My boyfriend made a new African dish with chicken and exotic spices and I couldn't bear to eat even a bite since I couldn't taste it. I actually cried because it looked so amazing and I just wanted to taste it and I couldn't! I ended up losing 5lb because I couldn't eat anything without taste.

Is anyone else like me? I'm a total foodie. I love to cook and experiment.

How has surgery affected your foodie-ness? Am I at a disadvantage because I love food and eat because I love to eat not because of feelings?

I am frustrated because I look up stuff about food addiction but a lot of it has to do with emotional issues. I just love eating too much.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using VST

Good question. I am in the same boat. I love to cook. I hand knead and bake my own bread, spend 12 hours making homemade chicken stock because no store bought stock can compare, roll out fresh Pasta dough, cook with wine, use exotic cheeses, make rich and decadent sauces....I am in some ways defined by my ability to cook wonderful food.

It is one of the things that has kept me on the fence about having surgery. Over the past several weeks I've slowly been coming to grips with the fact that the post-surgery me will STILL be able to cook and create, but I will have to sacrifice the giant platefuls of food I can currently consume. It is one or the other.....stay fat with big portions or get thin with small portions. Still good food, just much less.

Reading post's in the veteran's forum has been helpful. Seeing what life will be like in 2,3,4 years after surgery is comforting for me. I know that I will not be able to eat the same way again, but I am confident that I will adjust to a NEW way of eating. A few years from now I will be healthy, thin, and still enjoying good food.

I am still having a horrible time with the idea of giving up my glass of wine with dinner though. Not sure I will ever like that.

I don't have PCOS or PCOS-related insulin resistance, but I'm pretty sure there are at least a few sleevers here who do (or did). They would be a great resource for you to tap into, to find out how they are doing post-op with hunger urges. Maybe start a thread directed toward them, to get their input?

Since the sleeve surgery often reverses diabetes, I'd guess there's a good chance your insulin issues might at least decrease post-op, right? That, added to the smaller capacity for gobbling down large amounts of food just due to the size of the sleeve, will probably be a big help to you after your surgery. Not to mention losing the ghrelin-making part of your stomach--that should help a lot, too.

I'm an emotional eater (as well as a boredom eater and a mindless-grazer), but I also would keep eating long past being full if the taste was amazing. Mouth feel, creaminess, crunchiness--all of those would lead me to crave much more than one serving. I'm still pre-op, but I've started using protein shakes and eating higher-protein, lower-carb meals, which has helped curb my hunger. I think the mouth feel/flavor addiction is something you can definitely learn to work past, even if it's a difficult "breakup", you can stay "just friends", as Kulita said. Good luck--and hang in there!

Butterflyhigh,

From what I've read, you can still drink a little wine 1+ year post op but not everyday, just very occasionally, and not a whole glass. I drink only very occasionally and don't intend to give up alcohol completely.

Vix,

Yeah insulin resistance is usually cured when you lose a lot of weight. The thing is, it's hard to lose weight when you're insulin resistant. Catch 22 right? I have no doubt that insulin hunger has contributed to my weight today, although it's definitely not the sole cause.

It's hard though because the one symptom I can't stand is nausea. If something makes me nauseous a few times, like a food, I'll never want to eat it again. Sadly, it has made it so I am not compliant with any Metformin dose over 500mg. I've never been able to get through the sweating, shakes, and nausea that I feel on that dosage. But metformin has not caused me to lose much of any weight anyway.

I can't wait to kick this insulin resistance. For me it's truly the worst part of PCOS.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using VST

Has anyone said it yet.... You can LOVE someone you're in a bad relationship with too, but that doesn't mean it's healthy.... I agree... We've all got to work on being friends with food -and setting solid boundaries.

When we eat past the point of moderate fullness, when we eat when we are not physically hungry -- that's head hunger. Cal it what you'd like hun -- but head hunger is the same thing as emotional eating. We got fat because we OVERate.

Blessings to you!

WeeWers

Didnt get to read everyone's comments but I really wanted to chime in!

1. I LOVE the taste of food. Always thought I wasnt an emotional eater. I don't eat when I'm sad, angry etc. Then the therapist who I see who works at my surgeon's office reminded me: happy is also an emotion! You enjoy the taste of food, it makes you literally happy when you can eat and enjoy it and sad (i.e. we cry and get emotional) when we cannot. It is a form of emotional eating that directly correlates to the disease of obesity. So no worries, it's normal for our abnormality.
   
2. I have type 1 diabetes, meaning that since I was a kid, my body stopped making insulin. Unlike type 2, it didnt happen bc I was overweight. I was healthy, extremely active (9 years of ballet/jazz-tap), and well adjusted. It just hits us (halle barry and mary tyler moore also type 1, and are thin as a rail and quite healthy). I take insulin, and have put weight on increasingly ever since I started at 13. And also since then, I found it harder and harder to be satisfied with food.
   
3. I'm 5 weeks post op today. And still struggle mentally with the size of my plates. But TRUST ME, if your sleeve will not let you comfortably eat more than you should. The gurgling and tightness you feel, like a big ol' ball of food is sitting in your chest trying to work its way down, is actually a blessing! My body is telling me "you've had enough, i need to spend some time working on this." I admit, I'm not thrilled yet about the smaller plates bc of what I want visually. BUT i am thrilled that i can eat so little and say, well, I'm done.
   
4. I wish you so much luck as you start your journey, my dear. Feel free to add me as a friend and stay in touch if you continue to feel apprehensions. We're all here for ya!!
   

We're twins! I have PCOS, and Insulin resistance, and just like you, I truly feel I don't emotionally eat. I am a happy person, I have a happy life, I have a great marriage, amazing kids, happy job. I don't have any reason to eat emotionally. But I did eat, lots. Not out of bordom, or emotional issues. I ate because I was hungry, all the time, and I craved food, all the time.I truly didn't understand the difference between a craving and hunger until I started my pre-op liquid diet. I had to do 2 weeks, and it was hell. The first 4 days were horrible, I was angry, hungry, and craving food bad! I felt like crap, headaches, tired. But after the first 4 days, it got easier. I was still hungry, very hungry, all the time. But I didn't crave food anymore. I am only 1 week post op, so I cant offer a lot of advice. But I can say so far its been easy. I am just not hungry anymore. I am on full liquids for another week, so maybe it will be tougher when I start eating foods. So far I am eating, but only because I have to. I have no hunger, and don't feel the need to eat, or the cravings. I eat a protein shake for breakfast, greek yogurt for lunch, 64 ounces of water thru the day, a cup of soup for dinner, and another protein shake in the evening. I am not hungry at all. I've lost 35 pounds so far, 5 of that before my pre-op, 15 on my pre-op liquid diet, and 15 since surgery a week ago. I think for people like us it will be more about beating the head hunger. The surgery will get rid of the insulin cravings, then we just need to get over our head telling us to eat when we don't need to. Part of it for me, is if I think I am hungry, I drink a glass of water. It takes me about 30 minutes to drink, and then I have to wait another 30 minutes after that before I can eat anything. If after those two, I am still hungry, then I eat something, But usually I am not.