Cross Addiction and Weight Loss Surgery

[GigiUSA]

I think that cross addiction is real for many people. Knowledge is key and knowing why I got here in my life is at the heart of the issue for me personally.

[Ann2]

I was vegetarian for 15 yrs and never lost a pound!

LOL!

Here's some vegetarian food for ya:

Oreos
Ben & Jerry's
Potato chips
Pretzels
Milky Way candy bars
Mac and cheese
Krispy Kreme donuts
Chardonnay
Bourbon
Beer
Vodka
Scotch
Mcdonald's French fries
Tater tots
Baked potatoes with sour cream (hold the bacon bits)
Cheese and bean enchiladas
Nachos
Movie popcorn
Hershey's kisses
My mother's Christmas fudge
My mother's coconut cream pie
My mother's potato soup
My mother's fried okra
And all the coffees and chais and other drinks you can order at Starbucks
And all the nasty nibbles you can eat for free in any bar you walk into

[RehabNurse]

And let's not forget the Triple Cheese Covered Stuffed Crust pizza from Pizza Hut. As long as you go with meatless toppings, you've got yourself a vegetarian meal (and a food addict's paradise).

A delicious vegetarian/fruitarian breakfast: stuffed french toast topped with strawberries, maple syrup, and powdered sugar. It is stuffed with a cream cheese-based filling. Yum!

LOL!

Here's some vegetarian food for ya:

Oreos
Ben & Jerry's
Potato chips
Pretzels
Milky Way candy bars
Mac and cheese
Krispy Kreme donuts
Chardonnay
Bourbon
Beer
Vodka
Scotch
Mcdonald's French fries
Tater tots
Baked potatoes with sour cream (hold the bacon bits)
Cheese and bean enchiladas
Nachos
Movie popcorn
Hershey's kisses
My mother's Christmas fudge
My mother's coconut cream pie
My mother's potato soup
My mother's fried okra
And all the coffees and chais and other drinks you can order at Starbucks
And all the nasty nibbles you can eat for free in any bar you walk into

[sraebaer]

To be fair, there are the 5 to 10 percent of those in the obese population who got fat due to disease processes or medications, though they're not necessarily addicted to food.

For instance, Prednisone will fatten a person up within a matter of months. Illnesses such as Cushing's disease result in obesity even though the sufferer has no food addiction. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) leads to obesity due to extreme hormonal imbalances of insulin and androgens.

So wouldn't that mean that 90 to 95% of us have food addictions?

[Shirl]

LOL!

Here's some vegetarian food for ya:

Oreos
Ben & Jerry's
Potato chips
Pretzels
Milky Way candy bars
Mac and cheese
Krispy Kreme donuts
Chardonnay
Bourbon
Beer
Vodka
Scotch
Mcdonald's French fries
Tater tots
Baked potatoes with sour cream (hold the bacon bits)
Cheese and bean enchiladas
Nachos
Movie popcorn
Hershey's kisses
My mother's Christmas fudge
My mother's coconut cream pie
My mother's potato soup
My mother's fried okra
And all the coffees and chais and other drinks you can order at Starbucks
And all the nasty nibbles you can eat for free in any bar you walk into

I worked with a nurse who was vegan and was extremely overweight! For lunch she'd have some good eats and most were pan fried. She'd always bring a serving of fried plantains and yucca with tons of garlic and olive oil. I miss her lol!

[Pam G]

My vegetarian downfalls were pasta, rice, and bread!

[Sandra3]

So wouldn't that mean that 90 to 95% of us have food addictions?

Well, the best answer would be "it's complicated".
Only recent studies (2/3 years old) show a link between asthma and genetic obesity, or also how a few medication can be triggers (antibiotics for ex).

My health is really complicated, and without going into details, I do have genetic obesity (and hormonal issues, asthma and other great gifts).

I started to gain weight at the age of 8 years old (trigger : antibiotics). From then my parents did put me on crazy diets because in France 30 years ago being obese was extremely shameful. So I started to be hungry all the time, and when I was not on a diet I was fed mainly with carbs (which in excess is really bad for me). I was "slim" from the age of 14 to 24 eating nothing, always hungry and exercising like crazy (8 to 10 hours a week).

I became morbidly obese with my first pregnancy (gestational diabetes and other issues) and things were out of control from that point.

In quantity for years I was eating more than my husband! but in calories I was maintaining my 50+BMI with 2000/2500 calories when I should have been able to eat 4000 on paper! But eating 4000 would have made me one of those poor people from the show 600 pounds, no doubts about it! And I was always hungry...but I was so heavy exercise was out of question...even walking too much could have consequences for months...In Tokyo two years ago I broke 4 toes just walking. Took months to heal, I still had to walk, pain was excruciating for months.

Anyway, all that to say that medical conditions can drive people to eat too much, but it's not always a psych problems like compulsion/addiction, it can be also the body requiring more food to function, people are really hungry and it's not in their heads. That's were the line is blurry.

One of my specialist was telling me that my genetic problem was actually the adaptation of the body to famine issues. If tomorrow we had to face food shortage, he would die, I wouldn't because my body did adapt to that issue. And historically, my family did face food shortage during the wars. That's on my dad side and all women share the same pattern (asthma, gestational diabetes etc).

