I am about a year and 4 months out from my sleeve surgery. I am down about 106 pounds. I feel as thought I eat when I’m not hungry and eat a lot of things throughout the day. I can’t eat anymore than 8oz at my meals but I find myself eating every few hours , it’s uncontrollable. Does anyone else have this problem and how can I correct it? I try so hard but the urges are unstoppable. [emoji20]

If you feel that you have an actual addition problem don't be afraid to reach out for professional help. I've often said that struggles with food can be as bad as any drug addition. There are days where I drive through town and it's hard to not veer off to the gas station for junk food or resist that urge to have "just one bite" from something fast food. It's been as hard at times as it was to quit smoking.

I do fine when I'm busy. It's when it's slow at work or I'm sitting around the house and boredom hunger shows its ugly head. At work I used to bring extra stuff with me so that I always had something on hand if I forgot to bring food from home, or had to do something after work and knew I would be late getting home (but would need to eat something). I've cut back on that so I only have what I intend to eat for the day. It's too easy to make an excuse to eat, like "oh if I don't I may not hit my protein for the day" or "I drank too much coffee so I need to eat to settle my stomach."

The thing that also sucks is when you know you're struggling then you start thinking about it more. It's like the old joke of telling somebody "don't think about sex." What do you do? Immediately start thinking about sex. For me I'll start looking at the clock and get worried that I have 2 hours yet before lunch but want to eat now. Days when I have struggles I have to stay busy. If I'm sitting in my office dwelling on thoughts of food then I'll go out into the plant to get away, or go outside and walk for a few minutes to clear my head.

If you feel that you have an actual addition problem don't be afraid to reach out for professional help. I've often said that struggles with food can be as bad as any drug addition. There are days where I drive through town and it's hard to not veer off to the gas station for junk food or resist that urge to have "just one bite" from something fast food. It's been as hard at times as it was to quit smoking.

I do fine when I'm busy. It's when it's slow at work or I'm sitting around the house and boredom hunger shows its ugly head. At work I used to bring extra stuff with me so that I always had something on hand if I forgot to bring food from home, or had to do something after work and knew I would be late getting home (but would need to eat something). I've cut back on that so I only have what I intend to eat for the day. It's too easy to make an excuse to eat, like "oh if I don't I may not hit my Protein for the day" or "I drank too much coffee so I need to eat to settle my stomach."
The thing that also sucks is when you know you're struggling then you start thinking about it more. It's like the old joke of telling somebody "don't think about sex." What do you do? Immediately start thinking about sex. For me I'll start looking at the clock and get worried that I have 2 hours yet before lunch but want to eat now. Days when I have struggles I have to stay busy. If I'm sitting in my office dwelling on thoughts of food then I'll go out into the plant to get away, or go outside and walk for a few minutes to clear my head.

Thank you so much. It’s exactly how I been feeling. It’s really rough, I just don’t want to ever gain my weight back.

What are your main struggles? I know you said eating throughout the day. How long apart are we talking about? An hour? Two hours? When I quit smoking I knew it was going to be rough no matter what. I at least left in my smokes that I knew would be toughest to break at first. That way my goal was to at least make it from morning to lunch without any. From there I got to the point of going from morning to last break, then end of the day, then not until evening, and so forth.

I have no idea why but there are days where I'm good with doing 3-4 meals that are somewhat larger, and then other days I'm better off doing 6 small meals. There are times when I could eat a cup of chicken salad no problem other the next day I eat half a cup and feel stuffed. Are you eating healthy options or slipping back into bad stuff and/or slider foods?

I actually drink protein shake for breakfast, lunch is always pretty healthy, I do meal preps, I do proteins with some veggies. My down fall is snacking at night that’s my problem or after lunch, if there’s snacks in the kitchen at work I tend to keep munching on whatever’s there. It is really uncontrollable when I’m home, I just eat whatever is around when I’m not even hungry. I feel as though, I’m trying to get the satisfaction but I tend to never get it. If I’m munching on one thing, I always think about the next thing I’m going to munch on. I’m trying to hard to stop it. For the most part, I have healthy snacks in the house but I will go to stores and pick up chocolate or chips and pick those over the healthy options at home. I’m not gaining and that’s I think the reason I keep making excuses but I really think I have a problem.

