I am one nutritionist appointment away from submitting my paperwork to the insurance company and was instructed to keep a food log of everything I eat for a month. Well folks, it is hard to be honest with myself when I realize just what I eat everyday. I thought I was doing pretty good with my eating, but lo and behold, I have some definite eating issues. I noticed that I tend to do okay in the morning, start to slip a little in the mid afternoon and by dinner time, whew! I am in trouble. I think it is because I work all day and by the time I get home, I am starving. There will be some changes made in the very near future to eliminate that feeling. I can see where this is one part of my life that will need to be improved, greatly, if I am to be successful. I know that many of us have done the WW plan and have probably kept food journals. I am just wondering what, if any, food issues you might have discovered about yourself.

Keep in mind, you are not necessarily starving by the end of the day. Chances are, like many of us that have been overweight, most eating has little to do with hunger. Now is the time to see if you can identify what is truly making you eat more during these times. (stress, boredom, temptation etc.) Because band or no-band, you will need to learn how to deal with those issues on your own. Just something to consider.

I found the same issue when I did a real analysis of what I was eating. Breakfast was light or skipped, lunch was fairly OK most of the time . . . but by end of the day, I almost sunk into "free-for-all" behavior prior to banding.

Was I really hungry? Well, yes I was a little after work and I usually had a later dinner so that would have something to tide me over. However that just precipitated bad behavior.

Later I realized that my eating at this time was my "reward" for making it through the work day and it was also a part of slipping into relaxation mode. It just became a habit for me that I had to overcome.

Since banding, I have been able to tackle this behavior and overcome it in appropriate ways. The first thing I did was move dinner earlier. I also do have an evening snack but it moved to after dinner and it might be a sugar free fudgesicle, cottage cheese, string cheese or something else similar. I had to decide ahead of time what "snack options" were acceptable and already had my mind made up so that I wasn't dwelling on choices (I had to stop thinking so much about food as well). The last but most important step was to find more appropriate ways to unwind, like going for a walk after dinner, taking a bubble bath, doing a little reading, etc.

It took this honest look into my habits to see that there were behavioral issues holding me back that had to be addressed. I can say that the band really helped me with this because it knocked out the hunger signals . . . I just had to work on my head.

I have been journaling on sparkpeople.com, it gives you %'s of exactly what you eat, when you eat, calorie count, etc. It has really opened my eyes to to my habits, my weak points, and my real problem areas! I to have a habit of doing really well thru the work day, then crash and burn at night. Weekends are really hard too. It seems the structure of the day is blown, so there goes my ability to make healthy choices and not go overboard with portions.

One thing I am trying to do, like a previous poster said, is to change my routine when I get home. Replace my snacking as soon as I get home with playing with my daughter, or doing a little housework. Anything to delay that urge to eat. I have found that if I wait 30 mins. or so, that extreme urge to eat has really dissipated. It really is head hunger.

:lol:My dad used to tell me to "live off the lay of the land" He was right! Weekends, well lets just say I am still a work in progress!

My psychologist recommended a book "Dr. Kushner's Personality Type Diet" it includes a test in it - if you answer thr questions honestly, you will be amazed! Very, very helpful...should be mandatory for all WLS patients!