Ugh... The hunger is coming back. What can I do?!!!

48 minutes ago, LindsayT said:

Ugh... The hunger is coming back. What can I do?!!!

I unfortunately only spent a few months following surgery without being overly hungry, but after about the three month mark it came back with a vengeance, so I decided to do some research. I now consume Non digestive or Resistant meladextrin. Its a corn fiber that your body can't digest so; no calories, good fiber and probiotics purported to help with the following:

Resistant maltodextrin is believed to enhance gut health by [19, 29, 30]:

• Promoting the growth of good gut bacteria
• Improving stool weight, consistency, and bowel movements

According to some researchers, resistant maltodextrin has potential against obesity, diabetes, and heart disease because, in various studies, it has [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]:

• Reduced belly fat and body weight
• Decreased food intake
• Increased satiety hormones (glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY)
• Lowered the production of the “hunger” hormone (ghrelin)
• Reduced blood sugar levels and insulin resistance
• Blocking the growth of cancer cells and tumors ** hasn't been proven**
• Decreasing endotoxins, inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers (TNF-a, IFN gamma, MDA)
• Increasing protective antibodies and anti-inflammatory substances (IgA, butyrate, IL-10)

• In clinical studies of over 200 people, resistant maltodextrin enhanced the growth of good gut bacteria, including [19, 29, 44, 47, 48]:

• Bifidobacterium
• Ruminococcus
• Eubacterium
• Lactobacillus
• Lachnospiraceae
• Bacteroides
• Holdemania
• Faecalibacterium
• As a resistant starch, this type of maltodextrin will help keep your blood sugar level stable after meals. In a meta-analysis of over 900 people, resistant maltodextrin blocked the increase of blood sugar after meals (postprandial glycemia) [37].
• resistant maltodextrin decreased blood glucose and insulin levels. It increased a weight-loss protein called adiponectin that blocks glucose production.

• 3) Obesity

  In several clinical studies of over 300 overweight people, resistant maltodextrin reduced body weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat. In one 12-week clinical study of 30 people with metabolic syndrome, it decreased waist circumference and belly fat [31, 55, 35].

  In clinical studies of over 160 overweight men, resistant maltodextrin decreased feelings of hunger, increased satiety, and reduced and food intake. In another study on 32 healthy people, it decreased levels of the “hunger” hormone (ghrelin), lowered feelings of hunger and improved satiety [31, 32, 33, 34].

  In rats, resistant maltodextrin reduced body weight, belly fat, and suppressed excess food intake [56, 6, 50

I found numerous research studies that pretty much said the same things above..so I figured I'd give it a try. It has no flavor and desolved completely so I just add it to my water plus it has no calories and helps regulate Ghrelin (hunger hormone). It really seems to help! I just make sure its non GMO etc etc.

Perhaps it can help you, I figured it couldn't hurt and I do feel less hungry...still by try but less.

Edited April 6, 20242 yr by BlondePatriotInCDA

Start by adding more non-starchy veggies to every meal. At least, this is my plan for further down the road. I think the temptation is to increase portions size across the plate when we're hungry, but if you have been getting your 60-80g protein per day already, you don't need more. So keep the meat and starch or carb servings the same as your plan suggests but add a baby spinach salad or more cooked veg to your plate. It will fill you up but not cause your body to increase your set point the way processed food and simple carbs would.

yea it happens. I try to add fiber and/or healthy fats without going over my calorie limit. Or as NickelChip suggested, more non-starchy vegetables.

