Carrots Are No Substitute for Snickers- Part 10 of My Journey Through Bariatric Surgery

Weight Maintenance is a Bitch

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly — The update on how I am doing three and a half years after Bariatric Sleeve weight loss surgery and 125 lbs lost.

My struggle with lifelong obesity and journey to a more normal weight through bariatric sleeve surgery has been documented in my ongoing series, beginning with Part 1 — The Life That Led Me to Bariatric Surgery -Too Fat to Fit and ending with Half My Size After Bariatric Surgery — Adjusting to My New Thinner Body — Part 9, in which I admitted that although maintaining my weight was difficult, it was worth the effort.

BEFORE PHOTO OF ME AT MY HIGHEST WEIGHT — Personal photo from my camera

As the saying goes — I have good news and bad news.

THE GOOD NEWS: In our pre-surgery education classes, we were told that we would have little to no appetite for the first 12–18 months post-surgery. We were warned to take advantage of it because our bodies would adjust and adapt; hunger would return; and the ability to eat more would also return, although with our new smaller stomach, not to the extent of pre-surgery amounts.

So, for the first two years post-surgery, I was walking 15 miles a week, eating a minimal amount of “clean” food, meaning it contained no sugar, salt, or refined carbohydrates. I never touched potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, deli meat, prepared food, sauces, or gravy. I lived on plain protein, plain non-starchy vegetables, and salads, and IT DID NOT BOTHER ME. I was barely hungry and had no cravings for sweet carbohydrates. YAY FOR ME! This regimen allowed me to lose 125 lbs.

THE BAD NEWS: I got bored with and sick of eating food that was less appetizing that a dog’s dry kibble. With the permission of my nutritionist, I slowly added some marinara sauce, a smidge of salt, my favorite Barber-prepared stuffed chicken breasts, a piece here and there of low carbohydrate wheat bread, and my homemade meatballs instead of a plain hamburger.

BAM! Within what seemed like the blink of an eye, 10 lbs. returned in a flash. As did the hunger AND cravings for carbohydrates.

Yes, the hunger was quickly satisfied with a small amount of food because of my surgically reduced stomach, but the hunger and cravings kept returning every few hours.

If I gave in and ate a scoop of ice cream or a Snickers bar, I craved more and more. It was no different than an alcoholic who takes one drink and falls off the wagon into a vat of liquor.

First, I tried the advice always dispensed by nutritionists to satisfy hunger. I snacked on carrot sticks. Is there anyone on earth who thinks carrot sticks are a viable alternative to a Snickers bar? Is there? I’d like to hear from you.

I spent an entire afternoon picking at one bowl of carrot sticks because they were too unappetizing to finish. I never had that problem with Snickers.

After an hour of nibbling on those carrots, I wasn’t hungry for carrot sticks OR Snickers. There’s a lesson about “clean eating” in there that I will discuss later in this story.

I was ANGRY. After everything I had been through with the surgery, minimal eating, and marathon walking, I had expected to live a normal life like a normal person, regardless of what I was taught pre-surgery.

Well, guess what? Obesity is a complex medical disease in which the hunger hormones and brain chemistry DO NOT WORK as they do in “normal weight” individuals. For those of you who have never struggled with weight issues and think obesity is nothing more than a lack of willpower and laziness, I urge you to read the resources cited at the end of this article. Anyone who HAS suffered from weight problems will find the information interesting and validating.

MY SOLUTION: With the extra 10 pounds going nowhere, and a fear that they would turn into 20, I made an appointment with my bariatric surgeon’s nurse practitioner, who validated everything I was thinking and experiencing.

• For those who suffer from obesity, consuming carbohydrates triggers the pleasure section of the brain to crave more and more and more. It is the same mechanism that produces drug cravings in those with Substance Abuse Disorders.
• Unless I eat “clean” and “tiny” and engage in walking around the world, the weight will return…….QUICKLY. It’s not my imagination that I have to eat far less than a “normal” person to lose or maintain my weight.

However, there are medications that shut off hunger hormones and reduce cravings.

I am not a doctor or medical professional and am not suggesting or encouraging anyone to take medication. I am simply relaying my experiences. For that reason, I am not going to list any specific medications. Anyone interested in weight loss solutions should discuss it with a medical professional.

Since my cravings always occurred after dinner, she prescribed a medication to take before dinner that was supposed to suppress my after-dinner hunger and cravings.

That didn’t go well. It worked for a few hours and then the hunger came back with a vengeance. The “digging a hole in the stomach with a drill” kind of hunger I experienced on the two-week pre-surgery starvation diet.

I messaged her that I was stopping that medication PRONTO.

In the meantime, I needed a haircut. My new hairdresser told me that she, too, had the bariatric sleeve surgery, lost 135 pounds, and a few years later experienced the same cravings I was having. She had gained 25 pounds.

She told me of a medication she was taking — a daily injection that shut down the hunger hormones completely. She never felt hungry or had cravings and had lost 10 pounds in a month.

You can be sure I messaged the NP about that medication.

MORE BAD NEWS: Yup. The nurse practitioner would be happy to set me up with that medication. BUT insurance didn’t pay for it, and it was $1300 a month! I’m not going into a rant here about our medical system. Suffice to say, I cannot afford it, so it is off the table.

WHERE I STAND NOW: Back to the day I snacked on carrots. I didn’t want the damn carrots and did not enjoy them, but I noticed that after consuming about ½ a cup, I was no longer hungry, nor did I crave a Snickers.

Hmm, I thought. There’s a lesson in there that I probably already know about “clean” eating, so I figured I’d give it another try.

The next day, I returned to “clean” (albeit boring) eating. Plain protein and plain vegetables. No bread, no salt or sugar. And no ice cream for dessert after dinner.

THE RESULT: I filled up quickly, only able to finish half of my 4 oz. of dinner protein and a couple of spoonsful of broccoli. I did get hungry a few hours later, at which time I ate the other half of my dinner. I had no appetite or cravings for the rest of the evening.

MY CURRENT WEIGHT MAINTENANCE SITUATION:

• ANY amount of fat, salt, sugar, or carbohydrates is deadly poison to me. They either put weight on me in an instant or prevent me from losing weight. It’s the way I was made.
• ANY amount of carbohydrates triggers the “addictive” part of my brain, and I cannot stop consuming them once I start.
• FINAL VERDICT: If I want to keep losing or maintain the weight I have already lost, I have to eat “small and clean” for the rest of my life. Due to the surgery, “eating small” is no problem. I can’t fit much into my new tiny stomach. The “eat clean” is a boring part of my new life that I will just have to endure. The positive side of this is that eating clean eliminates most hunger and cravings.

A small price to pay for being able to sit on normal size chairs; not needing a seatbelt extender on an airplane; shopping in regular-size clothing stores; breathing easily when I walk; and having no one notice me because I look as normal-sized as everyone else. YEAH!

Carrots will never take the place of Snickers in my heart, but they’ll have to take their place in my stomach.

Resources:

Healthline- What is Ghrelin? All You Need to Know About This Hormone

Science Daily- Obesity: A new appetite-increasing mechanism discovered

Better Health Channel -Obesity and hormones

Wellness Retreat -Sugar and Dopamine: The Link Between Sweets and Addiction

The Indian Express -Nutritionist shares three reasons why carbs are ‘so addictive’.

© Joan Gershman 2023

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