Can gastric sleeve surgery help an emotional eater

nylon

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:13 am

On its own? No, a sleeve won't because you have to deal with the underlying feelings driving you to eat. A sleeve will help some because you'll feel full faster, but a sleeve can be stretched out again if you don't change your underlying habits.

The sleeve will help you lose weight, but to make it stick, you need therapy also.

smss

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:14 am

Before you try surgery, which can have some pretty unpleasant lifelong side effects, look into intuitive eating. I can recommend some books, Instagram accounts- whatever is your preferred way to learn. I also used to think I was an out of control "emotional eater." After over a year of really committing to IE it's extremely rare for me to overeat or eat when I'm not hungry. My pantry/fridge/freezer are full of foods that I used to think I couldn't have around the house and now can have around for months at a time, from time to time eat a satisfying but not overfilling amount, be done and forget about them till the next time I want them. Sometimes I open my pantry and see multiple foods I used to binge on but find that I don't even want ANY of them, close it and go find something else (or realize I'm not hungry, just bored).

P.S. there is a learning curve where you may find yourself eating even MORE than before, happens to a lot of people, but if you trust the process there's so much freedom on the other end.

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:44 am

Cheshire cat wrote:

The vast majority of obese people who undergo bariatric surgery are emotional eaters. And yes, for many of them, the surgery is a salvation.

Read this for context
https://www.google.com/url?sa=.....05389

Thank you. I will read that v

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:45 am

nylon wrote:

I hear. Part of my problem is that I never feel full. But that is what I’m scared of.

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:46 am

smss wrote:

I really, really don’t think intuitive eating sound work for me.
What unpleasant side effects does surgery have?

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 12:54 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I really, really don’t think intuitive eating sound work for me.
What unpleasant side effects does surgery have?

Hardly any in my experience. The sleeve has very few lasting side effects and people who think it does are usually thinking about other gastric procedures and not the sleeve.

Lasting side effects include vomiting if you overeat and...well, that's basically it. Personally it's never happened to me.

You tend to get dehydrated more easily because you can't just chug water anymore. That's the thing I miss the most, downing a whole glass of water. So you have to remember to keep water with your and drink all day so you don't get dehydrated. Otherwise, there's no issues. Your bowels aren't touched so you don't have issues with vitamin absorption, loose stools, any of it.

If your only issue is no sense of knowing when you're full, it definitely helps with that. You WILL KNOW. But also, depending on what you eat when you do eat emotionally, know that potato chips, pretzels, ice cream, chocolate, etc, all that will go down smoothly and easily and you won't get the sense of being full because it doesn't actually fill your stomach and yes, you can regain your weight.

It is vital to work on the issues that lead you to overeat. Either in therapy or in OA, which personally I found extremely helpful.

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 1:10 am

So that’s one of the things that is worrying me. I have done oa in the past and been successful but gained all back plus when I went off.
I don’t like the constant proclaiming myself an addict. The constant I can’t. Am I going to have to still do oa with the surgery?

smss

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 1:27 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I really, really don’t think intuitive eating sound work for me.
What unpleasant side effects does surgery have?

I hear you. I also didn't think it would work for me. Almost gave up several times in the first few months. But my relationship with food is totally transformed. There's a calm there that there never was before.

Side effects: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tes.....85183

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 2:10 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

The issues that drive you to eat are still going to be there. The only difference is yourwill be more physically limited. And even that fades with time.

There's a magic zone during the first six months to a year where you don't feel hunger. You have no appetite and you forget to eat. This is where you lose the most weight. But your appetite may return, and the drive to eat, especially when you do it for emotional reasons, will still be there unless you address why you're emotionally driven to eat.

If you can redirect your emotions to a healthier outlet (working out, for example) obviously that'll only help, but if it were so easy you'd have done it already.

Long story short, weight loss surgery is wonderful. It's an amazing tool that will help you lose weight. But that's all it is, a tool. And if you don't use that tool, or use it incorrectly, it won't be of any help to you. And a tool is not a cure.

amother

Cerise

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 3:56 am

I’m experiencing this now. I had the sleeve about 6 months ago. Bh down 50 lbs.
It is definitely a tool. I still have the emotional eating aspects. The difference is I have the weight loss as my incentive to really work on it and eat better. I never could have lost the weight on my own. I’ve tried for years.
Still have another 50 to go.... I feel so much better though. It is still hard work in controlling myself, and eating smartly.

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:16 am

As others have said, bariatric surgery is just a tool and there is a relatively short period of time when one will lose weight because one physically can not eat large quantities for physical reasons.

After six months to a year, many people who still have not dealt with the emotional reasons for eating start to overeat again - it is called out-eating the surgery. This is especially insidious because a lot of foods that are easy to eat after surgery are also high calorie choices because they are easier to chew and to swallow. I am over-simplifying of course but after a year or so one still has to make conscious decisions in terms of controlling what one eats. And of course, if one wants to remain healthy, one must be very vigilant that what one eats provides the most nutrients possible.

The surgery is effective for many people - and seems to be more effective than diets for many people. However, it is a major surgery that will change your body for the rest of your life - so it is a cost benefit analysis - whether excess pounds are less healthy than surgery.

amother

Gold

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:22 am

I dislike the term emotional eating. I think it’s scientifically inaccurate. More accurate would be neurological eating. We eat because it gives us a neurological fix. Just like drugs. This is the piece that neither OA nor bariatric surgery will address.

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:25 am

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am taking it in.

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

I agree with that statement. So how do you go about fixing that.

andrea levy

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:28 am

I was always afraid I would not be able to stop. Once I cut carbs out and my insulin levels evened out, I was able to stop. I have discovered that I have something called night eating syndrome which I am working to fix but that’s a whole deal with circadian rhythms and I’m limited in how much damage I can do because I have firm boundaries on what I do and do not eat, maintaining 80 pound loss for nearly 3 years. 110 total in almost 4 years.

So now, while technically I could have surgery and follow protocol, I don’t because, I can do it myself. Intuitive eaters will tell you that I don’t count because I have strong boundaries about how I eat but my ability to stop in anticipation of satiety ( once I hit satiety and stop I’m too full) is a combination of intuitive and reading my hormones.

amother

Gold

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:34 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am taking it in.

I agree with that statement. So how do you go about fixing that.

There are no shortcuts. But Andrea Levy managed to do it Wink

You need to figure out whats giving you that fix and how, and address that. There are some foods that are known to be very addictive. People with leaky guts will also get opiate reactions from some foods. MSG and foods with free glutamate will give you a glutamate high. For some it’s anything that messes with their blood sugar.

amother

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:35 am

andrea levy wrote:

.

I so appreciate how you share and constantly encourage on this thread. You are an inspiration. I have tried only protein and veg diets a few times. After one day, I get extremely nauseous and dizzy, I start shaking and feel like I am passing out.

amother

Gold

Mon, Mar 01 2021, 10:37 am

andrea levy wrote:

Intuitive eating alone doesn’t work for food addicts. Addiction will completely override any intuition.