So, I am 8 1/2 months out revision from sleeve to bypass. I have been doing great up until the last month and my hunger and cravings has returned with a vengeance. I am hungry ALL the time! I am drinking a lot to try and push it back but my head hunger and physical hunger can be out of control. I have gotten down to almost the same exact spot that i got to at my lowest with the sleeve (and wasn't able to lost anymore) and now and i have gained and lost the same 4 lbs over and over for 2 months.

Thoughts? Advice?

Clean out your diet again. You cant stop all of the reasons for hunger returning but you control what you eat when it does. Try eating (clean lean dressing free) salads

I will always advocate for this because its really hard to gain *a lot* of weight from romaine, iceberg, kale and spinach leaves but really easy to feel full

Sugar free liquids blended with ice feel more substantial and decadent (Its how Starbucks can get away with charging so much for their frappacinos)

Now that warm weather is here try experimenting with flavor combos making very low cal high flavor slushies and smoothies.

You can TOTALLY win control ?

Edited May 24, 20197 yr by GreenTealael

4 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Clean out your diet again. You cant stop all of the reasons for hunger returning but you control what you eat when it does. Try eating (clean lean dressing free) salads

I will always advocate for this because its really hard to gai a lot of weight from romaine, iceberg, kale and spinach leaves but really easy to feel full

sugar free liquids blended with ice feel more substantial and decadent (Its how Starbucks can get away worh charging so much for their frappacinos)

Now that warm weather is here try experimenting with flavor combos making very low cal high flavor slushies and smoothies.

You can TOTALLY win control ?

Great Advice! TY. I know your right. I think i have just been starting to feel defeated because of the hungry and I am miserable fighting hunger all the time and i don't want to gain the weight back. I need to push forward and make good choices.

46 minutes ago, shoregirl75 said:

Great Advice! TY. I know your right. I think i have just been starting to feel defeated because of the hungry and I am miserable fighting hunger all the time and i don't want to gain the weight back. I need to push forward and make good choices.

Gosh fighting hunger is miserable. ((hugs)) And you're right on track. About this time, many of us found that our hunger and capacity really "matured" even more than it did for some of us early on--around the 3 month or so mark. Dr. Weiner talks about this phenomenon, and it's an expected outcome--even a desired one.

That's why the first few months of the honeymoon are so important. If you spend those months in the belief that you don't have to begin liking new lean healthy foods and can continue your attachment to high cal/high carb/high fat comforty type of foods--just eat less of them...it's a terrible terrible awakening. And hunger will still your joy and regain does happen! Others who have check-stops in place--do wonderfully well in the old diets in moderation. Just see @sillykitty's phenomenal success!! But these people absolutely adopt different methods to controlling their energy input and exercise/activity level with great success.

As @GreenTealael mentioned, it's hard to gain weight eating a ton-o-the-leafy-greens and add to that raw veg like cucumber, radish, baby carrots, celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash. Any raw veggie sans calorie dense fattening dressing work great to fill up the real estate in your hungry tummy. The chewing alone helps your gut brain access reconnect. Also adding lean protein to it such as tuna, sardines, wild salmon, grilled chicken will fill you without filling you out.

Honestly, the biggest tool as Tea mentioned is IF for me. I do 16:8 or 18:6 daily. I still readily and easily hit my protein goal for the day from all sources (lean meat/seafood proteins + veggies + VERY limited nuts/dairy + egg whites/eggs) on 2 meals + a small snack. I'm still trying to lose my last pounds so I'm still keeping cals around the 600-850 mark and getting plenty of food but the IF really helps defuse and teach me about the relationship with food and how it affects my hunger.

