Will be banded on Thursday. I am looking at this as surgically placed willpower since I have none of my own. I am always hungry. Even when I have just finished a large meal, my mind tells me I am still hungry. What I wanted to know is does this make the hunger go away? Or will I still be hungry all the time, even when I finish a meal which will be much smaller meals than before.

The head hunger is totally different from the physical hunger, and I'm battling that demon right now. I get physically satiated after about a cup of food, but sometimes my head says that's not enough and I still feel like eating more. I think most of us struggle with that issue. I think part of it is habit and part of it is psychological issues...but I don't have any terrific answers for you, sorry!

Emily

Well - and this is all just MVHO - I'm not sure that surgically placed willpower is the best description. The band will not keep you from making bad food choices, e.g. you will still need willpower to choose chicken over ice cream. For me, I consider the band "portion control", if anything.

Focus on really listening to your body. You are going to have to eat slow, and wait between bites - you won't have much choice. Between your bites, really listed to your body. Ask if you are really hungry, or if you could go a while without eating more. A few tips I've found in my short banded time to do this:

- Take only the smallest portions, just a spoon at a time. If you have "clean plate" syndrome, it's easy to see a plate full of food and think you're still hungry. If you just take very tiny portions, you can help trick your brain. Remmber - it will be much more pelasant to put more food in if you need it, than to have the extra food forcibly removed.

- Buy some saucer-sized paper plates and child-sized paper bowls, and some baby spoons. Or baby tableware, if you don't like disposible dishes. Seeing 2 oz of food on a big dinner plate or a big spoon just makes you think, "Wow, I'm not eating much." Seeing the same amount of food on a very small plate gives the appearance of a much fuller plate. It's all mental, but if you're struggling, it can work.

- If you're artifically hungry, drink some Water. It really will give you a feeling of satiation. If the water doesn't help, have a Protein drink - you'll need it anyway.

- If you're truly hungry and need to eat more, then eat more and don't fret. For a while your body will still be healing & if it's telling you it has to have more, it does.

- I'll try and word this as best as I can, but it might sound a little stupid. I feel like I have two stomachs now - a "top stomach" and a "bottom stomach". Usually my bottom stomach pisses, moans, grrs, and tells me I'm hungry according to my pre-banding perceptions. But now when I feel this hunger, I listed to my "top stomach" and it tells me I'm full. What a weird senstation that was the first week or so -- having my stomach growl like there's no tomorrow, but not feeling hungry.

It really depends on the source of your hunger. If your hunger is caused by your stomach not sending the right signals to the brain, this may very well do it for you. The band will rest near the vagus nerve (the one that sends those signals) and it should be triggered more easily.

If you are 'hungry' because your head says so, then it's likely you will suffer from the same problem, you just wont be able to eat as much at once (but that wont really stop you from grazing throughout the day). Have you had this conversation with your doctor to see what he/she says?