For years I felt guilty to eat "too much". I started to study nutrition years ago and yet, even if we eat really well at home, and I was the only one with weight issues, my youngest did develop the gain weight at 8 years old like me, after taking antibiotics. But having better knowledge about nutrition, she is not following a diet, but I do watch her carb intake and we do exercise together. She is now 11 and much smaller than I was at her age so I think it's going in the right direction. But it's a lot of work, and I do worry that if one day she is pregnant she will also get the same gestational diabetes and then it will be out of control again.

I do think that many people have the very same issues but don't know about it. Many can identify when they did gain weight but often they don't know why. They just feel guilty because they are hungry and eat too much. It took me years of failed diets, frustration, intensive reading and research before meeting great doctors who found out about the link between my multiple conditions.

Now I also know that if I don't sleep enough, and because of my position when I worked in DC I was working mostly at night for 4 years, during those years I did gain weight because I had pneumonia twice, antibiotics, cortisone etc...and when I gained with medication, losing was almost impossible. So not sleeping=sick=weight gain.

So I'm convinced that during the next ten years, research will show new "reasons why" because I'm convinced that at least 30% of obese patient do have a medical condition to start with and don't know about it. And I'm not talking about food addiction.
I think more about food intolerance. Over the last 50 years food has been modified a lot, our diet did change drastically and so did our gut bacteria.
Because I also have IBS, my vitamin deficiencies are chronic (and got worth to control post-sleeve) and I can tell when my iron is too low, I'm starving!

So the real answer is "it's very complicated"!

[Pam G]

"I was maintaining my 50+BMI with 2000/2500 calories "

If I consistently consumed 2500 calories a day, I would quickly start regaining the weight I lost with the sleeve.

I currently eat between 900-1500 calories a day, and I am 5'9".

[Sandra3]

"I was maintaining my 50+BMI with 2000/2500 calories "

If I consistently consumed 2500 calories a day, I would quickly start regaining the weight I lost with the sleeve.

I currently eat between 900-1500 calories a day, and I am 5'9".

Of course when we lose weight we eat less!
My description was to explain that facts are different from what's on paper.
For example right now, with my last scan done in January, my BMR is 1600 calories per day. Means that without exercise that's what my body needs.

I've been eating mainly 1200 calories per day, and just last week walked almost 50 kms in one week. Guess what? no weight loss! On paper I should have lost weight...

[Shirl]

Here's an interesting piece written by a personal trainer who had bariatric surgery years ago. I think most of her points are controversial, albeit valid and true.

http://www.strongcoffey.com/index.ph...ery-addiction/

Okay, so I read the article. Some resonates with me specifically his tendency to be independent and seeking help elsewhere than the confined structure of the support group's mentioned. I had never heard of either the author of the book nor the groups her book enticed. I can tell you though that at some point in my struggle to lose weight started to embrace my "voluptuousness" I believed from my mid 30's that being fat wouldn't make me less of a person, and I defied anyone who would body shame anyone in any form or way. I was the healthiest fat person I knew I had no metabolic diseases so I was okay.

I believe that change of heart and mind helped me actually lose weight naturally, I wasn't dieting but eating wholesome. I have never mentioned this before on this forum, but I was hired to facilitate a Diabetes prevention program at a national/global organization. That in itself provided a fountain of resources and knowledge for me, but knowing and doing proved to be at odds with me, I lacked the skills to balance the stress of work and my life circumstances. And that's what it came down to the many years later that I found myself recovering from WLS (which is very recent as some of you know).

It is my profound belief our excess weight is/was a symptom of a deeper cause/stressor/trauma, but the "Addictive Behaviors" like compulsive overeating (the right or wrong foods) or anorexia or bulimia are the coping skills, whether you believe in full blown food addiction Or not. If WLS prevents us to accessing our previous coping mechanisms, then we are forced to develop other forms of coping with atressors. Probably a good percentage will develop other unhealthy coping mechanisms, but just from the responders on this thread I believe some of us are capable of facing our inner demons head on post WLS, and develop the healthier skills to heal or move on from the root cause of our excess weight. As I said before some us will meander, wait to the 11th hour, some may never learn. I just refuse to be the latter.

Whether you believe you have a food addiction or not, the question is what will be your strategy to live the best version of yourself (and free of crutches) post WLS?

[tinman]

I. Am. Addicted. To. Margaritas.

That will be all.

[GigiUSA]

I. Am. Addicted. To. Margaritas.

That will be all.

Hahahahahahaha!!!!!! I am hopeful that after my surgery I will still be able to enjoy the occasional margarita too!!!!

[southernmom]

I agree that lumping everyone (or almost everyone) who is obese with a food addiction is a narrow way of looking at things. I was underweight or normal weight until my first pregnancy at age 30. From that point on, gaining weigh was an issue. I had seven pregnancies in ten years and was then diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I was on an endless cycle of yo-yo dieting trying to get control of my weight but was fighting hormonal issues. Prior to my surgery, I had given up on traditional diet and exercise, because it never seemed to work long term. At that point, I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted because I felt like no matter what I did, the weight was always going to be there. So very happy that I decided to have this surgery. It really has helped me win the battle.

[ShariBerry]

I was vegetarian for 15 yrs and never lost a pound!

Pam,

Are you still a vegetarian post sleeve? I eat very little meat, because when I do I have severe bloating and feel like crap for the next day or two. I have been following the proteinoholic suggestions, but wonder how things will go post surgery when I am told I need to increase my protein intake.