There are liquids that also help with hunger:

1. Green tea and matcha (hot or cold, either extreme works really well for diffusing hunger)
2. 100+ ounces of sugarless liquid.
3. Hot or iced decaff coffee (swiss water method)

Things to drop to help curb hunger:

1. Any snacky foods (crackers, chips, salty/crunchy dippy stuff)
2. Any pasta, rice, potatoes, grains, winter squashes, tubers, high value calorie and carb dense foods
3. Any composit calorie dense foods (cheesy casseroles, gooey ethnic cuisines, pizza, lasagna, pot pies, stews)
4. Any wet proteins (things with meat lube like Salsbury steak, Swiss steak, smothered chicken/steak, stroganoff)
5. Any cheesy gooey veggie casseroles that are calorie dense (cauli mac and cheese, cheesy broccoli souffle, creamed spinach, etc)
6. Nuts and nut butters (so easy to over eat and eat preferentially for convenience.
7. Any bars, shakes, otherwise known as diet candy
8. Drop ALL forms of sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Go back to basics of your forever post surgery diet:

1. Protein first (2-4oz per meal)
2. No eating/drinking 30/30 at least or 15:60
3. 1 cup food max per meal
4. Meal comp is: lean protein + al dente veggies + 1tsp healthy fats or 1oz avocado or 1/3oz nuts or 1/2oz cheese

If there is room left, fill it up with salad.

DO this for 2 weeks. See if it starts weight loss again and eases hunger/cravings. Once you are stable, then you can add foods 1 at a time every few days to see which ones trigger your hunger. You WILL be able to tell.

Good luck!

1 hour ago, shoregirl75 said:

So, I am 8 1/2 months out revision from sleeve to bypass. I have been doing great up until the last month and my hunger and cravings has returned with a vengeance. I am hungry ALL the time! I am drinking a lot to try and push it back but my head hunger and physical hunger can be out of control. I have gotten down to almost the same exact spot that i got to at my lowest with the sleeve (and wasn't able to lost anymore) and now and i have gained and lost the same 4 lbs over and over for 2 months.

Thoughts? Advice?

Here are a few things to try to satisfy your hunger. (Make sure any of my examples fit your plan)

• Log your food and stay within your calories and macros. (Myfitnesspal or baritastic)
• Get temptation foods out of your home
• Once you add real sugars and extra carbs you crave them more. They cause hunger. Detox off them.
• If you deprive sweet and salty cravings, you will want them more. Keep healthy options for salty and sweet cravings in your house. Salty: chicken fajitas without the tortilla, jerky, quest protein chips. Sweet: Dannon light n fit Greek yogurt, Strawberries dipped in sugar free cholate syrup, sugar free popsicles or jello.
• Eat dense protein sources with the other foods on your plan. Eat as much clean wonderful veggies as you want until full.
• Ditch protein shakes and bars. (they are god for emergencies when you can’t get to a meal) Real whole foods will keep you feeling more satisfied.
• I Eat five/six small meals or every two to three hours - Log keep within your calories and macros for the day*** don’t turn this into grazing over your calories. You will gain weight**
• Head hunger and snacking – Distract yourself, go for a walk, read a book or listen to a podcast on weight loss mental battles. Keep a veggie tray in the refrigerator. Allow yourself to snack on veggies. If you try to bargain with yourself for other options, you know its head hunger.

Ahhh ... yes, good ol' hunger monster and I go way back! Had had 6 months post op without physical hunger, and then similarly to you, at about 20 lbs to goal, it came back.

Lots of great info on this thread!

Here's my $0.02

Physical hunger and head hunger are totally different animals, and have different ways to fight them

Physical hunger is actually easier for me. First, as mentioned above, Intermittent Fasting (IF) was a game changer for me. For me the more I eat, the more hungry I am. The longer I go without eating, my hunger lessens.

My body is also easily trained to expect to eat at certain times. My hunger was actually awakened on a vacation. I not usually a breakfast eater, but B&B's include breakfast, so I ate the "free" breakfast every morning. I started waking up hungry, which continued after I got home.

So for me, the way I fast is I just push my first meal back as late as possible. When I feel hungry, I push liquids. Most of the time the hunger will pass. I could often get to 2 pm, and do a 18:6. And while their might be magic in IF itself, the fact is I eat less calories if I'm only eating for 6 hrs out of the day vs. 12+.

Additionally, if you're truly hungry, it's easier to make good choices. Grilled chicken is delicious when I'm hungry, while it is boring if I'm just snacky, you know?

