Need Help/ Coaching - Hungry All The Time

I am wondering what you all have done to overcome hunger all the time. I am having problems with  increased gastric emptying. I have the dumping syndrome mainly in the morning but what ever I eat it seems to just head right out of my stomach and into my intestines. So I am hungry an hour after I eat. I have been doing pretty good until now and I have lost 190lbs I just don't want to screw this up. I know there are plateaus but I have been stuck for a while.

I just really want to be satisfied I hate being controled by food.

So what are you eating?

Most fruits leave me hungry an hour or so later, but protein seems to hold me pretty well (solid protein that is, not necessarily protein drinks).

Has this changed recently?  If you are down 190, then you know what has worked?  So have you changed your eating, or has your body's response changed?

Make sure you are not drinking for at least 30 mins after your meal, that can cause you to push the food out and make you hungry quicker.

Share with us what you are eating.

I am making some mistakes. I have been eating more carbs lately than I should and I added diet soda back into my diet. But I was having problems before. I had a brutal martial arts test in 100 degree heat and I was drinking massive amounts of water and trying to eat at the same time. It was a timing and a heat thing. But it screwed up my good habit I have been having increased problems for the last 6 weeks and I have recognized it and I am fixing it.

The quanity of food I am eat and the hungry all the time problem has been going on for much longer. The recent carb problem has been a results of I can't fell full and I start grabbing the junk that's in the house. So I feel my habbits are getting worse because of the heat. 

I have been breaking apart my habbits and I am trying to attack them.

But the root issue is I can't get full and I dump the food that I eat.

Exercise is good but it is less that I would like. Summer has not been as fruitful as I would like. 

So I am trying to nip the problems now. I wanna hit 200lbs lost

Hi :)

for starters, congrats on your weightloss. 

Instead of grabbing the junk thats around make food ahead to grab--hard boiled eggs, tuna salad, chicken salad (i make my mayo salads with miracle whip...i like it, and theres way less fat, obviously than real mayonnaise and i can tolerate it!)

Think back to your early phases after surgery. Cut out the soda. I don't know how you drink soda! I tried 2 sips of soda just to get the taste and i threw up everywhere!!! soda is so bad for you anyway, and theres zero nutritional value and it dehydrates you. just drink a flavored water with zero calories. which leads me to my next thing.  maybe your not getting enough water which is why your so hungry? honestly how much plain ol water do you drink daily? 

Eat greek yogurt. YES i eat Oikos FLAVORED greek yogurts (don't all kill me at once)...i like it, it has protein and i don't dump from it. ever. it works for me and i HATE plain yogurt. 

If you like cottage cheese, eat that. stick some no sugar added jam in it for flavor (personally, i can't stomach cottage cheese. i can't get past the taste). 

And if all else fails. DRINK A PROTEIN SHAKE! Optimum Nutrition, sold on bodybuilding.com. It's 100% Whey protein, low in sugar and carbs. i use a scoop and a half in low fat milk and it winds up being almost 43 grams of protein PER SHAKE. Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein Powder It comes in all kinds of flavors. My favorite? Extreme Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Coconut (which i have right now), Chocolate Mint...mmmm, you really can't go wrong with chocolate lol.

So. Does any of this help? 

First, I want to say you've done an awesome job here with your weight loss, and I applaud you for recognizing a problem and wanting to fix things to get back on track!  Good job!

I certainly know the concern with getting your fluids and food in a limited amount of time during heat.  Since my surgery, I did a cross country motorcycle ride and through the SW states, it was 105+ out there!  The group made 30-45 minute stops for bathroom breaks, drinks, and food.  They provided all the fluids and food, so I didn't have to go hunt them up.  However, it was still tricky.  The biggest fear was dehydration, so as soon as I had a break, I got a bottle of water and chugged it.  Yes, I mean chugged.  There's nothing like motivation to get your body able to drink FAST!  (Luckily I haven't had any problems drinking like some people do.)  After the second stop, I learned that I could down 4 complete bottles of water in 20 minutes.  Then with the potty break in there, I still had 20 minutes to eat my food.  It was tricky sometimes, but I was able to manage with no drinking while eating.  

