Pondering one reason the DS may be working for me

[BrianChesteen]

I have been pondering how the DS is so successful and applying those thoughts to how it has been working for me over the past few weeks.

Pre-Op I was one of those people that just enjoyed eating and the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when your belly is full after a reasonable meal. Whatever gets released then must have been strong and addictive for me because it took me to 325lbs.

One thing I have noticed post-op is that even when I am full, I don't get that rush of warm and fuzzy feeling anymore. In most cases, it is an opposite type of thing where I don't feel good at all about being full. It has taken some time to get used to this and break the addiction to wanting that warm and fuzzy feeling that is not coming when I stuff my gut.

Stuff I used to love now gives little pleasure and just seems oh so not worth it!

Maybe this is one reason why the DS works so well?

Food is slowly losing its grip on me. Each day I am closer to the "Eat to Live" vs "Live to Eat" phrase!

 

[Taterweight]

I think that's a great way of putting it! I also notice things that I loved before the surgery, while I still "like" them have totally changed into some other feeling...I don't "love" them anymore. I can have them and feel perfectly fine leaving a few bites untouched on my plate.

 

[DianaCox]

I think different people have different experiences. My primary result from the DS was that I finally DID get a feeling of satiety from eating - previously, while I did not binge, I never felt "done" or satisfied with my meals. I could always eat a little more, seeking the feeling that I'd eaten "enough." Also, now there is a fine line between "enough" and "too much" - I've had to learn to listen to my signals, or risk feeling quite unpleasant (running nose, backing up into the esophagus feeling) results of overeating - also an effective negative feedback mechanism, but the better and happier thing is learning to notice when I feel good and then stop.

The other thing is the change in cravings when I'm hungry. There simply is no way I want anything sweet or solely carby when I'm hungry - my body is now tuned to what I NEED when I'm hungry, and only something with protein in it will do. This is one further reason I cannot imagine doing shakes as meal replacements - the thought of something SWEET when I'm hungry is gagging.

That does not mean I don't overdo carbs - I do. But not when I'm actually hungry.

 

[bearmom]

My stomach healed slowly, and things were out of whack for at least a year with me. Nothing sounded great, and if it did, one bite later I decided I was wrong. Eventually my favorites became my favorites again, but with a much smaller amount satisfying me. I'm more of a foodie now, than I ever was prior to surgery.

 

[shann]

Some of my favorites- cheese, steak, chocolate-- stayed my favorites. Some things that I loved before- pasta, pizza, pork chops, sandwiches- just don't sit well anymore. And strangely enough, a few things I didn't really have many feelings about before- oysters, crab legs, soup- have become new favorites.

 

[Munchkin]

That's a good thing! And remember, men always do better than women, diets, or DS. They lose better and faster.

 

[Lori]

I CANNOT leave food onb my plate. Of course that's why I puke everyday with this crapband. I HAVE TO eat until whatever triggers does so... I'm very worried I'm going to fail at this too. I don't know how to begin to work on this... I know it's a problem and I will not eat around the DS. I will not!!!!

 

[Elizabeth N.]

@Lori , what are you doing to change this?

If you are not actively working to change not only your behavior, but the emotional/cognitive issues that are DRIVING your behavior, then even IF you are one of the folks whose drive to eat is at least partly driven by biological factors, you are at high risk of outeating your DS.

Some of that drive to eat can be biological. You'll read reports from quite a few people (I'm one of them, Diana Cox is another) who had no or skewed sense of hunger and satiety, who then experienced a normalization of this experience, presumably due to some kind of metabolic or biological change induced by the intestinal bypass.

However.....Behaviors are strongly conditioned, and emotional eating is very, very powerful. If I were in your shoes, I would NOT count on it being just biological.

 

[Taterweight]

I agree, if you feel you have compulsive behaviors, you'd do well to get some counseling on the side. You do not want to be the person that pops their stomach open because you had the compulsion to eat everything on your plate or gives in and has a damn soda!

 

[Lori]

Whoa- I[m sure glad I stumbled upon this thread. I didn't realize it was so serious. I thought almost every obese person had to clean his/her plate! Are there special therapists who deal with obesity? Most of the skinny-minnies I've seen don't know what to say to me and I did go to one obese therapist but she wasn't successful either so that didn't help either. Perhaps I will see the psych I saw for my eval- he was recommended by the WL surgeon... thanks again all...

 

[southernlady]

Whoa- I[m sure glad I stumbled upon this thread. I didn't realize it was so serious. I thought almost every obese person had to clean his/her plate! Are there special therapists who deal with obesity? Most of the skinny-minnies I've seen don't know what to say to me and I did go to one obese therapist but she wasn't successful either so that didn't help either. Perhaps I will see the psych I saw for my eval- he was recommended by the WL surgeon... thanks again all...

The HARDEST lesson I had to learn was that it was not necessary to clean my plate. I was taught this at a very young age...that I had to eat everything I put on my plate...that there were starving children in China who would beg for the food I wasn't eating...

Well,
1) Regardless of whether I cleaned my plate or not, children in China or elsewhere would still starve.
2) All cleaning my plate did was make ME fat
3) And this is tied to #2, I had to learn to NOT put nearly as much on my plate to begin with
4) Had to get over the feeling that it was wasteful to throw food away. If I am not gonna eat it, why keep it? If it's still canned or boxed, a good way to handle that is to give it to a food pantry.