sillykitty

Happy Birthday, that looks delicious!

Canned green beans were my Weight Watchers go to food! Filling the void is exactly how I feel on my head hungers days. Maybe you could relate it to your therapist as an over eater that is just making healthy choices. But the over eating itself is a problem. That eating should be mainly for nutrition, and if it is for pleasure, or to fill avoid, that in and of itself is a problem, even if it were calorie free. Now you might be ok because you are making healthy choices. But healthy choices are much harder to make than unhealthy. I know I feel like I'm walking a tightrope some days.

Eating cause food is delicious, get that! I also would be frustrated that my therapist didn't grasp that that is worrisome.

Yeah, I totally get that. Is it head hunger, or physical hunger?

Do you eat all day to get your protein, because you're hungry, or to get to certain calories?

I wonder why? That would be hard for me. Cheese makes up a big part of my diet

I have been wondering this for a while ... Very often when there is a post about hunger, and it is suggested it may be head hunger they are experiencing, the reaction is defensive. They are insistent this is "real" hunger. Even in the OP they will sometimes lead with they know the difference between "real" hunger and head hunger, and they definitely have "real" hunger. Is head hunger not "real"? So, for me, head hunger and physical hunger are very difficult to distinguish between. They physically feel identical. I have to really analyze why I am hungry. Did I have a trigger, an email from Postmates, smelling a neighbors BBQ, hearing the ice cream truck? I have to think about what will satisfy my hunger, do I need a burger, or does lentil soup sound just as good? Only when I think about those, can I determine which type of hunger I am experiencing. Head hunger has lead me to; fill countless carts on Grubhub, Postmates, Ubereats, and (almost always) exit before checking out; get into my car and drive to a fast food restaurant, only to (almost always) turn around and go home; endlessly flip through a room service menu; take a half eaten taco out of my hotel room trash (wrapped and in a bag!) and finish it. Is head hunger less difficult to manage than physical hunger? Is having head hunger a sign of some sort of weakness?

Have you had as suggested above, a thick and hearty soup? I also liked ricotta bake and refried beans with cheese and hot sauce. Those made me feel full and satisfied.

Glad you found it useful

I wish I could figure out the "why" of head hunger. So I've had about two weeks of little to no head hunger. This morning I was looking through restaurant menus trying to find some new places to take clients next week. This would normally be head hunger city for me. But nope, today I'm fine, totally fine with my 1 oz of cheese lunch! If only it could always be this way!

I don't think full disclosure is required in this case!

Well, she probably has her science wrong. But according to this article "Patients Who Undergo Surgery to Remove Excess Skin Less Likely to Regain Weight after Bariatric Surgery" https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/press-releases/body-contouring-improves-long-term-weight-control-after-gastric-bypass

Still ... 9 lbs a month is amazing. I'm glad you found a forever diet that you enjoy and works for you. I'm glad you passionately advocate it on here, because I know my 1 oz of cheese lunch isn't for everyone Speaking of success ... slider food is certainly is working for you @Orchids&Dragons! Congrats on being down almost 72 lbs!

@Creekimp13 That's the thing, I swear I'm not starving myself. That's what I love about how this surgery has worked for me. I'm truly not often hungry, and I'm truly satisfied to full on 1-2.5 oz of food. Trust me, I do not have that kind of willpower! That's how I would fail on diets before WLS, I'd be starving and have a f*ck it mentality and go off the rails, and never get back on. What I do have to use my willpower on is head hunger. I have to stop myself from clicking "Get It Now" on the Postmates app. Driving home I have to not go through a drive through, knowing I have healthy food at waiting for me. Stop myself from making that box of mac and cheese that survived the pantry purge. And head hunger comes and goes, so I've fortunately been mostly free of it for the last 2 weeks or so. The other side of my diet is I do a lot of dining out. I travel 2-4 days a week, 40+ weeks a year. It is impossible to eat super healthily, while traveling, if you're not willing to make a bfd about it. And I'm not. I'm usually w colleagues or clients, so I don't want to draw attention to my eating habits. So that has it's own limitations. Restaurant food is inherently richer than things I would now make at home. I won't order a 1/2 chicken or a $45 plate of fish knowing I will eat only 2 oz of it, and can't take it back with me. So I'll order a small dish that may not be as wise, but won't be as wasteful, or as conspicuous to my dining partners how little I'm eating. And when faced with restaurant menu's, my willpower does often fail me. I know I should order a turkey burger, and mostly eat the patty, or the cobb salad with dressing on the side. But the reality is I'm often tempted by less healthy choices, especially if they are regional or seasonal specialties (I'm looking at you, biscuits and gravy, fried squash blossoms, cheesesteak!) I know you're a big advocate of higher calories than I currently eat. But to get up to 1000-1200 per day, with my stomach capacity being what it is, I'd have to eat pretty much constantly, eat slider foods, and/or eat very calorie dense food, which are likely to be carby and fatty. None of that makes sense to me, whether or not I have a plastic surgery timeline. I feel like I have this great tool of small stomach capacity combined with limited physical hunger and I should really take advantage of this gift as much as I possibly can. Especially considering I have the challenges of dining out and head hunger to contend with. Thanks for the congrats on the weight loss. Objectively I know it is going well, but when the scale doesn't move, or the next size down pants are too tight, it can feel frustratingly slow. And speaking of being successful, how exciting you're almost at goal. Considering your WLS was just two months before mine, it doesn't seem like "slow and steady" to me!

