Help Please

Well everyone its me again. I have a serious problem. I don't know what is wrong with me. I had my Gastric Sleeve March 31, 2015. I am 7 months post op. I was doing so good. Then these last few weeks has been bad. I don't know why I cant stop eating. I am restarting tomorrow. Back to exercising and my 3 meals and 1 snack. How can i get my motivation back. Please I need to lose this weight. I know its in my head. I know and can do this. I know I have been under stress. Still that's no excuse. Any tips or ideas? Maybe I need someone who I can message and hold me accountable for things. 

What is it?

First thing you must do is STOP eating simple or starchy carbs like bread, pasta, crackers, cookies, sugar, potatoes, rice, etc.  Those kinds of foods will make you hungry and make you crave even more.  Get them out of your house.  They effect you just like cocaine effects a drug addict.  It will be white knuckle for a few weeks until you get them out of your system, but then you will stop craving them.

Get back to eating protein first and then non-starchy veggies.  Limit your fruit to one serving per day and remember, one serving is a half an apple or 4-5 strawberries.  Berries are the best choice.  The body sees fruit as sugar and will slow or stop your weight loss if you eat too much.

Eat by the clock.  Eat a very small, 200-300 calorie, meal every three or four hours. ANYONE can wait a few hours before they eat again. If you feel hungry between meals, IGNORE IT.  Hunger is not an emergency requiring your immediate attention.  Nothing bad will happen to you if you force yourself to wait until the next scheduled meal.

Drink your fluids!  64 ounces is the MINIMUM amount you should be drinking.  I drink 120 ounces daily in order to feel good.  Many times we read thirst as hunger.  Try drinking a calorie free beverage the next time you feel hunger.  We should NEVER drink our calories.  Solid, dense protein  will keep you satisfied longer.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

DO NOT RELINQUISH CONTROL!!!

You must make the conscious decision that you will take control back, and get on track. No one else, or nothing else has the right to control you. 

Make a plan and follow it: You decide what happens to you, so make the right decisions.

There's nothing "wrong" with you - don't settle for less than your goals.

You are what you think, and now you "think" you've lost control; change that message.

You've got this! One day at a time.

You get to decide.

Mark

Overeaters Anonymous isn't for everybody, but many, including me, find the meetings to be extremely helpful in dealing with compulsive eating. Between meetings, you'll have phone numbers of other OAers you can call when you're feeling like you are now, and they'll talk you down from the ledge. Just because we have sleeves doesn't mean we're now immune from compulsive overeating, unfortunately. Fortunately, OA can help you with that.

It's one option. Therapy is another. Kairk wrote a splendid post a few weeks ago about a good way to "reboot" your eating habits and get back on the right track. If I can find it, I'll post it below.

psychoticparrot

Found it! I keep the most useful posts in a permanent file on my computer.

From kairk on OH, 9/8/2015:

I will echo what was written before. You fell, got off track, whatever you want to call it. Now it's time to get up, get back on the right track, etc...

The only way I know how to break the cycle is with a detox. You are very early out still, so it shouldn't be all that hard (on the physical side). However, you will have to power through some of the mental crap. If you want a strong reset, the method I recommend is this:

3 days of all the protein and vegetables (if you are even eating them yet) and healthy fats you want for three days. Yes, you may go over your recommended calorie level, but that's okay for three days. So, when you get hungry (whether you really are physically or not) eat something protein. You'll also want to pound the water down. If you can get 80-100 oz in a day for those three days, you'll be helping yourself immensely.

By day 4 you should be craving free and reset. Sometimes it takes an extra day, but in my experience 3 days works for most people. Anyhow, on Day 4 get back to your calorie restriction and the correct macros.

I find going back to liquids punitive and counter productive. Don't think of a reset as a bad thing. Consider it a gift to yourself after a wonderful vacation during which you allowed yourself some indulgences. Doing a reset is a common thing - even for the most successful VSGers.

Whenever you feel the urge to snack, do so on dense protein.  Once you've eaten a serving of dense protein, you won't have much room but a bite or two of anything you shouldn't be eating.

ccould it be you are looking at yourself seeing how good you look with your weight loss and you are scared. I think sometimes the fat person  is slipping away and your brain is pulling tricks on you. Go back to the basics do everything you did when you started when you were loosing weight. Good luck everyone is here for you