Struggling... bad/Hormonal changes? This is a long one...

Hi friends,

Warning, this is a long post, but I feel like I have to get everything out there.  I haven't been on here in a while because everything was going smoothly, life gets busy, you know the drill.  But here I am, 17 months out from my VSG and beginning to put weight back on.  I'm up about 10 pounds from where I ended, and I'm panicking.  My urges to eat and cravings are once again, beyond my control.  The battle to control myself is again raging in my head as bad as it did before surgery.  I know I am an addict, and I am at a loss for what to do.  Here's what I see as the important info... I'm hoping someone out there has been in a similar situation and has some suggestions for me!!

 

*I still eat healthily, every day.  I track my food in MyFitnessPal (460 day streak!!!!), I plan every meal, I shop the right way and avoid junk.  Honestly, if this were about planning or healthy choices, I'd be fine.

*I am definitely grazing in the afternoons and evenings, and I CANNOT STOP MYSELF.  Truly, I cannot stop myself.  My brain is screaming at me to stop as my body defies it and grabs that one more scoop of peanut butter.

*I still see my nutritionist and my therapist regularly.

*Sorry guys, but I have to add this.  My PMS has been out of control and getting worse, and I can't help but wonder if there is a hormonal component.

*I recently started a medication for my ADHD.  It's Vyvanse, and wouldn't you know it is also used to treat Binge Eating Disorder!  My primary said I'd probably see a drop in my weight on it.  Instead, I am probably the only person in the history of this drug to gain weight while on it.

*I don't exercise as much or as formally as I should, but I am a teacher with young children at home.  In other words, I'm never sedentary.  I walk about 20 minutes every day on my lunch break, and I have recently begun skiing every weekend.  I tend to average 8,000-10,000 steps without even making any extra effort.  Also, on the weekends, I NEVER SIT!  I am always doing laundry, running errands, etc.  I may not burn calories at the gym, but I plan my caloric intake accordingly and fit in what I can.  I'm generally up at 4:30am, and my time isn't my own again until 7:30pm... at which point I am toast.

This is not a matter of my desire or my effort to control my eating.  If it were, I would never have needed surgery in the first place.  This is a battle I have been fighting in my head for 20 years.  Tonight, my husband had an appointment with our surgeon (he had the VSG a few months ago) and mentioned that I wanted to make an appointment to move up my next follow up appointment.  My surgeon, who I absolutely adore, told him to have me meet with the therapist first.  That felt like a prison sentence.  I have been and continue to do that.  On paper, I do everything I need to do!!  

One other thought I had was hormonal changes as a result of losing weight.  Have any of you women experienced this?  

 

Thank you SO MUCH for reading this.  Just getting it out there was therapeutic!

All the best,

Ginnie

 

I'd strongly urge you to check out Overeaters anonymous. After a very major regain, OA has gotten me to a point where I'm very mu*****ontrol of my eating. Trust me I was at the point where I was pre diabetic and still shoveling large amounts of sugar in my mouth day and night.

if you want you can check out my blog - link is below. I talk about how OA has helped me. You can also PM for more info or just to talk. I've been there, I get it b

I second the Overeaters Anonymous suggestion. I'm not in maintenance, so I'm not sure what else I can say that would be of benefit to you.

Perhaps the med you just started taking is having the opposite effect on you and is increasing your appetite. Drugs affect everyone differently; you may not fit into the usual patient responses.

Kairk posted some time ago a reboot plan that I believe many here have found helpful. It involves a lot of protein and some fats and is designed to knock the carb cravings to the curb and allow health habits to be reestablished. I'll see if I can find it. Or maybe kairk will repost it?

Good luck. I'm sure there's a way out of your dilemma. It's a matter of finding the right combination of foods and timing, and maybe some help from OA. They really do help.

 

psychoticparrot

I'm so glad you posted this, as so many of us struggle every day with managing our obesity.  I wish I had a magic answer, but the only suggestion I have is watching carbs (although you said you are eating healthy, so I don't know if this will help.)  Are you keeping your carbs very low?  perhaps its the carb monster causing the grazing.

I'd suggest looking at the carbs, and going very low carb and see if it helps.  Whenever I find myself grazing (and its happening again this week)  I can trace it to carb consumption.  I've been eating humus and wheat thins recently, and it gets worse and worse until I give up the wheat thins AGAIN. 

Good luck with your weight loss journey.  I hope you find a path to managing the grazing.

Carol

I second what Carol said about carbs.  Each scoop of peanut butter has 7 or 8g of carbs if you are eating two scoops at night(worse time to eat carbs especially when your down at 7:30) that's 14g to 16g of sugar right before you go to bed.  Try something with less carbs that you like and get rid of the food you can't control yourself from snacking on.  Your health and happiness is more important than food.  Get rid of the food that you think is not good for you to graze on at night.  Hope this helps even a little bit. 

If you have good insurance and can afford to have some lab work done...it might be a good idea to have your hormones tested. Hormones are so very powerful and have an impact on every function of our bodies. It might give your PCP a guide as to how best to help you from that end of things. Best of Luck to you! 

Hi Ginnie,

I endorse the other recommendations, including Overeaters Anonymous, therapy, carb reset diet (nothing but lean meat, green veggies, and healthy fats for several days, but as much as you want). In addition, can you apply some blunt force methods to your life? These are what I do when I find myself in your shoes:

• Get tempting, off-plan foods out of your house. No one needs peanut butter, for example. Get it out.
• If someone else in your house is pitching a fit about "needing" peanut butter (LOL) or other foods you can't be around, then invest in a Kitchen Safe  or other locked container.
• Do you have trouble buying foods you shouldn't? For example, when I am at work, I am tempted by vending machines and the snack shop there, as well as stopping at the grocery store on the way home, or Starbucks. Solution: I don't take any money to work (checks, cash, credit/debit cards) to work and I don't have any payment apps enabled on my phone. Hard to buy something when you have no way to pay for it.
• For planned shopping trips, I estimate how much I will need to spend on my needed items and bring cash -- and only that much cash.

I know these sound harsh, and you mind may be coming up with excuses as to why you can't do them (what if my car breaks down ??? -- well, you call someone or have a AAA membership to tow the car). But I have found them really helpful. Good luck to you!