10 hours ago, LindsayT said:

Ugh... The hunger is coming back. What can I do?!!!

a couple weeks ago i remember your post about your struggle to stop losing...are you still losing while this hunger appeared? perhaps its your body's response to the weight losses...? if thats the case, then perhaps listen to your bod and eat more?

i can imagine that eating more is in itself a struggle...it took me 3-4 months to get over the mental block to actually stop diet mode (and like 2 years to get over the mental block of eating bread/rice/pasta lol)

if im not mistaken you just recently reached goal? (congrats again btw), my suggestion would be to give yourself a bit more time (ie several months) to find your happy spot, it usually takes a while before you get to the autopilot of maintenance...great suggestions above...experiment with (small amounts) of (preferably nutritious) foods and amounts and see what help with the hunger. keep an eye on the scale in tandem to determine any causal relationships with certain foods.

but yeah, i know, "easier said...".

good luck, and it CAN be done! ❤️

Edited April 6, 20242 yr by ms.sss

1 hour ago, ms.sss said:

a couple weeks ago i remember your post about your struggle to stop losing...are you still losing while this hunger appeared? perhaps its your body's response to the weight losses...? if thats the case, then perhaps listen to your bod and eat more?

i can imagine that eating more is in itself a struggle...it took me 3-4 months to get over the mental block to actually stop diet mode (and like 2 years to get over the mental block of eating bread/rice/pasta lol)

if im not mistaken you just recently reached goal? (congrats again btw), my suggestion would be to give yourself a bit more time (ie several months) to find your happy spot, it usually takes a while before you get to the autopilot of maintenance...great suggestions above...experiment with (small amounts) of (preferably nutritious) foods and amounts and see what help with the hunger. keep an eye on the scale in tandem to determine any causal relationships with certain foods.

but yeah, i know, "easier said...".

good luck, and it CAN be done! ❤️

I have been losing, but not much. I'm down to 134 this morning after eating a bunch the last few days. I was holding steady between 135-137 for a while. It's hard to get out of the diet mindset,but I also do want to get back into bad habits.

I never lost my hunger. Not with the sleeve and not with the revision to bypass. I just have more of a hard stop now that can't be ignored. My big thing has always been training my head. It's HARD, but very necessary. I always made sure I had 3 meals and 2 snack and a TON of fluids. And by a ton, I do mean A TON. My head told me I needed to eat, even when I knew I didn't. And that can manifest into physical hunger. I put myself on a schedule. Breakfast between this time and this time, snack here, lunch around this time, snack here, dinner between this time and this time. And then DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. Eventually my head and stomach learned when it's time to eat and when it's not. I only really run into trouble if I miss those times by a lot. THEN I'm in a minefield.

Focus on protein as your #1 with food and snacks. That fills you up and keeps you full longer. Veggies are 2nd. Then carbs and HEALTHY fats. Sometimes at night, I'll have a sugar free popsicle if I really can't ignore the 3rd snack craving. I don't do it often, but the tropical ones are my favorite and they hit the spot.

Make sure you're getting enough calories. Don't starve yourself, but also don't over eat. It's all about balance and training your brain. It takes a lot of time, patience, and effort. But I promise it's worth it.

OK so you're still losing, albeit slowly. Think you might be approaching *the rest of your life*! Welcome to the far side. Keep lots of fruit and veggie snacks to hand.

You have done so so well. Hunger comes back to all of us after WLS - almost always. If you've been able to change how and what you eat in the last year you should be OK. I know it's freaky to actually feel hunger again after such a lovely honeymoon period. But you'll be fine if you keep track of what you eat and why. ?

Thanks everyone. The hunger is not a welcome feeling after almost a year of making myself eat. My one year is May 1 and I'll have a body composition test at that time. I'm curious where I land.

I re-weighed myself this morning in my birthday suit and I was 133. On a crazy note, at 131 I'll have lost half my starting weight... Basically, my current weight lost. ?

Oh yeah, that is properly weird! I briefly hit that a few months ago. Strange to think of yourself walking around with another yourself on piggyback. WLS is the best. ?

And you're not even a year post op! I lost 10lbs in my second year. If you stick to your plan you may lose even more.

Just now, Spinoza said:

And you're not even a year post op! I lost 10lbs in my second year. If you stick to your plan you may lose even more.

2 minutes ago, Spinoza said:

Oh yeah, that is properly weird! I briefly hit that a few months ago. Strange to think of yourself walking around with another yourself on piggyback. WLS is the best. ?

Yes! I have ZERO regrets