Well I had my first bout with what I will call "head hunger". Of course this occured when the forum was down and I needed some help. I was sitting watching tv and could not get the forum to come up so I guess I was a little bored. I was watching tv and it seemed that every commercial that came on was for food. I think this triggered something in me that said "EAT". It got to the point that I just knew that I had to get up and get something to eat. Well I did get up and eat but then my stomach told me that I was full but my head said that I should eat more. I guess I did eat a little more than I usually eat but then it was not a total bust as what I ate was Protein. At least it was not Cookies or something sinful.

Does anyone else have attacks like this and if so what do you do to combat them. I try to keep myself busy at night but that is when it seems that I watch more tv and see more of the food commercials.

When I got home from the hospital, all i seen on tv were advertisements for pizza or some other fast food place. I had to challenge the message in my head and change it to: If I did this surgery, then I don't need that stuff. It was helpful I taught myself to tune out when there's a commerical. That is totally helpful. :aureola:

Yes, I do get head hunger. I try to have something that is one of the following, depending on the circumstances:

1. Small. Sometimes I just need a little something sweet, salty or whatever. If this is true, often a saltine cracker or two will satisfy a salt urge and one small candy or sweet will satisfy a sweet urge.

2. Without calories. Sometimes I am thirsty. If that's true, after I drink a glass of cold Water or a cup of hot water, I'm not hungry anymore. This hits me most often if I'm slacking on my water that day.

3. With Protein. Solid protein limits how much I can eat and keeps me full longer. Some days I just need a little more solid food. That's probably not head hunger though.

Sometimes if I know I should be full, I distract myself by putting on lotion on my hands or face, brushing my teeth if it's nighttime (try to not eat after nightly brush and floss), or finding something else to do. I might start reading or play a computer game instead of watching TV. I also sometimes light my fireplace and a candle. That feels like a treat to me! If I go that route, I usually also have a cup of hot water with a little sugar free caramel syrup in it.

If I eat empty carbs, like white bread, cake or Cookies, I seem to be hungrier the rest of the day. Needless to say, I avoid these empty carbs most days.

Lynda

I noticed it was food commercials for an hour followed by an hour of weight watchers commercials! Ironic!

It was really making me have cravings too, but I can tell I am not physically hungry at all. I don't know what else to do except distract myself and hope this phase passes.