About 5 years ago I lost 80 lbs. Keeping it off has been a brutal daily struggle with hunger. Every minute of every day is a battle with hunger and food. I have noticed that every morning as I am awakening, I am dreaming about, and semi-thinking about food, and it just gets worse as the day moves onward.
I have an appointment with my doctor on Thursday. I am going to ask him about this.
To those who will post about their magic diet or combination of food, I just tell you now that:
1) I have already tried it.
2) People who are normally thin aren't on magic combinations of food or weird diets.
I found this online-—
My mom had her vagus nerve cut in the process of ulcer surgery in 1978. Along with cutting the nerve, they removed her gall bladder and appendix.
While it seemed to have helped the ulcers, it created a whole new set of problems that get worse over the years. The simpliest manifestation is her comment after eating that the food “seems to just sit on my stomach” - something it actually appears to do.
In reading, it appears to have had a negative effect on her entire digestive system and from reading may have an affect on blood pressure and even speech.
Additionally, as there is not reversal, the problems just seem to be getting worse as she ages.
YIKES
P90X is a great system...very healthy and gets you in awesome shape.
If you’re putting together a ping list, please add me to it. Thanks.
Have you considered over-eaters anonymous?
No, it is not just for fat people.
Ten years ago I fell and hit my chest on a pointed rock. One doc said I damaged my vagus nerve. Won’t bore you with all the details but I still have a few problems from that fall.
I read up on the vagus nerve and found it affects many things in your body - Especially blood pressure according to one doc.
Be careful and read, read, read everything you can find on the subject - then make a decision with your doctor.
God, no. Reducing the number of calories you consume each day, eating less sugar and fat, not eating before bed, getting at least 30 minutes of exercise each day (even if just walking). Do all that (is it really so hard???) and you will lose weight. Heck even without the exercise you will lose 1-2 lbs per week.
Tracking nutritional intake by hand is a big drag. Get a great program to track your intake. I recommend CalorieKing.
Dr. Gillian McKeith has a wonderful series on BBCAmerica: "You are what you eat". She has a cookbook extolling a healthier way of eating. As a general rule, on an 8 week diet of her foods, you will lose 28 pounds.
If you are constantly struggling with feelings of hunger, you’re right, there may be something wrong. It’s not clear that the vagus nerve is the culprit, though. Since World War II, the vagus, which innervates a number of internal organs under automatic control, has been cut in an effort to control problems. Years ago, for instance, the vagus was surgically severed in the hope that this would relieve asthma. It’s been tried as the solution to irritable bowel syndrome and hypertension, too. These procedures have not been successful.
The urge to eat is not just mediated by the feelings of stomach distension. Parts of the brain monitor blood sugar, fat content, smells, hormone levels, sights, memories, associations, and other cues. It’s incredibly complex and there is an enormous literature of research about satiation. The bottom line is that a simple surgical procedure like severing the vagus is unlikely to relieve you of your hunger. The question of satiety is likely to be far more complex, I’m sorry to say.
I’m not going to make facile suggestions about what you should eat. That would be disrespectful of your efforts and your willpower, which I’m sure are admirable. But may I ask you to do the same? Those of us who are slender are often thought by the overweight to come by it naturally. “It’s easy for you,” they say. For many of us, it’s not easy. If we ate what we wanted and had a sedentary lifestyle, we too would be very heavy. Personally, I live on the South Beach Diet and have for years: mostly simple chicken, fish, and meat with vegetables. Nothing white. If I eat white stuff my blood sugar soars and I pack on weight.
I constantly encounter heavy people who say to me, “You’re just naturally skinny, you don’t know how hard it is.” When people say this to me, my answer usually is, “How far did you run this morning? How much are you going to lift tonight after work?” They almost never tell me that they got out and ran four miles, as I did, or that they are going to swim a mile after work, and then lift weights. They don’t tell me about their thirty-mile bike ride last weekend or the fast games of tennis they play several afternoons a week. They actually say that a fit body comes naturally, even while I’m standing before them in my riding boots and breeches, dragging myself back from the stable in obvious exhaustion.
I could never get weight off and keep it off by dieting alone. If you lost 80 pounds by dieting, my hat’s off to you. I once lost a lot of weight, but not just by dieting. If you want to suppress your appetite and raise your metabolic rate, you may have to exercise three times a day. Some intervention with drugs to change your brain biochemistry might be in order, too.
Best of luck to you. You’re a strong person and you should be proud of yourself.
bttt
I, too, have tried just about every diet and tossed around the idea of lapband. I did some research on insulin resistance, and I stumbled upon “Let’s Do Lunch” by Roger Troy Wilson. The author has suffered through what most overweight people have, and his personal story is amazing. Through trial and error he found what worked for him, and in the process reduced his weight from 425 lbs to 195 lbs.....a 230 lb weight loss. He talks about members of his family trying the diet and losing also, then friends and so on...and from there it caught on. He decided to write a book to help others through his story...and all proceeds go to charities. Please check out the website...I did and darn glad too. I gleaned enough from the site to start the diet....and it is true....all food cravings are gone...and I have lost 15 lbs in 4 weeks. This diet goes against the grain for Atkins fans ( I was one for years). I just got so very tired of limitations...and I missed fruit! I know in my heart that this “diet” will be my future way of eating from now on...because I’m feeling so much better...and I’m NOT hungry!! Hope this helps someone contemplating a serious and perhaps dangerous surgery.
i’d like to know also
Have you thought of it in terms of addiction? There are recovery groups for food addicts, free of charge.
I’ll tell you what... I’ll trade places with you right now.
I’ve been able to control my weight for years now, ever since cancer left me unable to swallow and on permanent tube feeding. The only way I enjoy food now is through cooking and smell. My taste is intact but I cannot swallow anything other than water and I am in my fifth year of what will be permanent tube feeding. The thing is, I don’t complain about it on the internet.
I wish I had your problem. I wish I had to worry about my diet and exercise self control about what I eat, but unfortunately that decision has been removed forever by cancer and the subsequent “treatments” that kept it from killing me.
Every time I get blue about my situation I cheer myself up by remembering there are people who have it worse than me...and then I read a post like this one. Or someone comes up to me in the store to loudly remark on all of my obvious surgical scars on my face and neck.
Best for me to say no more...
Could it be that there is a difference based on where it is cut, much as severing the spinal cord can result in instant death or varying degrees of paralysis (depending on whether it's in the neck or the lower back)?
There's nothing magic about not combining foods. The only natural way to eat food is to find one food and eat it until you feel full. Any combinations of food of any sort are unnatural and won't digest properly. Also avoid processed foods like processed grains and sugar. I am not naturally thin, I am a bit above because I eat quite a bit of sugar, but otherwise follow the natural diet.
bump
I have lost about 110. Keeping it off has been a challenge, but so far, so good. I am usually hungry as well. Although sometimes it’s more emotional than physical, ie. stress eating or boredom eating. I have to do a lot of exercise and not eat a lot to maintain.
Some even say every single thing the vagus nerve does is designed to make you gain weight.I haven't the vagus idea whether this is true or not, but probably worth reading about it. Thanks neverdem.