I hope that the next time you have to deal with something like this, the timing works to allow you to organize like this.  It turned out to not be as bad as I was afraid it would be.  The first stop of the day, I felt like I didn't have enough fluids in me when it was time to leave again.  But the second stop onward, I made it happen.  I think on the hottest day I actually drank 12 bottles of drink ( including flavored water and Powerade Zero).

On the food topic... get the junk out of the house! Really. That truly helps so much for me! If it is there, put yourself in the position of promising yourself that you'll eat some solid protein (jerky, protein bar) first before digging into the junk... hopefully you'll be full enough then that you simply won't eat much of it!

You've been losing a while, so I'm sure you know this, but I'll restate it just in case you've forgotten.  Most of us do not have the same feeling of "FULL" that we used to have. If you go chasing that feeling, you are just going to overeat and either feel sick or regain.  Personally, I just start feeling like there's a tight knot where my pouch is.  It feels absolutely nothing like my old "full" feeling.  I also tend to get the hiccups when I'm at my boundary point for fullness.  Try to think about it.... your plan should tell you how much you can eat. If you are eating more than that and not feeling "full" then you might be using the wrong signal for full.  Your stomach is a certain size.  If you eat that volume and still don't think you are full, then you need to rewire your brain because unless you're drinking to wash the food out, then your pouch is full.  Your pouch can only hold so much, if you don't get a certain sensation at that point, it doesn't change the physics of the issue - it is full.  Eating more is only going to give bad results.

You may need to go cold turkey on the carbs for a short period to banish those cravings.

Good luck!  You seem strong willed and I know you'll get back on track!

Well your pouch is basically a funnel as I am guessing you are aware. So in about 30 mins your stomach is pretty much empty.

You don't want to screw things up but I believe you are aware that is what you are doing. Both by drinking too soon (or during) eating. And with the carbs. They will spike your blood sugar then it drops and bam...you want more. Need to get more creative with what you reach for when you are tempted to snack. IF you just can't resist you need something like beef jerky, nuts or cheese. Just make sure you get enough fluids if you go with the nuts or jerky. Or if you get enough fluids those P3 packs from Oscar Mayer are a nice filling snack but also a bit of sodium there. 

Now if you are really active you can have more carbs. You know, like marathon training active. Are you tracking what you eat on My Fitness Pal or one of the others? Very important now that you are running into some issues.

And finally, definitely make sure you are not having head hunger. Sometimes when we get close to goal we get scared because we are someplace we have never been or still don't think we deserve to be. All on a subconscious level. And you sabotage by eating. Therapy is a good choice if you are not going.

My suggestion is to drink more water or unsweetened drinks that contain mostly water.  I am not sure what you mean by dumping in the morning, are you truly dumping from the carbs you are eating and have to eat again right away to avoid the low blood sugar?  If so stop eating carbs altogether in the morning and protein load in the morning. 

Everyone goes through peaks and valleys as to dealing with having altered anatomy forever and to avoid regain you have to completely stop eating some of the things you don't want too or risk getting out of control with them.  It isn't always easy but can be done, you have to listen carefully to your body, make a good eating plan and stick to it, stop eating crap that got you fat and always keep your eye on what you are trying to accomplish.

Good Luck!

Along with all the other great posts, I have to emphasize to you to get rid of the soda!  Diet is no better for you than non-diet and it is going to sabotage you every time whether in the long or short run.  Plus, the carbonation will make you feel hungrier than without it.

You have come so far, don't start the old, bad habits now!

I have been thinking on this since I read the original post.

The following is just conjecture, I have no scientific fact to back it up, just what I have noticed personally.

I know the RNY process not only creates a smaller stomach, but allows the food to leave the stomach and into the digestive tract quicker.  

But I have seemed to notice that if something has caused me to have bouts of diarrhea, then I seem to get hungry quicker.  So, it seems that with me, hunger is not just when the stomach is empty, but when the top of the digestive tract is also empty.

So if this is true, it could be that if you are "dumping" regularly, that might lead to being hungry more.

Can you find a food or combination of eating that does not cause "dumping"?

Just a thought.