jboris12

My name is Judy, and I am 61. I had my the Gastric Sleeve surgery on November 5, 2015 and am almost four month post op. I have gone from 207 to 186 and have been holding at that weight for some time now. My biggest problem is hunger at night. I want sweets! That part of me is a bad habit from a child and has not changed. As soon as I sit in front of a television, Snacks pop into my head. Even though I have had the surgery, I have to keep in mind to exercise and watch my carbs. I did the best thing every and joined an aqua fitness class, twice a week and it is fantastic! I don't thing you are ever too old to care about your health, as long as it is monitored by a doctor.

My name is Judy, and I am 61. I had my the Gastric Sleeve surgery on November 5, 2015 and am almost four month post op. I have gone from 207 to 186 and have been holding at that weight for some time now. My biggest problem is hunger at night. I want sweets! That part of me is a bad habit from a child and has not changed. As soon as I sit in front of a television, Snacks pop into my head. Even though I have had the surgery, I have to keep in mind to exercise and watch my carbs. I did the best thing every and joined an aqua fitness class, twice a week and it is fantastic! I don't thing you are ever too old to care about your health, as long as it is monitored by a doctor.

My name is Judy, and I am 61. I had my the Gastric Sleeve surgery on November 5, 2015 and am almost four month post op. I have gone from 207 to 186 and have been holding at that weight for some time now. My biggest problem is hunger at night. I want sweets! That part of me is a bad habit from a child and has not changed. As soon as I sit in front of a television, Snacks pop into my head. Even though I have had the surgery, I have to keep in mind to exercise and watch my carbs. I did the best thing every and joined an aqua fitness class, twice a week and it is fantastic! I don't thing you are ever too old to care about your health, as long as it is monitored by a doctor.

My name is Judy, and I am 61. I had my the Gastric Sleeve surgery on November 5, 2015 and am almost four month post op. I have gone from 207 to 186 and have been holding at that weight for some time now. My biggest problem is hunger at night. I want sweets! That part of me is a bad habit from a child and has not changed. As soon as I sit in front of a television, Snacks pop into my head. Even though I have had the surgery, I have to keep in mind to exercise and watch my carbs. I did the best thing every and joined an aqua fitness class, twice a week and it is fantastic! I don't thing you are ever too old to care about your health, as long as it is monitored by a doctor.

63 here.
We are not too old. We have just had longer to ingrain our habits than the young'ns. Speed eating was a problem for me, too. When you have brothers the fastest gets the mostest. The key is concentration while eating, talking or watching TV can throw you off.

Bufflehead: "I remind myself that hunger is not an emergency"
That is where I'm getting to also. I take Omeprazole to help control the hunger but then when it comes right down to it, I find that if I can distract myself with work or reading or something, it fades and I can get past it. I HATE feeling hungry, but it isn't an emergency.

The most important thing I have learned in dealing with post-op hunger is how to be okay with being hungry. I remind myself that hunger is not an emergency, and that I will not starve to death. I have a set schedule for eating, and when I get hungry, I remind myself something along the lines of "it sucks to be hungry, but you can wait until you have your snack at 4." I also did some self-evaluation where I considered the times in my life I had been in true physical or emotional pain -- that time I had multiple root canals, the time my friend died, etc. When I am feeling sorry for myself and like I just can't deal with being hungry, I reflect on the times I have truly suffered, compare my hunger to that, and realize I can absolutely get through being hungry for a couple of hours. The truth is, eating is never the only response or way to deal with being hungry. Our body tries to tell us that it is an emergency and the only way to fix it is eating, but that's a lie.
I learned these cognitive behavioral techniques (and others) by reading Beck's The Diet Solution and working through her exercises.