need help/overeating

[sbg224 318]

Yesterday my whole schedule was out of whack. We went to the OAC meeting in LA, good but very poor turnout. I was off on my food schedule, Vitamins, etc. They had free food, fruit, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, etc, so I ate, and a little while later ate again, I could not stop, just like I used to do before sleeve 8/3 of this year. Was full but managed to eat twice while we were there for about 3 hours. Later that day I was so hungry, have been hungry since week 2, yes I get all my liquids, Protein 100gms or more and vitamins, and pepcid, cannot take a PPI. I snacked in afternoon on some cheese and triscuits, we are allowed to have them. Anyway what was worse we went to dinner and I soooo overate, just kept shoving in the salmon, chicken and some veggies, all good stuff, but this was the first time I really thought it was coming back up. Still feel full this AM. Does anyone else do this and how do you stop. I am so grateful for my sleeve, but yesterday it felt like it was not 100% working. Feel depressed and so guilty, any comments or suggestions will be very much appreciated.

[Catahoula Mom 11]

I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you, I just am interested to see that you've been having hunger since week two. My surgery was 5 days ago and I'm starting to feel hunger. I cannot comprehend how acid is supposed to feel like hunger. I am taking Protonix and Pepcid.

Maybe walking around will help with gut motility. It sounds like you were eating for psychoological reasons rather than real hunger. Maybe you were faced with foods you normally don't allow yourself? Or the social situation?

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

Why can't you take a PPI?

[stacyg1 136]

I don't think it was your sleeve that wasn't working; I think it was your head. You said that you felt the restriction and continued to eat even though you felt full. The sleeve did it's job. The sleeve's job is to restrict the amount you can eat at one time. You can always eat around that by continuing to eat past your full point or eat at non-planned times. Also the sleeve does nothing to help you make good food choices which include not just what to eat (healthy, nourishing foods as opposed to junk) but how MUCH to eat. I consider myself lucky that since my surgery I haven't faced constant hunger. When I'm hungry it's usually 3-4 hours after my last meal and I eat. When I am faced with random hunger, I drink and 9 times out of 10 it goes away. When it doesn't, I accept it and eat a Protein rich snack. I am working very hard to eliminate any connection between guilt and shame and food. If I plan appropriately and eat the foods I should, there should be no guilt if I eat an extra snack. Hunger happens.

I try to avoid overeating by knowing exactly how much food is on my plate and eating the appropriate amount (17 months out, that is 3/4 to 1 cup of food consisting usually of 3-4 oz of Protein and the remainder veggies). I do that by weighing at home and asking the server the serving size when I order. So if they tell me a piece of fish is 6 oz, I can judge how much to put in my mouth and how much to either leave on the plate or box up to go.

Don't feel guilty, just recognize what happened and put a plan into action to make sure it doesn't happen that often (I won't say never again, because we all have those days) again! That plan needs to be one that will work for you, be it going back to measuring everything and not having extra food on the plate to tempt you or something else. I know we have the same surgeon group, but that doesn't necessarily mean that what works for me will work for you. All I do know is that guilt won't make you feel better, but putting an action plan in place will. Good luck!!

Edited November 8, 2015 by stacyg1

[pinkbunies 359]

I have had this problem and what has stopped me is if I eat to much I will throw up. So when I feel the restriction, I know to stop.

I do eat often as I work out every single day now and we have found that the problem I now have is I'm not eating enough. So I drink a lot of high calorie, high Protein shakes to help solve this problem.

If you aren't throwing up, you are likely not over eating.

[lorri716 256]

All I can say is we are human. It was one day. Get back to the basics and start again tomorrow. Don't be so hard on yourself. We all screw up. For many years we ate and ate and ate, now we have to make a conscious effort not to eat things that are bad for us or eat too much. Limit yourself and stick to it. You got this!

[sbg224 318]

Thanks everyone, today thank goodness I am really not hungry and have hardly been eating, but I did get 60gms of Protein so far, 1 premier shake and unflavored GENEPRO with some yogurt, and then dinner should give me my 80-100gms

The reason I cannot take a PPI is because prior to my surgery I had SIBO, which can come from using a PPI for an extended time. I really should not even take pepcid, but since it is not a PPI it seems to be OK and works just as well.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I have had this problem and what has stopped me is if I eat to much I will throw up. So when I feel the restriction, I know to stop.

I do eat often as I work out every single day now and we have found that the problem I now have is I'm not eating enough. So I drink a lot of high calorie, high Protein shakes to help solve this problem.

If you aren't throwing up, you are likely not over eating.

Not necessarily. Some of us have tummies seemingly made of steel that rarely if ever throw up. I don't think I've thrown up since I left the hospital over a year ago.

I agree with @@stacyg1, you had restriction but kept eating anyway. It was likely spaced far enough apart that you didn't have any other negative effects. My suggestion would be to go back to weighing and logging everything. If you feel eating frequently works better then plan 5 small meals or 3 meals and 2 Snacks. If it's planned and accounted for there's less chance you will over eat. If you think your are having issues with acid perhaps you may want to stay away from highly acidic foods.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I so completely disagree with the poster above who said "If you are not throwing up you are likely not overeating."

What an absolutely incorrect way to regard the sleeve and what it can (and can't) do for you.

To the OP and anyone else who thinks the sleeve is going to make you lose weight by itself, it won't.

There will be times you will want to overeat because you're [fill in the blank with any of these feelings and many others ... tired, thirsty, stressed, lonely, bored, happy, feeling celebratory, sick, angry, etc.].

If you don't own these things, buy a scale, measuring cups and spoons and weigh and measure your food portions. Find out how much and what you're supposed to be eating right now that will help you lose weight. And do your darnedest to eat those foods in those amounts.

And if you're not drinking lots of Water that will make you crave more food.< /p>

If you think you suffer from disordered eating, find a good counselor / therapist who can help you find ways to overcome those ways of eating. The sleeve will not fix anything like that. I'll repeat that: The sleeve will not fix anything like that.

Very best to you! Onward and downward.

[stacyg1 136]

Well said VSGAnn. At the risk of offending any posters, adopting the mindset that you can eat until vomiting or not vomiting means you're not overeating is stupid. Not to sound like a broken record but to be successful you need to learn to eat appropriate serving sizes of nourishing food. Not eat to the point of vomit and call it good. Whether your method is eyeballing a serving size or (my preferred method) actually weighing your food, you need to develop a more proactive approach. Eating until that one last bite pushes you over the edge is not a good strategy in my humble opinion. I wish everyone luck and recognize that everyone has their own way of walking the WLS road, but to me eating past maximum capacity should be avoided!

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I'd go even further with what @@stacyg1 said. I no longer seek that belly tight full feeling. I try to eat until sated. Sometimes that ½ a cup, sometimes a full cup. I no longer feel compelled to eat those last two bites. It's a different feeling and takes a lot of mental work, but I like that I can recognize it now.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Agreeing with @@stacyg1 and @@BLERDgirl I can really eat anything. I don't throw up and I can over eat if I ignore my restriction. Learning to eat until you are not hungry but not full is a fine point.

Like everyone else said, your sleeve is working, you felt full and you just pushed on. You have to get the head hunger together. Try overeaters anon.