Eating six times a day? Yeah right.

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Not particularly. When I ate the six meals a day, I had a balance of carbs and protein. But I don't worry about that now. For all I know, my body doesn't process protein well, and I should lay off. I'm convinced I have something that medicine hasn't studied yet.

If I weren't having any success in this area, I'd get a set of blood tests for levels of cortisol, testosterone (free and syrum), estrogen, insulin, and progesterone. If those all come up in the center of the normal range, then I'd check into digestive problems such as mal-absorption and other things wrong, which cause mis-appropriation of calories by the body. If the hormones are working right, then you should be able to find a meal schedule which works (meaning that you drop to a good weight, and are never hungry). This of course is also assuming that there isn't any psychological cause such as depression or any eating disorders.

*Standard "NORMAL" ranges on hormones in tests, are very flawed. If you're more to one side of the range; let's say the hypothetical "normal" value of one test is from 225-850, and you're at 785, that's probably way too high despite that it falls within "normal", and so on. I'd want to see it very close to the center; like maybe 500 or so.

Charles

I've had several blood tests since 1996, and nothing comes up. They once found some high or low ratings with my thyroid, but still in the range of normal, so they didn't follow up.

The last one left me with a sinking feeling, because if was done by an idiot a$$hole doctor who clearly clammed up whenever I mentioned weight. All he ever did was invalidate every suggestion that weights out of my control, even going so far as to say I should forget blaming genetics, since my immediate family doesn't have a weight problem. Oh and get this; aunts, uncles, and grandparents don't apply, and I "shouldn't even go back that far." Isn't that ret*d? When I got the blood test back, 100% normal was written on it. He may have only test the minimum requirement, since any validation for gastric bypass seems to scare him silly. He said 4% of people die of complications within a year of surgery. That might be true, but most of the people that die are reported as morbidly obese before surgery (talkin' 400 + pounds) and the drastic weight loss somehow causes shock to the their system. I'm 240 right now, and I eat healthy, exercise regularly. My knees hurt sometimes, but at least my organs are probably in good health. He's obviously afraid it could ruin his career.

You know I oughta get another PCP.

Eating once a day doesn't sound healthy.

I'd recommend eating four times a day; that is, three meals and one snack.

How tall are you? 240 falls into the category of morbidly obese for a fairly large height range.

Your doctor doesn't sound like an idiot, per se. That surgery is and should be a true last resort. Hacking up internal organs, I'm sorry to break it to you, is not something that only causes complications to the obese. It is irresponsible in all but truly life threatening cases.

Your general attitude is suspect. You are clinging to the idea that eating once a day is good, when it is not. You want a dangerous surgery that will just make it all better. And you don't seem interested in listening to any advice that will/would/could help you if it's not easy.

You have been asked for specifics on your diet, and you have not replied with them. Do you even know how much and of what you eat on a daily basis? If not, that would be a very good first step. Then split it in two, and start eating two times a day until you get used to it, then three....then four...then five....then six. Trying to make a huge sudden change like once a day gigantic meal to six small meals will throw your system off. Gradual transitions work, because they allow your body time to adjust. And it will adjust if you allow it to.

That is EXACTLY what I mean! "Normal" is based on severely flawed statistics, and is a meaningless, useless word when it comes to hormone level tests. A thyroid problem will cause your exact difficulties, and sure as I'm sitting here typing this post, I think you would do well to find those old results, and have a new set of blood work done, compare, and find out what's happening. There are some good places to go on the internet to find out what those numbers mean, and since I'm not a doctor, I don't want to make any quotes on what those numbers "should ideally" be.

This is a fundamental fault with American medicine. I don't understand, other than for profit to drug companies, why it's this way. I have a friend who was morbidly obese, and was starting to get bone problems in her legs & feet, and she eats healthier than I do... And nothing she tried did anything but make it worse. She has health insurance, and therefore is not allowed to have any tests that the insurance company says are needed, and the test results are assessed by the insurance company. I just about wanted to strangle her doctor, when I found out that they're ignoring a GLARING cortisol and thyroid imbalance, and the insurance company said they'd pay for gastric bypass surgery but NOT a hormone specialist to solve the problem. This is a Dictionary definition of "STUPID"; Knowing something doesn't work, and pursuing the same while expecting a different result.

Charles

You need proteins carbs and fats in every meal. If you hungry soon after your ratios are off.