Mental milestone!

I hit a major milestone yesterday.  I realized that I am still mindlessly eating even when I'm not hungry.  That's important for me because I am rarely hungry and eat at the appointed times because I have to. 

At work I walked back to the fridge, opened it and got out a plum.  Now, how bad is a stinking plum?   About 50 calories and lots of nutrients in it.   I peeled off the sticker, washed it, dried it and was about to bite it when my brain sent up a red flag.  "YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY...WHY ARE YOU EATING THAT?"  I put it back in the fridge and got a big glass of water.  I know I've been doing that lately and wasn't the purpose of this surgery to help you combat your hunger?  But wait, I know for me, it didn't matter if I was hungry or not.  If there was food, I was eating it.  I ate when I was bored, mad, happy, sad, you name it, I ate during that emotion and I ate through no emotion.  I ate myself to 371 pounds.

Now the brain thing stopping me from eating is a major milestone for me.  It's funny that the choices during the recent mindless eating weren't bad choices.  Nuts, yogurt, fruit, NSA applesauce, peaches, etc.  However, if I'm not hungry and it's not meal or snack time, I'm glad that my brain is making that connection. 

I have read that if you are reaching for a snack and you are not truly hungry, that your body could be signaling you that you need to drink more.  So that's what I did.  Loaded up on a big old glass of water.

I hope this realization helps someone else who may be slipping into old habits.  Even if they are healthy snacks, if it's not time to eat, don't eat.  We do have to be mindful of what we are eating and be aware of our calories, proteins, etc, but mindless eating outside of those parameters, I'm afraid, may be the doom of this surgery for many.

Glad to see someone mention emotional eating. I'm pre-op, but I am trying very hard to only eat when I feel hungry, and to stop when I feel full, no matter how 'good' it tastes.

It took me a while to figure out what Hungry felt like. Most of my life I have just eaten whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Food was my friend, and my reward, and my only vice.

I'm a "grazer" so I try to eat several small 'meals' during the day. But even then, if I'm not hungry I don't eat. And I have learned to not feel guilty if I don't clean my plate. (this was a big deal in my family growing up)

I've also tuned in to my belly- I eat more slowly, chew better, and listen for the "full" signal. Then I get up from the table.

I also found that when sitting at the table, I don't eat as much as if I was in front of the TV, the computer, in the car, or my personal favorite, reading a book or magazine.

Before, I would just eat and eat because it tasted so good, but then afterwards I'd feel bloated and sick.

It's good to realize that even healthy snacks aren't good for us if we aren't hungry.

I have to work on the drinking water thing, I just don't like the taste of water, bottled or tap. Right now I am drinking Lipton Diet Green tea, and herbal tea at night.

How do you all get used to drinking just plain water? I know it's a must but it's one of my biggest worries about WLS. Do you just resign yourself to it as part of your WLS living?

I've always been a big water drinker so it wasn't a big deal for me, but I'd recommend trying some lemon juice, lime juice, or even orange slices to get you drinking more water.  Herbal teas are also great!

Great job on realizing the behavior!  That's at least half the battle....

I have yet go to a movie theater because I am scared of the popcorn - I can munch my way through a large bag before the movie even starts!!  Also being around my family brings out the mindless eating machine...just sitting around and talking and munching!

What helps me is to at least have a mental plan of what I'm going to eat for the day.  It helps even more if I write it down.  Otherwise, I just feel like this floating body of "what do I want to eat today? Oh, that looks good....!" No rhyme, no reason - not good!

KUTGW!

Jana

You are so correct! The mindless eating.....I have been doing that all my life.
I was upset when the Dr put me on a modified pre op diet...due to my BMI being so high.
But I think it taught me a lot about when and why I ate.  I know about a week into it....I was on my way home from work..and starving.....I was worried that my blood sugar was crashing....(and 1/2 way hoping it was...cuz that would give me an excuse to eat something)...when I tested it was in the 130's...so I wasn't crashing at all....I was just used to eating then.  It has already been such a learning experience for me. 
I really appreciate everyone sharing thoughts like you did, it does really make you realize you are not the only person in the world with the same eating difficulties!
Thanks again!

So very glad you mentioned water pushing. The DR told me the body has no different way to tell you if it's hungry or thirsty, so it's always best to drink first and then if your still hungry eat.

I think many of us are mindless eaters!

I am definitely a mindless eater - and its been interesting to catch myself in old behaviors.  I also still think about and obsess about food a lot

Water is a big solution, or even hot tea, when I feel like I want to eat.  If I drink 500ml of water and I am still hungry, I eat.  Usually I am not. 

Isn't that something?  You go through the surgery and think you have established new habits yet that mindless eating starts to creep back in.  I've begun to notice it myself.  In a weird way, I was glad that my program discourages snacks.  I'm only allowed 8 oz of milk or tomato juice for my snack.  Let me tell ya, there were times I so wanted to take the "protein" pressure of my meals and split it up more throughout the day.  My nature is to be a grazer.  I keep trying to tell myself for the rest of my life that if it is not meal time, I don't get to eat (except my milk/TJ).  I pray that I will continue to believe that this is right for me, because I am so afraid of myself and what I will do if I begin to snack. 

I'm so glad you were able to identify what you were doing.  I so relate to the struggle, thus the above babble :)  Have a great day!!

-Dawn

Kathy,

This is a great subject and one that I think we should think about often.  Unlike the pre-op that posted, I wasn't able to tell hungry/not hungry very well pre-op no matter how hard I listened.  I just always seemed to feel hungry.  Now that I am post-op I have been very fortunate in that I can clearly tell the difference between hunger/not hunger/head hunger (and I do have them all).  If I'm hungry I eat, if I'm not I don't eat (unless it's a not hungry day and I need to eat something), and if I'm head hungry I also don't eat (even though sometimes I really want to).

I know that as I progress farther from my surgery date that it will become more difficult not to eat mindlessless which is why I'm trying to form good habits now of food journaling and actively checking my hunger levels at different times of the day.  Water does help resolve mindless eating.  I read an article once about something called water loading which I will sometimes do when I want the feeling of fullness.  Basically, it involves drinking enough water quickly enough that you fill up your pouch.  Right now, for me, that's between 2-4oz. in a 3-5 minute span.  Once I get that amount in, I feel the "full" pouch for about 15-20 minutes and then I can resume the "sipping" of water again and maintain a feeling of not full, but definately not hungry for 2-3 hours.