I feel like I am failing and succumbing to head hunger. I'm not really hungry but I keep wanting to graze and snack on everything. How are you dealing with head hunger? Just the want to eat, not the need.

This is a great question! Thanks for asking it

I had to take a step back and reassess my attitude towards the sleeve now that I've had it done. I had a lot of head hunger and in the same fix as you and I had to grab and shake myself to remind me that the sleeve is not magical, it's still just a tool to help me attain my weight goal. It is also not a way for me to completely avoid watching what and when I eat. I still have to be on a healthy food regimen (I HATE the word "diet") and I will be for the rest of my life. It's not easy, but it's a heck of a lot easier with the sleeve.

I have not been sleeved yet, so take this with a grain of salt. Can you distract yourself? I find that when I am at work I don't think about food until its "time" to eat and only then because I know that's the only shot I have until I get home. Night time is the worst for me because I like to mindlessly chomp on anything while watching tv.

That's not head hunger to me. That is mindless eating. It might help to put the food out of sight and talk to the other family members about not keeping that junk in your sight line. If it's not there, then you won't eat it. Sounds so simple but not so simple. You can do this. I bet you love the weight dropping off. Keep Rockin that Sleeve.

I struggle with the head hunger and desire to eat despite being full every SINGLE day. Some days I watch the clock like a hawk until I can eat again.

I've found that drinking a LOT of Water helps. It puts something in my mouth and gives me the movement (hand to mouth) of eating with none of the guilt. Plus it helps me get toward my hydration goals for the day.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking it is girl issues this week that are driving these mindless cravings. I'm hoping it goes away.

Thanks

I feel like I am failing and succumbing to head hunger. I'm not really hungry but I keep wanting to graze and snack on everything. How are you dealing with head hunger? Just the want to eat, not the need.

I am 6 weeks out and I struggled with the same problem. I had to really concentrate on just wanting to eat just to have something in my mouth and whether I was really hungry. I am doing much better with it now. I just concentrate on eating to stay healthy and not eating for some kind of comfort.

These are all great ideas and philosophies, thanks for sharing and keep us updated 2B!

I am almost two weeks out and the head hunger by far sucks the worst. All I do is think of foods I used to eat all day long. My head hunger has magnified by 100 since the surgery. And the liquid diet does not satisfy me nearly enough. The only thing I can say is try and stay busy...and hopefully time passes quick.

I am four days out and have the same problem. All I think about was how happy food made me.

I thought I was the only one having it this bad. It was especially hard when I started feeling better. I never anticipated the "grief" process to have such a debilitating hold on me. I had gone through therapy for months prior to surgery do maybe I had a false sense confidence in how I would handle the head hunger. Keeping busy has been my saving grace. I'm also working out which takes up time and help with the head hunger. All I can say is just focus on the fact that this is a "tool" to help us lose weight but we gotta utilize the tool in the right capacity.

I am so happy to hear I am not crazy! I hear my kids pouring cereal and I miss it! I want an Oreo so bad I actually thought about blending it to get it down! I know I am still in the "liquid" phase since I am only 3 days out and i am not even hungry! I know it will get better....... Right ?!

I ate an oreo. Chewed real good and it was not the same taste.

I would stand at the fridge and cry. You ARE mourning the loss of your "blankie" like Linus. Now that it has been stripped away, you are left alone. Alone to feel all the things that we hid from while eating. Sadness, anger, ect.

You have to remember that we have lost our BFF. The one thing that we thought made everything better. But it didn't.

These feelings pass, and soon your energy will be up- you've lost even more weight- exercise isn't as hard as used to be and you have all this time! Time that was spent getting a "fix" from whatever food was your vice. Now it's time to start up a new hobby!

But once you return to those nummys, after the month or so you cannot eat them- they don't taste the same. You might get sick and throw them up. And eventually the craves go away. Not all of them but most do.

Choose yourself over the fries! If you HAVE to have them, split a small with a kid or two. Just enough to be satisfied- not sickly full.

Hang in there!