I am having my first cycle since banding and stepping onto the scale was a grand disappointment this morning. I was 1# away from being in the onesies club. I gained 4# & I knew it was happening! I have massive cravings and they all occur as I lay in bed trying to sleep. I have Fibromyalgia and pain causes insomnia. I gave in and tried to cheat decent by using Atkins indulge bars (1 per eve.) so I wasn't getting a lot of sugar and still getting protein but it was a fail on my part. I knew it was wrong doing it, I make no excuses. I am just looking to you ladies for any advice on how you deal with this issue. It seemed worse than normal but possibly because I am hyperfocused on what I eat now. I am trying to exercise as much as possible which is difficult since I broke my leg in 5 places in bad accident in August. Still unable to walk unaided and waiting on total knee replacement in about 6 weeks. Once that is complete I am told I will have full range of movement and will be able to walk and use pool for therapy and exercise. I know that will help with being satisfied and feeling in control, until then any advice is greatly appreciated.

I do my best to be good but eventually I have to give in to the cravings. I find if I try a substitute I take in more calories and eventually eat what I was craving anyway. I am almost alway up on the scale the week I PMS. It is so annoying it usually doesn't even matter how good I was that week. Try to remember all the things going on in your body at that time and keep making the best decisions you can. You will probably find the weight goes down pretty good.

I would love to tell you to look up the chart and if you're craving chocolate, to eat almonds, but that doesn't work for me. I haven't found any tricks yet either. Like goalseeker said, when I try to eat around my craving and not satisfy the craving itself, I tend to end up eating more. If you want chocolate, I'd suggest some dark chocolate and eat it slowly to savor it. It's a tough time and absolutely sucks. I'm only 2 months post-op so i'm not that helpful yet.

I gave into my cravings this past week during my time of the month and bought a package of devil dogs. I love those things. But now that I'm banded I am unable to binge like I was before so even though it's a 'bad' food i only have it in moderation and get back on track in a day or two.

I can soooooo appreciate this thread. I am actually going through the EXACT same issue. Plus more prone to the weepys. I'm guessing that the weight loss has caused an added release of Estrogen into my system making everything haywire including the 3# weight gain. Which makes me pissy them weepy. I do hope next month will be better. Until then I cheated and had a 3 oz dark chocolate bar that took forever to eat. I guess that's the good news. LOL