You know what I think I may love best about IF ... you can't fail! If one day the hunger monster won't be banished, that's ok, just eat. No reason to be miserably hungry, just try to make good choices, and try again tomorrow. Some version of IF actually have fast days and feast days. So you didn't fail, you just did 5:2 IF

Now head hunger, that's a tougher one for me, and one I've had less success fighting overall.

I tried to remove temptation from my house. If I had to go to the store for chips, I was less likely to eat them. I stopped watching any cooking shows, and stopped browsing food or recipe website, even healthy ones. I kept healthy foods stocked, low cal soups, jerky, fresh veggies, laughing cow cheese, deli meat, poached chicken, low cal condiments. If I was just feeling snacky and it was overwhelming then I'd just try to eat all the good stuff. As @GreenTealael said, you're not going to gain weight on lettuce!

Sometimes though, I just really really wanted food X. I had two strategies. Say I was craving Mexican food. Sometimes I was able to be satisfied by going out and getting something that satisfied the craving, but was still a healthy choice. For instance, getting ceviche vs. cheese enchiladas. Sometimes I just really really wanted the cheese enchiladas, then I had them! But I didn't take home the leftovers, logged it, and what was done was done. Tomorrow was a new day and no reason to beat myself up for being human.

Hope that helps!

2 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

Ahhh ... yes, good ol' hunger monster and I go way back! Had had 6 months post op without physical hunger, and then similarly to you, at about 20 lbs to goal, it came back.

Lots of great info on this thread!

Here's my $0.02

Physical hunger and head hunger are totally different animals, and have different ways to fight them

Physical hunger is actually easier for me. First, as mentioned above, Intermittent Fasting (IF) was a game changer for me. For me the more I eat, the more hungry I am. The longer I go without eating, my hunger lessens.

My body is also easily trained to expect to eat at certain times. My hunger was actually awakened on a vacation. I not usually a Breakfast eater, but B&B's include breakfast, so I ate the "free" breakfast every morning. I started waking up hungry, which continued after I got home.

So for me, the way I fast is I just push my first meal back as late as possible. When I feel hungry, I push liquids. Most of the time the hunger will pass. I could often get to 2 pm, and do a 18:6. And while their might be magic in IF itself, the fact is I eat less calories if I'm only eating for 6 hrs out of the day vs. 12+.

Additionally, if you're truly hungry, it's easier to make good choices. Grilled chicken is delicious when I'm hungry, while it is boring if I'm just snacky, you know?

You know what I think I may love best about IF ... you can't fail! If one day the hunger monster won't be banished, that's ok, just eat. No reason to be miserably hungry, just try to make good choices, and try again tomorrow. Some version of IF actually have fast days and feast days. So you didn't fail, you just did 5:2 IF

Now head hunger, that's a tougher one for me, and one I've had less success fighting overall.

I tried to remove temptation from my house. If I had to go to the store for chips, I was less likely to eat them. I stopped watching any cooking shows, and stopped browsing food or recipe website, even healthy ones. I kept healthy foods stocked, low cal Soups, Jerky, fresh veggies, laughing cow cheese, deli meat, poached chicken, low cal Condiments. If I was just feeling snacky and it was overwhelming then I'd just try to eat all the good stuff. As @GreenTealael said, you're not going to gain weight on lettuce!

Sometimes though, I just really really wanted food X. I had two strategies. Say I was craving Mexican food. Sometimes I was able to be satisfied by going out and getting something that satisfied the craving, but was still a healthy choice. For instance, getting ceviche vs. cheese enchiladas. Sometimes I just really really wanted the cheese enchiladas, then I had them! But I didn't take home the leftovers, logged it, and what was done was done. Tomorrow was a new day and no reason to beat myself up for being human.

Hope that helps!

This is such a marvelous post and success strategy!!!! Gosh I you!

Hey would you come post this over on the Doing the Headwork thread. It's such actionable advice!!!! TY in advance hon!

In 2013 I lost a lot of weight doing IF. It was the only eating plan that actually worked long term for me and I'm planning on getting back to it when I start to plateau. Back then I was doing 16:8 and my macros were set at 50/30/20 and if I felt really ambitious 40/40/20. So my question to you guys who are doing IF now is what is your macro ratio?