Feeling out of sorts, and unique... Link to pics added!

I don't know how to explain the way that I am feeling, so this may be a long post. I'll apologize now,  just in case. 

It seems like I am different than most of the people here, in that my weight problems were not the result of food addiction. I didn't eat emotionally, I just had bad eating habits. Please don't get me wrong, I am not judging anyone else for their weight issues, or the cause of it. I just need help with mine, and the only way I can get the help I need,  is to explain my own personal situation. 

For years I ate one meal a day. I would wake up and go to work, work all day, and then come home and eat a huge meal. Then at bedtime, I would have a snack of some sort, and not have to go to bed on an empty stomach. I never got hungry during the day. I always worked so hard that I burned off all of the calories. Then I got hurt. Even though I was no longer working the way I had been, I was still eating the same way. That's when I gained my weight. Over 130lbs of weight gained in a very short time. 

Fast forward to today; I am still having problems with eating more than one meal a day. I am 10lbs past my goal weight of 190lbs. I weighed 180lbs this morning and still losing. I still don't get hungry until evening. I force myself to drink 8oz of protein drink when I wake up, and then another one at around noon. Each one has 28gm of protein.  So there's 56gm of protein so far in the day. I still need around 44gm per doctor's recommendation. I can't eat that much. I can only eat a small amount of food at one time. I don't want to eat at bedtime any more,  so that leaves only one meal to get the rest of my protein in. The doctor wants me to eat more food, but I simply don't know how. If I eat when I am not hungry, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. 

Am I the only one who has had this problem? 

Please help me figure out what to do. I am also afraid that if I do force myself to eat more frequently, I may regain my weight, and all of this will have been for nothing,  and I will fail. 

My weight gain came in some what the same kind of way altho I always ate ate least 3x a day but I developed COPD from smoking so all of a sudden I was unable to keep up with my work outs that kept my weight at the perfect spot. So you may have to kind of slowly workup to this since your stomach isn't used to eating that often. I would say try small, light meals more like a snack than a meal 3 times a day and maybe an extra shake to get your protein while you work one the meals. If you first just get in the habit of eating 3 small meals and a snack then you can work it around to 3 fair sized meals and a snack a day but just don't do it so fast that it makes you sick. Good luck and if it still is a problem you may want to speak to the surgeon or dietician.

Retraining myself to eat the right way again is proving to be a harder task than I ever thought it would be. I have eaten this way for 30 odd years,  so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I never thought I would be asking how to eat more; Especially on a weight loss forum. I guess it doesn't matter whether the eating problem is too much food or too little, it is still an eating problem, and something we have to modify to live a healthy life.  

I am just getting more and more nervous that I need to figure this out soon. I am already 10lbs past my goal weight, and I am still losing weight. I know I need to exercise more, and believe me, I already have been moving way more than I could before. Even though I am feeling better than I used to, I am still in tremendous pain. I have 3 bulging discs in my back, and advanced arthritis in my neck. I have an appointment with a back specialist in September. 

The great part so far is that I have not had an a-fib episode in months. My fasting blood sugar levels are in the 80s, without meds. I'm off lots of other meds already, and weaning off more as time goes by. I used to take 13 pills in the morning and 11 in the evening.  I'm down to 6 in the morning and 4 in the evening. Oh yeah, no more c-pap machine either. My wife has trouble sleeping now because she can't hear me breathing.  Lol

I was also prone to eating 1 big unhealthy meal per day. It's a hard transition to make. Something that's been working for me that I can offer (that may work for you?) is to prepare enough dinner to ensure leftovers the next day.  Then, have a morning protein shake, then some leftovers at lunch time, then something else for dinner.  Once I started doing this (eating regularly) I found I would get a little hungry in the mid-mornings and mid-afternoons, so I started fitting in a protein-forward snack such as beef jerky or cheese. 

I'm not a RNY vet like you are, but maybe something to try? :)

It's hard to eat when you aren't hungry!  I don't feel hunger either since my RNY revision.  But you need to eat so I say give it a try.  Eat more often.  Maybe not at traditional meal times but timed snacks.  A slice of ham or turkey, or a cheese stick will up your protein numbers and won't be so much that your pouch reacts negatively. Are you drinking enough?  And do you take a PPI?  Sometimes when I forget to eat I'm nauseous and food doesn't settle well because of acid in my empty pouch.  Drinking a glass of water or tea helps me then eat a small snack/meal. 

Don't be afraid of losing too much.  Almost no one wastes away!  I lost down to 22 lbs below my goal and am now back to just below it with almost no dietary changes.  Malabsorption slows down and we adjust.  It can be scary to see the scale moving so low, but what is your BMI?  How tall are you?  

Have you tried the Syntax Nectar protein shakeS?  They are mixed with water (lemonade, ice tea, fruit punch etc) and I find them to be a great alternative to milky shakes.  They are lighter and have very low calories with 22g of protein.  Might help you with your numbers...

Good luck - post how it is going for you. 

Don't apologize for asking for help. That is why we are here. 

Thanks for the replies. My BMI is right near 24.9-25 if you take into consideration all of my excess skin. I'm 5'9" and weigh 179-180. If you consider I probably have 10lbs of excess skin, that puts me right at 169-170lbs or 24.9-25 on the BMI chart. Which is the cusp of normal/overweight. To me though, I look too skinny. It may be the excess skin that is clouding my judgement. To me I look unhealthy and that scares me.

I was able to eat a little something at around 2pm today. I still have dinner to eat tonight. Had steak, cottage cheese, and green beans for dinner last night. grilled chicken, cottage cheese, and spinach for dinner tonight. I'm actually hungry right now and looking forward to eating tonight when my wife gets home from work. We grew the chickens here and processed them this past weekend. They have aged long enough now that we can have some tonight. :-)

I'm still struggling to eat more often. However, today I got really hungry at about 1 o'clock. Ate some grilled Malibu chicken and cottage cheese. Lost more weight though. When is this going to stop? I'm down to 176 as of this morning. Bought myself a new outfit yesterday. New cowboy boots, a Wrangler western shirt, and some Wrangler blue jeans. The jeans are 31x30s. My 32x30s are getting loose already. I look better than I ever have while I'm dressed, but naked is another story. Lots of loose skin makes me queezy. 

I didn't do this to look good though, I did it so I can live to see my 12 yr old daughter graduate college and get married. So far, I think I'm on the right track for that. Unless there is some reason I'm still losing weight that is a problem. That's what worries me.

I hope this works... Here is a link to a picture of me in my new duds. Mike's new clothes

You may not have a "food addiction" but you have issues you need to deal with. Perhaps a therapist can help you. It is really not that hard to have a schedule for eating and eating during those times. If you cannot make yourself do so, you may need help.