Well now you're just making my food look sad @Creekimp13 Seriously though, I wonder how stomach capacity can vary so much?

And some people have no pre op diet

Gummies are not allowed on my program because they are not very complete at all. I looked high and low for one, because supplements upset my stomach so much. A very complete gummy just doesn't seem to exist. Another alternative is a prenatal that I take. It's complete and I can take it on an empty stomach, with no issues. The dose is 3 per day though, so that kind of sucks. Whole Foods Prenatal (I buy on Amazon) https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KKKMBQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've seen a few people on here drink coffee with Premier Protein Caramel, which I think would be a good way to replicate your iced caramel macchiato. Or coffee with Farlife milk, and sugar free syrup, caramel or vanilla. Both would be good ways to get protein with few calories, and get that sweet coffee fix.

I agree!

Agree with this! Long term, add more fiber to your diet. Either through food, or with something like Benefiber.

I had an easy recovery, so I would have had no issue on this kind of trip at 8 weeks post op. I started back to work travel at 3 weeks post op. On most programs, at 8 weeks you should be on regular food. I have an iron tummy, so I was and am able to eat just about everything. For activity, at 8 weeks your incisions should be well healed. I'd just play all the activities by ear though, as you might have low energy or be more easily exhausted because of your low calorie intake. I'd suggest taking a B12 sublingual, as it can help with energy levels. Unless you have serious complications, there is no way I would cancel this trip. Even if you're not able to do all the activities, being in MX with your friends sounds better than being at home!

This isn't true for every WLS patient though. At 5 months out I have a lot of restriction. My max capacity is about 2 oz by weight of most solid food. A typical meals for me Sandwich made with 1/2 a slice of bread, 1 slice turkey Protein pasta (1/2 oz dry), 2 tbls marinara and a 1/2 meatball Quesadilla with a 1/2 a low carb tortilla and a 1/2 oz of cheese A typical snack for me Slice of watermelon (little less than 3 oz net) Laughing Cow Cheese and 34 Degree Crackers Jerky (1/2 - 1 oz) Cheese (1 oz) Cucumbers w light dip On an average day I'm eating from home, I'll have a protein shake, 1 meal, 2 or so snacks, plus yogurt or a protein bar (low cal) or protein fortified soup, as needed to get to my protein goals. After a meal, I'm stuffed. After a snack, I feel satisfied. I know it looks like, and is a tiny amount of food. But I freaking LOVE being satisfied and full with these sized portion. I also don't feel at all deprived. I have no food that is forbidden, but obviously try to stick with healthier options. The only time the reduced portions get awkward is dining out with people who don't know about my WLS. The amount I can eat is so tiny, it doesn't make a dent in a restaurant portion. It almost inevitably gets noticed by those dining with you and or servers. So just be prepared with answers.

Wow ... I started taking small pills at 2 weeks post op. Then I started taking all pills, including large supplements at 4 weeks post op.

Premier Protein is about as good as it gets with protein shakes. High protein, low calorie, and generally taste pretty good.

I haven't found it difficult to adjust. The reduced capacity was exactly what I was look forward to with VSG, and I got it. You learn pretty quickly how much you can eat, and what it feels like when you are getting full. No bowel problems here. Other than constipation early on, I don't read a lot about them on here either.