How to Stop Grazing? Please Help!

[Blueslily 94]

Hello All,

I had my sleeve surgery exactly 7 months ago. Have done great with weight loss and no complications. I had my 6 month follow up last month, and surgeon said I was doing great. He asked if I was hungry, I said no.

Fast forward just 2-3 days, and I started grazing. It has gone on for 3 weeks now and in scared. I'm not hungry. I can graze even after meals when I feel full. It's like a few bites of fruit or almonds or now its carrots. I weigh daily which isn't an emotional issue for me. It's just a check. I am at goal so I'm not trying to lose more, but I'm not wanting to use grazing to maintain weight either. I was going to ask at my 8 month follow up appt next month, what should I do to stop losing and just maintai. Looks like I've found it. But, I dont want grazing to be the answer.

For those of you who had challenges with grazing, how did you stop it? Mine is totally mental. It started after my first true vacation in october. I did great with staying on plan during the trip. When I got back home, I felt the "back home from vacation" letdown and maybe even a little boredom. Then I started grazing. I need to stop. I'm scared because my restriction is a little less, and I don't want to trigger a bad habit. It's been 3 weeks. Please share what helped you stop. P.S. Yes, I'm alerting my dietitian today also. But, you all can share lived experience of what helped you stop.

Thanks!

Edited November 8, 2021 by Blueslily

[catwoman7 10,845]

just wanted to say I can relate - and my weight has headed up a little (a couple of lbs - but I need to rein this in before it becomes a real problem). Right now I'm just trying to find ways to stay out of the house in the afternoons, when the temptation is the strongest. Whatever it takes...

[Jaelzion 1,123]

Grazing has become my normal way of eating. I rarely sit down for a full meal. Instead I eat around six mini-meals throughout the day. It's the same number of calories because I am not grazing AND eating meals. I'm spreading the day's calories across a longer time period. And of course, I'm eating on plan, nutrient dense, protein-rich food and not junk. I start with Protein coffee in the morning and generally finish up with a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt before bed, eating something about every two hours. So far it works for me.

[huskymama 149]

I haven’t had surgery yet - I get it in December- but I have been binge watching my 600 pound life and I have learned a lot of tips and tricks but I also see on there people start grazing and gain eventually. Dr Now sends them to therapy to help them get back in track and some of them go back to the liquid stage to reset themselves. But the therapy always seems to work - we all eat and got to the point of needing the sleeve for some reason. I’ve been working on my hard before I have the surgery and I’ve lost 11 pounds the past month just by understanding why I’m using food to cope. Mine is mostly boredom and anxiety I have severe anxiety and while I adore my husband of 20 years he is actually the main source of my anxiety which surprised me. He is one of those people who is passive aggressive and always negative. I honestly had no idea until therapy and I have a Masters degree in psychology lol. So if you can I would try therapy see if it helps. Also our food away so you can’t see it - try doing something instead like painting or knitting, go stand in the porch and get some fresh air until it passes. I have been remodeling my walking closet/laundry room and bathroom. I sometimes only do it for a few minutes even if I don’t feel like it I push myself because not feeling like it is why I am now needing the surgery - at least one of the reasons. You’ve got this and you’ve hit the goal weight! Remember what you felt like before surgery and how you feel now. Is that carrot or whatever really worth it?! Good luck and congratulations on hitting goal! I can’t wait to be there with you!!!

[Blueslily 94]

2 hours ago, Jaelzion said:

Grazing has become my normal way of eating. I rarely sit down for a full meal. Instead I eat around six mini-meals throughout the day. It's the same number of calories because I am not grazing AND eating meals. I'm spreading the day's calories across a longer time period. And of course, I'm eating on plan, nutrient dense, protein-rich food and not junk. I start with Protein coffee in the morning and generally finish up with a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt before bed, eating something about every two hours. So far it works for me.

Thanks so much for your reply. Very helpful. I'm going to track more of the timing and see what happens. I just made it to 5 ounces.

[Blueslily 94]

2 hours ago, huskymama said:

I haven’t had surgery yet - I get it in December- but I have been binge watching my 600 pound life and I have learned a lot of tips and tricks but I also see on there people start grazing and gain eventually. Dr Now sends them to therapy to help them get back in track and some of them go back to the liquid stage to reset themselves. But the therapy always seems to work - we all eat and got to the point of needing the sleeve for some reason. I’ve been working on my hard before I have the surgery and I’ve lost 11 pounds the past month just by understanding why I’m using food to cope. Mine is mostly boredom and anxiety I have severe anxiety and while I adore my husband of 20 years he is actually the main source of my anxiety which surprised me. He is one of those people who is passive aggressive and always negative. I honestly had no idea until therapy and I have a Masters degree in psychology lol. So if you can I would try therapy see if it helps. Also our food away so you can’t see it - try doing something instead like painting or knitting, go stand in the porch and get some fresh air until it passes. I have been remodeling my walking closet/laundry room and bathroom. I sometimes only do it for a few minutes even if I don’t feel like it I push myself because not feeling like it is why I am now needing the surgery - at least one of the reasons. You’ve got this and you’ve hit the goal weight! Remember what you felt like before surgery and how you feel now. Is that carrot or whatever really worth it?! Good luck and congratulations on hitting goal! I can’t wait to be there with you!!!

