My Gastric Sleeve

10 Secrets to Help You Avoid Overeating after Your Gastric Sleeve

A few nights ago, I went out to a restaurant with a good friend of mine. We were celebrating because she'd gotten a great medical checkup and because she was getting ready to move into a newer and nicer apartment. As we chattered excitedly about all the opportunities opening up to her, I drank a beer and didn't pay much attention to the food I was stuffing into my mouth.

I should have known better. Two hours later, my stomach was in full rebellion and I was, as they say, worshipping the porcelain goddess.

Sometimes I think the further out I get from surgery, the harder it is to remember that I can't eat like other people any more. It's just too easy to slip back into old, dysfunctional habits that have been my friends for a lifetime.

After this newest incidence, I created some important tips to help me regulate my eating. I have one copy hanging on my refrigerator, one on my front door, and one in my purse. They help me, so I wanted to pass them on as a resource that might be helpful to others who've had weight loss surgery.

The Power of "No!"

As I've mentioned before, I'm seeing a therapist to help me resolve some of my issues around eating and weight.

During my last appointment, she asked me if I would be interested in changing my appointment times to earlier in the day.

I didn't want to hurt her feelings or inconvenience her, but the time she suggested really wasn't convenient. I stumbled around, trying to explain why it wouldn't work.

Finally, mercifully, she stopped me. "It doesn't sound like you want to change your appointment time at all," she said.

I nodded that this was true.

Her next words floored me, "Deb, you don't have to make excuses or explain what you need. It's fine to just say, 'I don't want that.'"

"I don't want that." I repeated the words softly, then a little louder. Saying them felt a hundred times better than the mealy-mouthed excuses I'd been trying to give.

Getting an Upper GI

I've found a new favorite drink - thin liquid barium! Yummy! And on an unrelated note, if you believe that, I've got some lovely beach-front property on sale in central Kansas.

Anyway, it all started in August when I was about six months out from my gastric sleeve. I found myself craving sweet, cold foods like ice cream, foods that were easy to swallow. At the same time, I could not force myself to eat solid proteins. When I did eat them...well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.

I was sure that this ice cream binge was just another manifestation of my superior ability for getting in my own way. My bariatric surgeon, however, thought it might be a physical problem. Because I trust her completely, I allowed her to schedule an appointment for me to get a series of x-rays known as an upper GI.

Not a happy camper, I reported to the outpatient radiology department on Wednesday. I changed clothes, pleased to note that a single patient gown could cover my new, thinner body. Then I positioned myself on a table that tilted back and forth like a misplaced funhouse ride. Every now and again, a radiology tech held a straw up to my mouth and instructed me to drink more barium.

Suddenly, I heard the radiologist say, "That's it. That's why she's having a hard time with solids."

What Are Your Food Triggers?

If you've ever taken a beginning psych course, you've learned about Pavlov's dogs. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physicist who rang a bell whevever he fed the dogs in his laboratory. Before long, the dogs had so strongly associated the bell-ringing with the upcoming lunch that they salivated whenever they heard the bell. In other words, the sound of the bell by itself triggered them to expect and to want food.

Humans have triggers, too, situations or feelings that we have come to associate with food. For instance, sitting down in front of the television set is triggering for me, because in my pre-surgery days that was my favorite place to binge eat.

Being stressed out about something is also a major food trigger, since I used to cope with stress by stuffing sweets in my mouth.

How Do I Know When I'm Hungry?

Several people who have read this blog have written to me asking about hunger signals. One difference between having a gastric sleeve and having a banding procedure is that a gastric sleeve actually removes a large part of your stomach, including the part that produces hunger-inducing hormones. Therefore, after a sleeve, you get very few signals from your body to let you know when it needs food.

But I might as well be honest. After years of weight loss and regain, of starving myself and then eating everything but the kitchen sink, my body wasn't really on speaking terms with me anyway.

Since the sleeve, the only "hunger" I've felt has been mouth hunger, or the compulsion to eat for emotional reasons. If I'm absorbed in something and don't experience any emotional distress that triggers my food response, I can happily go all day without eating or even thinking about food.

The Therapist Who Treats Herself...

After another week of struggling to keep myself away from chocolate, I decided to take my bariatric surgeon's advice and see a therapist who specializes in eating disorders.

I honestly felt a little stupid that I couldn't seem to work this issue out on my own, but as a friend bluntly reminded me, "The counselor who treats herself has a fool for a client."

Anyway, I've been to two therapy appointments. The therapist I'm working with is very intuitive and able to read (correctly) into what I'm not saying, but she's also very sensible and down-to-earth when it comes to problem-solving. That's a perfect combination for me.

A Visit with My Bariatric Surgeon

I had an appointment with my bariatric surgeon on Tuesday, August 30th. The good news: I'm down eight pounds since my last appointment! The bad news: I'm only down eight pounds since my last appointment. My doctor said very tactfully that she'd like to see those numbers "move a little faster."

I came clean with her about my problems with emotional eating and how I can't seem to get chocolate out of my diet, let alone out of my apartment. My surgeon listened sympathetically, and then we brainstormed a few ideas.

Exercise? Not Me!

Back when I had my weight loss surgery, there was no question of me exercising. It was all I could do to drag my 300+ pound frame out of bed every day and force it through the activities basic to sustaining life.

Almost six months out from the surgery, that has all changed. I'm still nowhere near what people would call svelte, but I can move without the incapacitating pain and shortness of breath that once plagued me.

Furthermore, my doctors and friends have been encouraging me to exercise. There's just one little problem--I hate exercise! I can't hear the word without thinking of super-toned size-two teenagers in spandex racing along on their little elliptical machines or pretzeling themselves into a million different yoga positions.

Ick. That is so completely not me. So, I've given up on the idea of club memberships and treadmills. What I focus on now is moving my body, both for pleasure and for secondary gain.

So far, I've found at least five pleasant ways to move my body without the horrible connotation of exercise.

Three Good Reasons NOT to Skip Meals

 
A gastric sleeve removes the part of your stomach that produces ghrelin, a hunger-inducing hormone. With that gone, the typical person experiences little if any hunger after a gastric sleeve procedure. I certainly haven't been hungry much since my surgery. It's easy to power my way through the entire day without eating a bite.

You would think that's a good thing. Fewer meals mean fewer calories and fewer calories mean fewer pounds, right? Wrong.

MILESTONE: 50-Pound Weight Loss (& a Lecture on Protein)

 
I saw my bariatric surgeon today, and she told me I had officially hit the 50-pound mark. We talked about how my clothes felt and looked better and how I didn't become so horribly short of breath with exertion anymore. She was very pleased with the results of the surgery.

Just one thing concerned her. Since the surgery, I've been suffering waves of overwhelming fatigue. Sometimes I can scarcely keep my head up and my eyes open. I've been known to arrive home from work, fall directly into bed, and not stir until the next morning.

My doctor reminded me that I'm only three months out from major surgery and that my body is still probably doing some healing. She also, however, expressed concern that I'm not getting enough protein. Protein, she explained to me, is the second most abundant substance in the human body (water is first) and "the most important nutrient in a bariatric diet."