For most of us surgery is only 10% of the process. the other 90% is stopping medicating with food. we developed an unhealthy pattern of "I am bored,tired,stressed,mad,grieving, sleepy, sad, happy,depressed,in pain,driving,watching tv/movie, broke, fired, hired, celebrating...etc. so I eat" i eat with certain people,in certain locations at certain times..etc. my default activity is eat. at parties i don't mingle i eat, at picnics i don't play i eat. i had to constantly stop myself and say "Why are you thinking of food?!" "You are not hungry, you already had your healthy meal and in a couple hours you will have your healthy snack.this is just head hunger and by the way self, i love you, you are a miracle and together we can heal our body and beat our food addiction" Sure, it may sound corny but I have worked closely with my priest(a former physician) on the root of my gluttony. i ran away from life or dealt with life by eating. i wanted pleasure to distract me from dealing with the crappy parts of life. He has helped me understand that a full rich life involves death, disease, destruction. It is part of the greater matrix of Glory. By being open to the sadness and pain with fortitude we are given so much Grace. that said, i also gave up my kryptonite foods of wheat, rice potato and processed corn. eating them just sends me back to "food prison" where i obsess about rich carby treats. i don't think that much about food anymore-in terms of timeline it really was about 6 wks because that is when i really let go mentally of my trigger/kryptonite foods. i have no plans to reintroduce them. and honestly, i never really got more than 5 min of pleasure out of food before the humiliation would kick in. My pleasure now is slipping on a pair of size 6 Ann Taylor jeans and sitting in my husbands lap. I do agree with teachren. I tweaked and developed all new recipes for my lifestyle. My food is delicious. i make my own wraps from chick pea flour, eat quinoa instead of rice, make summer squash pizza crust, hominy instead of potatoes. i eat plenty of butter and bacon to give me the energy i used to get from a steady stream of carbs. I do suggest therapy to deal with the "Why" you want to eat when you are not hungry. I also go to my monthly WLS support group-and as i told my husband i will likely go as long as i am breathing. we have mentors that are 8 yrs out. they all remind you that WLS does not cure "obese brain". We range from 400 to 120 lbs but we all have the same food addiction problem. I suspect we are kind of like AA group therapy for each other. They have become very dear to me. Since i returned 2 yrs ago to worshiping God instead of food, prayer has been an integral weapon in my fight against food addiction. if i start thinking about food when i am not hungry i know i am stressed about something and try to pray for guidance immediately. Mary and St Maximillian Kolbe have also been wonderful help in my journey and i highly recommend them. God bless and good luck. You can do this!

For most of us surgery is only 10% of the process. the other 90% is stopping medicating with food. we developed an unhealthy pattern of "I am bored,tired,stressed,mad,grieving, sleepy, sad, happy,depressed,in pain,driving,watching tv/movie, broke, fired, hired, celebrating...etc. so I eat" i eat with certain people,in certain locations at certain times..etc. my default activity is eat. at parties i don't mingle i eat, at picnics i don't play i eat. i had to constantly stop myself and say "Why are you thinking of food?!" "You are not hungry, you already had your healthy meal and in a couple hours you will have your healthy snack.this is just head hunger and by the way self, i love you, you are a miracle and together we can heal our body and beat our food addiction" Sure, it may sound corny but I have worked closely with my priest(a former physician) on the root of my gluttony. i ran away from life or dealt with life by eating. i wanted pleasure to distract me from dealing with the crappy parts of life. He has helped me understand that a full rich life involves death, disease, destruction. It is part of the greater matrix of Glory. By being open to the sadness and pain with fortitude we are given so much Grace. that said, i also gave up my kryptonite foods of wheat, rice potato and processed corn. eating them just sends me back to "food prison" where i obsess about rich carby treats. i don't think that much about food anymore-in terms of timeline it really was about 6 wks because that is when i really let go mentally of my trigger/kryptonite foods. i have no plans to reintroduce them. and honestly, i never really got more than 5 min of pleasure out of food before the humiliation would kick in. My pleasure now is slipping on a pair of size 6 Ann Taylor jeans and sitting in my husbands lap. I do agree with teachren. I tweaked and developed all new recipes for my lifestyle. My food is delicious. i make my own wraps from chick pea flour, eat quinoa instead of rice, make summer squash pizza crust, hominy instead of potatoes. i eat plenty of butter and bacon to give me the energy i used to get from a steady stream of carbs. I do suggest therapy to deal with the "Why" you want to eat when you are not hungry. I also go to my monthly WLS support group-and as i told my husband i will likely go as long as i am breathing. we have mentors that are 8 yrs out. they all remind you that WLS does not cure "obese brain". We range from 400 to 120 lbs but we all have the same food addiction problem. I suspect we are kind of like AA group therapy for each other. They have become very dear to me. Since i returned 2 yrs ago to worshiping God instead of food, prayer has been an integral weapon in my fight against food addiction. if i start thinking about food when i am not hungry i know i am stressed about something and try to pray for guidance immediately. Mary and St Maximillian Kolbe have also been wonderful help in my journey and i highly recommend them. God bless and good luck. You can do this!

Mango,

You have shared this story a few times and I just wanted to thank you for sharing your inspirational journey with us. I am dealing with some of the same stuff (as I bet a lot of us are) and reading your story is very helpful to me.

NSV aside: today I made it all the way down on one knee (and back up!) to genuflect at Mass.

"Head Hunger" really helped me to recognize my food issues. I used it as a tool to really start to understand what my food issues are/were.

I am 9 months out now...hit my goal on Saturday and moving into the maintenance phase. Food is now fuel for my body. I still enjoy it but I make smart choices. Always protein first!

Best of luck to you....use this tool and put in the work.....best thing I have ever done for myself!

Can you share what you have learned on how to cope with those times(after dinner all night used to be my hardest time)? Thank you!

I am 3 years out and this is still my most difficult time of day. If I find myself battling head hunger or munchies during the afternoon, at dinner I will eat the protein portion of my meal and leave the rest of it to eat an hour or two later. Typically the rest of the meal for me is a salad and lettuce really fills me, so if I eat my salad at say 7:30 or 8 PM, I won't want to eat again before bed. This is especially true if I still have water I have to get in before bed. Adding water into my tummy after a salad, even waiting a 1/2 hour or more, just makes me feel more full.

Truth is, head hunger is something we all continue to fight. I don't have it every day, but it can sometimes be really bad. I found separating out my dinner helps. Others here break up their meals into 6 small ones spaced out during the day. Same concept and helps to keep you feeling full.

Hope this helps.

Pat

NSV aside: today I made it all the way down on one knee (and back up!) to genuflect at Mass.

Great NSV Roy!

Did you read the post about me genuflecting out of my pants?! That was when I really cleaned out the closet!

NSV aside: today I made it all the way down on one knee (and back up!) to genuflect at Mass.

Great NSV Rob!

Did you read the post about me genuflecting out of my pants?! That was when I really cleaned out the closet!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the entire church is hoping that doesn't happen to me!:blushing:
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No missed that one, just saw this one! Too funny! Sounds like it was past time for some new, smaller pants!