Hi there,

Congrats on starting your journey. You make some good points for many folks on here to consider. I meet with a therapist once a month just to check in about how it's going. Hopefully everyone who goes through this process meets with someone during the process, not just for the initial clearance. I'm doing fine in the therapy realm. I should have clarified that I just meant when I was coming g down from the vacation high, I was feeling bored. That's not in general or why I'm grazing now.

Good luck with your remodeling projects. I spent about 80% of my weekend redoing my walk-in closet. All big clothes out and smaller clothes in. I had gone "shopping in my closet" a couple times during the summer. I had smaller clothes packed in plastic totes from years ago when I was smaller. I had gone through a couple totes during the summer as I lost weight to pick out a few things to wear. But, now that it's cold out, I had to go through again because I had zero warm clothes to wear in my drawers or hanging in the closet. So, this weeknd I literally took everything out all the drawers, closet, and totes and switched everything because summer clothes that had fit now dont, I had to try on all the smaller winter clothes that were packed in totes, take summer clothes out the drawers and swap for warmer ones, and I had to buy some winter clothes. It was quite the weekend project to redo what's in drawers and hanging in closet. Totes were swapped out as well. So, no boredom for me. Quite a busy weeknd. Sadly, spent some money during the process also. I've tried to keep my clothes cost down. Luckily my smaller clothes were good quality so they are still in style and in good shape. Woohoo!

All the best to you during your journey. Congrats on your weight loss so far. 😁

[Mz D 25]

2 hours ago, Jaelzion said:

Grazing has become my normal way of eating. I rarely sit down for a full meal. Instead I eat around six mini-meals throughout the day. It's the same number of calories because I am not grazing AND eating meals. I'm spreading the day's calories across a longer time period. And of course, I'm eating on plan, nutrient dense, protein-rich food and not junk. I start with Protein coffee in the morning and generally finish up with a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt before bed, eating something about every two hours. So far it works for me.

I'm not there yet since I just had surgery last month, but my restriction post surgery is so high I won't be surprised if I can only graze. I get maybe an ounce down and I'm too full for anything else. Spreading your calories out is smart and better for your blood sugar anyway.

[ms.sss 14,634]

LIke @Jaelzion, im a grazer. Its what i've got to do as I am limited as to what i can eat at one sitting...both during weight loss phase AND in maintenance (but more so in maintenance as a need to keep calories up)

I'm 3 years post op (and been maintaining my current weight consistently for almost 2.5 years) and this way of eating hasn't (yet) resulted in any unintended weight gain. For ME it doesn't seem to matter how often or what I'm eating...just total calories...so it doesn't matter if eat 2000 cals in 3 meals or if its spread out in 15 small Snacks throughout the the day....end result is still the same.

[Blueslily 94]

3 hours ago, ms.sss said:

LIke @Jaelzion, im a grazer. Its what i've got to do as I am limited as to what i can eat at one sitting...both during weight loss phase AND in maintenance (but more so in maintenance as a need to keep calories up)

I'm 3 years post op (and been maintaining my current weight consistently for almost 2.5 years) and this way of eating hasn't (yet) resulted in any unintended weight gain. For ME it doesn't seem to matter how often or what I'm eating...just total calories...so it doesn't matter if eat 2000 cals in 3 meals or if its spread out in 15 small Snacks throughout the the day....end result is still the same.

Thanks. This just feels so weird to me. It's like I got to goal weight and now I'm eating all day. It's like someone flipped the switch and it just happened. I want to eat and I do. But it's like a few carrots here or some nuts there. I never had this during the first 6 months. I ate at meal time, was full and, I was done. I didn't even think about food. Actually, i would have to remember to eat something because i might not be hungry at the next meal time. It just changed one day in october. And now I think about eating often. But, I'm not hungry. Scares me though. Luckily I don't have anything bad or off plan in my house. I don't crave anything off plan. Just think about eating. I'm not bored or sad or anything like that. Life is busy and fulfilling.

[Arabesque 6,445]

I take ages to eat a meal - 30 to 60 minutes or more - so in a way I graze. It allows me to eat that little bit more so I can maintain. I also snack. Fewer times a day now then I initially did when trying to maintain because of the prolonged eating.

If we’re honest we all experience times when we just want a little mindless munching. Guess the two things to consider are what are you grazing on & why are you grazing? I snack on foods that contain between 5g (a cheese stick) & 20g (yoghurt) Protein not including fruit & are good sources of essential nutrients. On those days when I want something (usually salty) I ask myself why I want it. I also try to wait 30 minutes &/or look for something to do to take my mind off the craving. You may find this helpful if it is boredom that’s driving you to munch. (By the way, what is it about the afternoons & eating? My time between eating dramatically decreases as the day passes.)

I also ensure there’s nothing in the cupboard that’s a temptation or empty calories. Easier of course if you don’t have family members to consider. If I do weaken I only have multi grain rice crackers or roasted fava Beans in my pantry.

It’s not always easy to find what best works for you. You may find grazing on many little meals, grazing on one meal for a long time or snacking a way of ensuring you consume the calories you need to maintain.