Bandsters:

I've read many posts from many different people about "head hunger" and have come away with a BIG question.

Since the band is around the top part of the stomach (where the nerve endings are to tell you when you are normally full) this should tell YOUR HEAD to stop eating because it thinks you are full. So in essence THIS SHOULD stop the head hunger.

However, I'm reading on many posts that head hunger is still there even after you eat -- which is going against my theory that the food sitting in the pouch (where the nerve endings are) REALLY DOES NOT TELL YOUR BRAIN THAT YOU ARE FULL AT ALL.

I do understand that head hunger can still be there because you miss the taste. My brother had the band done and went from 429lbs to 165lbs and looks phenomenal in 4 years. I'm wondering this as I'm approaching getting my own band in place this coming June.

In Summary, I really did think the nerve endings did more of a role to control head hunger then previously thought.

Thoughts or Experiences Anyone - Please Chime In as I've haven't read to much about this particular topic in terms of the nerve endings control more of the head hunger issue.

Thanks again,

Marketing Dude

I think head hunger is a thought, not a physical thing. I might be thinking of tour question wrong but when people say head hunger I think of it being kind of the same as thinking "I like the color blue". There's no physical sensation to it and it's merely a thought.

Im not explaining myself well at all here. Am I misunderstanding what head hunger means?

I think head hunger is a thought, not a physical thing. I might be thinking of tour question wrong but when people say head hunger I think of it being kind of the same as thinking "I like the color blue". There's no physical sensation to it and it's merely a thought.

Im not explaining myself well at all here. Am I misunderstanding what head hunger means?

No...most on the board describe head hunger as the need for more food due to the taste. The more I'm thinking about it ..it seems that the nerve endings does cure the heads desire for more food.....HOWEVER IT DOESN'T CURE YOUR TASTEBUDS DESIRES FOR MORE FOOD.

I think head hunger is part physical, part mental -- really over eating for many is a habit. You eat bigger portions often and your body gets used to it and wants more and more food to "satisfy" you. Then you get used to the "full" filling and keep doing it as your routine. With the band it is important to slow down and start listening to your body, hear your body telling you that you are satisfied or full -- even if you want/can eat more or desire to have more. I am only 2.5 months post op (down about 43 lbs) and I still struggle a bit. The lapband is not a miracle - you have to be dedicated and work hard (watch your calories, fat, carbs, protein, water intake etc.) and until you reach restriction (i have no restriction yet) you have to do it on your own will power (that is why it is often referred to as "bandsters hell"). Also, I know bypass and some of the other procedures are supposedly (according to my doctors) at helping with the "head hunger" - do some research to figure out what procedure is best for you. Good luck to you and congrats on your decision to have a better life.

I believe head hunger to be eating because you want to, not because you are actually hungry

I believe head hunger to be eating because you want to, not because you are actually hungry

Yes, that was how I was thinking of it too.

For me head hunger has to do with me thinking I'm hungry when in reality I am stressed or angry or sad or some other emotion. My mind wants to eat to soothe the emotion because (as another poster mentioned) it is a habit -- to use food to solve every problem. And no, the band won't change the way I think, but due to restriction I am unable to binge as I have in the past.

Just my .02 cents.

~Fran

Why, before being banded, did i eat until i could eat no more and then go back 10 minutes later with an urge to eat more even though i was still full of food? If someone could find the answer to stopping the urge to eat when not hungry(i think head hunger is an urge, more so than hunger), that person would make an absolute fortune and put all the weight loss companies out of business!

Everyone wants to eat when they are over weight because that is what we are use to doing. No band, or any other gadget that they come up with is going to stop you from wanting to eat. I can count on one hand when I was obese how many times I ate because I was hungry thus making me thin if I wouldnt have ate. Your mind has to be ready for surgery and you have to control that wanting to eat the band is not going to do that for you

Head hunger is nurture rather than nature-- habit and learning, not biology. It's the rough equivalent of the psychological cravings that people with drug addiction get even when their bodies are no longer physically addicted to a substance.

No surgery is going to touch that-- only after a significant relearning and practicing of new habits is head hunger going to go away.

head hunger for me is not a physical thing....I don't feel hungry I just want to eat someting. Sometimes its a craving for different tastes, especially at night but often its just a feeling that I want to eat. Its as if something is missing .....probably because of the eating habits developed over a lifetime.

Read about ghrelin and leptin.

I agree, headhunger isnt physical, its habit and impulse and wanting to eat for reasons other than hunger. Its baking Cookies for you kids right after you've had dinner and are full, but still eating four or five of them, or worse, eating the mix! Its eating to cure boredom or stress - its pure habit just like biting your nails or anything else you might do under certain stresses or whatever. No lapband, indeed no weight loss surgery at all is ever going to cure it, it takes willpower and nothing more to resist headhunger eating. That willpower is much easier to summon when you're actually physically FULL as opposed to just not particularly hungry.

Head hunger isn't physical hunger. It's just me wanting food because I'm used to eating it, or if I want ice cream, I just want it, it's not because I'm hungry. With my band, i'm never hungry, like my stomach pretty much feels the same all day (I could probably go all day without eating if I had to). Which helps a little bit, it's harder for me to cheat when I have no hunger.

I still enjoy the social aspect of food, that is what is hard to get over.