I feel like every 1.5 to 2 hours I’m looking to eat.

5 minutes ago, itzbrittaanyx3 said:

I actually drink Protein Shake for Breakfast, lunch is always pretty healthy, I do meal preps, I do Proteins with some veggies. My down fall is snacking at night that’s my problem or after lunch, if there’s Snacks in the kitchen at work I tend to keep munching on whatever’s there. It is really uncontrollable when I’m home, I just eat whatever is around when I’m not even hungry. I feel as though, I’m trying to get the satisfaction but I tend to never get it. If I’m munching on one thing, I always think about the next thing I’m going to munch on. I’m trying to hard to stop it. For the most part, I have healthy snacks in the house but I will go to stores and pick up chocolate or chips and pick those over the healthy options at home. I’m not gaining and that’s I think the reason I keep making excuses but I really think I have a problem.

It's a legit concern. Even "healthy" snack options can be a bad thing if it's going on all day long. Head hunger is such a pain in the ass to deal with. I struggle every day when I get home. It was routine for years to eat as soon as I get home from work and even now I fight that battle. If I have to work on something as soon as I get home I'm okay as I'm no thinking about it. If I sit down to rest after a long day all I want to do is eat.

I think it's common for all of us to have those days where nothing seems to satisfy no matter what you eat. Those days suck bad and I hate them. Part of it goes back to dwelling on it so much. You look at the clock and think that you shouldn't eat again for another two hours. Then you end up spending the next two hours looking at the clock wondering how long until you can eat again. All you end up doing is thinking about food.

Do you have a support network from the clinic that handled your WLS? Mine has a monthly support group. That could be a place to start.

You are seriously describing what I’m going through!! And I never really looked into those groups but I think I should start. Thank you so much. It feels good knowing I’m not going through this along

32 minutes ago, itzbrittaanyx3 said:

You are seriously describing what I’m going through!! And I never really looked into those groups but I think I should start. Thank you so much. It feels good knowing I’m not going through this along

Honestly it's hit home over this past year as to what it must be like being a recovering alcoholic. I've heard that many people don't look at ever beating it completely. It's a constant battle where you have good days/weeks/months/years and others are a struggle. I effing loved to smoke and I never thought I'd be able to quit smoking. Was a really tough first year but got through it. Going on something like 7 years now since I quit and there are times where I'd love to have a smoke. I don't dwell on it for long an it passes, but every now and then those urges come up. Food is going to be a tougher battle for me.

2 hours ago, itzbrittaanyx3 said:

I feel like every 1.5 to 2 hours I’m looking to eat.

I have eaten every 1.5-2 hours (now closer to 2 hours) apart all along this journey. So that has me eating 7-8 times a day. I just have specific macros that I stick to, and I only eat certain things (basically meat, eggs, cheese, and green vegetables).

Eating in this kind of cycle has been both productive and sustainable. There is no issue with frequent eating if you set it up the right way.

Edited February 22, 20188 yr by blizair09
typo

Honestly it's hit home over this past year as to what it must be like being a recovering alcoholic. I've heard that many people don't look at ever beating it completely. It's a constant battle where you have good days/weeks/months/years and others are a struggle. I effing loved to smoke and I never thought I'd be able to quit smoking. Was a really tough first year but got through it. Going on something like 7 years now since I quit and there are times where I'd love to have a smoke. I don't dwell on it for long an it passes, but every now and then those urges come up. Food is going to be a tougher battle for me.

I could not even imagine ... it must be tough. I have family members that attempted to quit smoking and they weren’t always successful. But you should feel proud. 7 years is a long time! And my love for food is so strong , it’s hard to break the habit.