I'm trying to lose weignt--again

I'm like a scratched record that just keeps blipping at the same place until you move the needle ( I assume you remember records),  I've decided to move the needle.  I'm going back to an old book on behavior modification called "You can't quit 'til you know what's eating you" which is a book about compulsive eating by Donna LeBlanc who is a clinical psychologist and was a compulsive eater.  I mention that because many of the people who write on the subject haven't experienced the problem.  I also have CD-Roms from an on-line course called "Mastering Food"  wherein you customized the program based on your responses to questions.

I wanted to put my intentions on the forum for the benefit of any other compulsive eaters who are post-op.  PLEASE, please, please try to resist taking that first compulsive bite post-op.  You just don't know how little of your compulsive food(s) may get you hooked again.  I remember that I had a small bag of M&Ms about 3 months post-op.  I didn't have any other problems for  a few months but gradually I began to have the junk.  I call myself a carb addict and a junk food junkie.  I don't dump even though I had an open RNY.  I even had a revision due to a staple line disruption--yep, I've had RNY twice.

I do suggest that other men who are struggling with this problem look at my Latest Posts.  You'll see that I've been having a problem with this during most of my post-op life.  I have been a carb addict and junk food junkie for about 40 years now.  I used to go to Overeaters Anonymous but gained 300 lbs over 20 years there.  However, I found out that I'm manic-depressive and my mental condition may have contributed to my lack of compliance in that program.  I do recall several members who had been alcoholics and drug addicts saying that compulsive eating is the most difficult addiction from which to recover.  Yeah, I know you are always in recovery.

So, resist if you can.  I know that I can get there if I can go a week without eating junk between meals--I'm an almost constant grazer.  My pouch is fine at meals;  I feel full and stop eating after a reasonably small meal.  But, I'm usually snacking within a half hour after the meal.  It's insidious!!!  Now I realize that, rather than trying to go a week without snacking, I should just concentrate on not snacking between now and lunch.  Then I can do the same between lunch and a protein snack and then follow the pattern with other meals.  I may have to take things a few hours at a time since I can't handle a day at a time now.  Bob

Bob,

Just curious, have you ever tried eating a salad with celery and cucumbers every hour on the hour? Supposedly just taking in 36 grams a day of fiber from food will cause weight loss + since you're an RNY it may cause the carbs to go unabsorbed and it may kill some of your desire to eat.

Try filling yourself on salad once an hour. (unless for some reason, your doc says "don't ) 

Good Luck,

Dave

There's the five year weight loss plan:

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil upon arising (kills appetite).

Beginning immediately after with a pouch filled with lettuce, cucumbers and celery (maybe even some chicken shreds mixed in - try and eat after that!). 

Then attempt to eat carbs as usual.  This is very important! 

Dave

I never really knew what a compulsive eater was but your description actually describes me to a T. I bought a bag of M&M's the other day at Best Buy and it was the big bag (like twice the size of a regular bag). I ate about half the bag and remember feeling sick (not dumping sick but just sick from too much sugar). After I told myself I wasn't going to do that again. The next day I'm driving somewhere and see the half eaten bag in the cup holder of my car, so I open it and fini**** off.

This week I told myself no more junk food and I've managed to resist so far (only Day 4). I told myself I am excused for the month of December because of the holidays but now I am getting back on track.

Just curious, do you (or have you) exercised since surgery? That is one good thing I've managed to maintain is going to the gym 4-5 days a week and staying very active. I'm guessing that is what is helping me when I slip up every now and then.

Regarding eating the type salads that NotDave suggest, I can't do that since I don't have teeth.  I do have dentures but I hate to use them.  I had all of my teeth pulled a few months after my first RNY.  As a result of my depression, I used to think that I would eventually just die from a heart attack and stopped taking care of my teeth.  Even at my highest weight of 571, my blood pressure, choloesterol levels, and EKG were all fine.

Now I have slightly elevated blood pressure and take the minimum dosage of Atenolol resulting in BP of 80 over 120--it's usually lower than that.  Last Spring my doc found a problem with my EKG and now I take warfarin ( a generic form of coumadin) and I have to go to a coumadin clinic every few weeks to monitor my coumadin level.

I have problems with exercise.  My knees are shot.  But, that may be a long term temporary problem due to my weight.  I now weigh about 365 so many of you can recall how you were before you lost weight.  I was almost bedridden for several months following my original RNY and lost muscle tone and strength.  Walking is very hard.  I have a skin problem which deters swimming ( I loved it when I was able to do it but I have weeping eczema on my left foot and I'm banned from public pools due to skin openings by NJ law).  I can walk in my house without a cane and I go short distances outside using a rollator ( looks like a walker with 4 wheels and a seat).  However, I guess one of my biggest problems is that I'm just lazy.  I have negative inertia, i.e., a body at rest tends to stay at rest.  Bob