Grazing... making excuses, or the answer?

 Yet another problem with me allowing snacking - I have been overfull one time.  ONCE in 6mths. I can eat and eat and eat and very rarely (maybe twice??) feel full or get my drippy nose full signal. 

 If I put baby carrots and celery into my pouch it would stage a revolt.  Those two items raw really don't agree with me one bit.

I second other's suggestion.  Try to be mindful of when you're eating and focus in on if you're hungry or not.  I plan on eating 6 small meals a day.  When I get it in my head that I want something specific, I tell myself, "ok, next time I'm hungry and its my planned meal, how can I satisfy this craving that still meets my nutritional needs?"  So if I'm craving chocolate, I will have one of my yummy supreme protein  protein bars as my planned afternoon snack.

That's funny because raw carrots on an empty pouch makes me queasy, too... but cooked carrots are fine and if I eat them with something else it is fine, too.  Weird.

Lora

My friend who had RNY a couple of years ago nearly panicked when she saw raw celery and carrots in my snack bag. She warned me how horrible they are to her. I have no problems with them. In fact nothing bothers me - chicken, beef, eggs.
  *sigh*

Grazing is the number one way to "eat around" your surgery and over time is likely to lead to weight gain. Munchies are RARELY about hunger! So giving in to them is not really solving anything and, in fact, is cementing a very dangerous habit. For how long do you think carrot sticks will satisfy a non-hunger, non-nutrition need?

Try to get it under control by planning a protein-forward meal or snack every 3-4 hours....and stick to it! Make yourself a few rules: no eating at your desk, no eating in front of the TV....and stick to it! Make sure you are drinking enough fluids, because as one poster mentioned "hunger" is often actually "thirst".

Thanks!
  I am very strict about a couple of rules - I always get more than 64oz of calorie free fluids. Always, or I don't go to bed.  And I never drink sooner than an hour after eating. 
 I guess I just have to make this one of the "no options" rules.... pack appropriate snacks and only eat them, and at the planned time.
  My main obstacle... is me. 

I have raw carrot issues, too. They go absolutely nowhere. Cooked carrots, however, work well.

I'm a grazer, too. Though I'm understanding I'm doing it out of boredom and not out of a hunger need. Another habit I'm comitted to breaking.

I feel pretty sure mine is boredom as well.  I have a very predictable desk job and while doing paperwork and admin stuff it is easy to just grab stuff some "healthy snacks" .  At home I can go outside and work on my little "hobby farm" to entertain myself.  At work I jog stairs, so maybe I will try doing that instead of eating off a schedule tonight.

That's actually how I handled it. But a funny thing happened. When I didn't give the head demons what they wanted my TRUE hunger came out swinging!

I wanted comfort, dammit! Chewing is comfortable. I zone out when I chew. The stresses of the world go away. And what is so wrong with that??? my head demons demanded to know.

So what I learned by doing that is that I was grazing to meet a need that could easily be met by means other than food.

These days when I am stressed I try to find non-food ways to deal with it. I also build in "zone out" time into my day. My kids know the first hour we are home is soap opera time. I watch Y&R on my DVR and don't really talk much. After that, I'm usually good to go!

 I rarely ever actually use my lunch hour at work. I eat at my desk and get paid for the time instead.  I think what I am seeing in this thread is that I need to take my lunch, go somewhere away from my desk (we have a nice balcony and I fit in the chairs now!), away from my team and just eat in peace.

   Basically my day looks like this 930 or 10 breakfast (scrambled egg, ham slice, cheese) on days I don't work out with the PT... on days I do workout with her (Tues / Thurs) breakfast is around 645am a protein shake w/ half a banana.
    Then around 12 I have  lunch. I'll start tonight  (I work 430pm-1am) and just pack 2 snacks for work.... around 5 or 6pm and 11pm (dinner around 830?), and jog stairs other "hungry" times?