Hello ladies, sorry I haven't replied. Phone issues. Here are some more details, I was prescribed the 30 mg slow release capsule so unfortunately I cannot cut it in half. I eat three meals and 3 small snacks a day, usually fruit, cheese, or yougurt. I eat between 1000-1200 calories most days as directed by my doctor. I try to eat only naturally occurring carbs and sugar from fruit, whole oats, starchy vegetables and potatoes. I have tried to cut out all bread, pizza, pasta, pastries and sweets for two reasons. One being that they contain no nutritional value at all, and do not satiate hunger so I end up eating more calories then I need. Second, and most importantly, after speaking to my doctor and registered dietician about binge eating, and food dependence it was agreed upon that I binge on foods that I feel give me comfort when I'm stressed, sad, upset etc. Growing up in an Italian home, massive amounts of pasta, fresh bread and rich desserts were a daily thing. Although my mother made sure I didn't over indulge as a child by constantly repremanding my weight, and denying me second helpings and desserts, once I got my older and got divorced I fell back into the comforts of these foods. They're are a trigger to my binge eating, and even knowing what I know about portion sizes, and weight gain I will over eat them given the opportunity. My dietician reccomends to all her patients on a weight loss journey to avoid foods they have over indulged in prior to seeking medical intervention. Whether it is pills, surgery, or special diets, she says there is no benefit to cheat days, or allowing yourself small amounts of these foods. It takes 3-6 months to develop new eating habits, if you eat fast food, or sweets or in my case pasta and bread even once a week to keep from "depriving" yourself you are actually sabotaging youself. Once your stomach heals from surgery, or you stop taking your pills, or your doctor we and you off medifast your cravings and appetite will go right back to junk food so you need to avoid these things completely until you don't even want them anymore, until the first thing you crave when you get hungry is something healthy. So this is why I avoid these things and there is no benefit to allowing them. It would be like a drug addict thinking they could only take one hit of heroin, or an alcoholic thinking they could have a few beers. Obviously this would be detrimental to recovery and food is no different.

I plan on asking my doctor to up my dose when I see him this week, but I feel he may say no since I have made it back to a healthy bmi (24).

For now I have found that if I eat my regular meal after waking up, then wait until I start getting hungry again to take my pill it seems to be getting me through the rest of the day. The day I ate the donuts and cookies I was so sick I don't plan on repeating.

If anyone has any suggestions to help curb my hunger Id appreciate it.

MissusMoon what kind of protein shakes do you drink? I have tried Atkins, slimfast, crave(advocate), nutrisystem and a generic whey protein one. I honestly think they all taste like crap. Lol, I have not found a single flavor in any brand yet that doesn't taste chalky or fake to me. They all kind of remind me of tumms. My diet is mostly high quality proteins; chicken, fish, eggs, strong cheeses (extra sharp Cheddar, provolone, real parmesan) or fat free Greek yogurt. I can't have yogurt and cheese on the same day or I get sick. I also can't have dairy milk or coconut milk. I drink unsweetened almond milk with my shakes or in coffee. My bowl of real oatmeal (not the sweetened packet stuff) is really my only high Carb item through out the day and I eat that as my last meal of the day and stick to proteins the rest of the day for exactly the reason you mentioned, they help my hunger a lot more. I love avacodos and I add them and grilled chicken to my salad every day.

Maybe I just need to up my calorie intake but the doctor recommended 1200 so I'm really trying to stick to that.