I was recently asked about how if, part of obesity, is mindless eating, how does one change that bad habit after having weight loss surgery? Well keep in mind, that this surgery is only a tool so this problem does not magically disappear. I have days where I fight the urge to constantly graze. It's still there - that tendency to overweight or binge is always lurking in the background. It happens from time to time - just yesterday, I 'binged' on two bags of chips. No, I'm not perfect.
The difference is that the urge is there much less frequently for me. Usually I am in "eat to live mode and not live to eat mode". It begins with surgery right away. Shortly after surgery, there is no big hunger drive anymore. While there is head hunger -- the urge to WANT to eat after seeing something that looks good, the physical urge to eat is diminished. Part of this is due to the fact that the stomach is swollen after surgery. I had no real physical hunger. Many people have a hard time distinguishing between "head hunger" and "physical hunger". Very simply, I had no physical hunger because I felt very disconnected from my stomach. I no longer had any sense of where my stomach was even located once I had surgery. Remember, as a post op, we now have 2 stomachs. Yes 2 stomachs - one functioning and one non-functioning.
After surgery, there is a regimented eating plan that ensured I did not binge. I could not since I was on liquids for 3 weeks. Once I moved on to regular foods, I would find myself very satiated on a small amount of food. Ah the wonders of surgery. It was such a pleasure to have small amounts of food that I was very satisfied with very little. No urge to binge at all. After surgery your mind definitely changes - you weigh "is this worth the calories on the scale" and find that it is much easier to turn down foods that you would have eaten before "just because it was there". You are losing, you feel great...and you just know you don't want to jeopardize your one shot at changing your life.
In terms of binges, I've had 3 real binges in the 9 months since surgery and even those, in retrospect are not like pre-surgery binges because of the sheer small amount of food I can only eat per sitting. During Christmas holidays, I binged on Turtles that my aunt gave me. It lasted 2 days, and then I picked myself up, dusted myself off and got back on track. I was basically "grazing" on Turtles and then, baked goods given to me from one of my kids. During March break, I also grazed for a night - just junk food. And just yesterday, I grazed too.
What comprised my binge last night? Two mini bags (like Halloween bags) of chips and 3 mini Air-Heads (candy taffy stuff). It totally felt like binging but it was not a *huge* amount. Before surgery, if I'd had a binge night it would have been a whole litre of Haagen-Daz Caramel Cone Explosion: 1280 calories, 76 grams of fat! It may have included some chocolate, and sunflower seeds as well. I am first to admit that when I'd binge, I would put away alot of calories. I got fat for a reason! (I hate when people say "gee I was fat, but eat like everyone else - I am honest here - I could really binge when I wanted to especially if upset about something!). Anyway, back to my binge yeserday -The mini bags of chips came to a whopping 300 calories and I think the fat was something like 10 grams. That is a huge difference when you compare a pre-op binge to a post-op binge, don't you think?
Everytime that I've binged, I've thought about how far I've come, and what I want to achieve, and I've picked myself up, dusted myself off and got back on track. Luckily my binge yesterday did not affect the scale so I feel good that I've rebounded nicely and can get back on track despite my 'falling off track' episode yesterday.
Dawn
I was recently asked about how if, part of obesity, is mindless eating, how does one change that bad habit after having weight loss surgery? Well keep in mind, that this surgery is only a tool so this problem does not magically disappear. I have days where I fight the urge to constantly graze. It's still there - that tendency to overweight or binge is always lurking in the background. It happens from time to time - just yesterday, I 'binged' on two bags of chips. No, I'm not perfect.
The difference is that the urge is there much less frequently for me. Usually I am in "eat to live mode and not live to eat mode". It begins with surgery right away. Shortly after surgery, there is no big hunger drive anymore. While there is head hunger -- the urge to WANT to eat after seeing something that looks good, the physical urge to eat is diminished. Part of this is due to the fact that the stomach is swollen after surgery. I had no real physical hunger. Many people have a hard time distinguishing between "head hunger" and "physical hunger". Very simply, I had no physical hunger because I felt very disconnected from my stomach. I no longer had any sense of where my stomach was even located once I had surgery. Remember, as a post op, we now have 2 stomachs. Yes 2 stomachs - one functioning and one non-functioning.
After surgery, there is a regimented eating plan that ensured I did not binge. I could not since I was on liquids for 3 weeks. Once I moved on to regular foods, I would find myself very satiated on a small amount of food. Ah the wonders of surgery. It was such a pleasure to have small amounts of food that I was very satisfied with very little. No urge to binge at all. After surgery your mind definitely changes - you weigh "is this worth the calories on the scale" and find that it is much easier to turn down foods that you would have eaten before "just because it was there". You are losing, you feel great...and you just know you don't want to jeopardize your one shot at changing your life.
In terms of binges, I've had 3 real binges in the 9 months since surgery and even those, in retrospect are not like pre-surgery binges because of the sheer small amount of food I can only eat per sitting. During Christmas holidays, I binged on Turtles that my aunt gave me. It lasted 2 days, and then I picked myself up, dusted myself off and got back on track. I was basically "grazing" on Turtles and then, baked goods given to me from one of my kids. During March break, I also grazed for a night - just junk food. And just yesterday, I grazed too.
What comprised my binge last night? Two mini bags (like Halloween bags) of chips and 3 mini Air-Heads (candy taffy stuff). It totally felt like binging but it was not a *huge* amount. Before surgery, if I'd had a binge night it would have been a whole litre of Haagen-Daz Caramel Cone Explosion: 1280 calories, 76 grams of fat! It may have included some chocolate, and sunflower seeds as well. I am first to admit that when I'd binge, I would put away alot of calories. I got fat for a reason! (I hate when people say "gee I was fat, but eat like everyone else - I am honest here - I could really binge when I wanted to especially if upset about something!). Anyway, back to my binge yeserday -The mini bags of chips came to a whopping 300 calories and I think the fat was something like 10 grams. That is a huge difference when you compare a pre-op binge to a post-op binge, don't you think?
Everytime that I've binged, I've thought about how far I've come, and what I want to achieve, and I've picked myself up, dusted myself off and got back on track. Luckily my binge yesterday did not affect the scale so I feel good that I've rebounded nicely and can get back on track despite my 'falling off track' episode yesterday.
Dawn