I find that I am hungry much more often than I thought I would be. It doesn't take much to fill me up but I am hungry again soon after I eat. I don't have cravings like I had before the surgery but I AM still hungry : ( Disappointing to say the least! Also losing MUCH slower than I thought I would. Is it just me?

no, it's not just you. I had my surgery about 5 months ago and stay hungry most of the time. I find that I have to eat or drink a shake every 2 hours or so. I have found that eating fiber pills, carrots, or other veggies help me stave off hunger. I have also been trying appetite suppressants. Obestrim works great at alleviating my hunger but it also tends to keep me awake at night. Overall, I'm really disappointed that the surgery didn't alleviate my hunger like so many on this board claims that it does.

So, when I was in my pre-op with my surgeon, he was telling me about this whole hunger thing. He basically said with a large majority of the gherlin hormone producing tissue removed, I would have to listen for my body's queues regarding hunger. True hunger. There is a lot of eating which occurs out of habit, but then there is supplying what the body needs.

What may seem like a craving or hunger post-sleeve, may be the way your body is trying to tell you it needs something. A Vitamin, mineral, Protein, fat, carb ... you get the idea. We have been so out of tune with this as we were all purpose, quantity eaters, that most of the time, through sheer volume, we were able to masks this. But now, we are eating, let's just say ... 1,000 calories. There is almost no way for me to eat a well balanced meal in one sitting. I just don't have that capacity. So, thoughout the day, I need to ensure I am eating a balance of foods which gives me everything my body needs.

As I have been using recently as an example, let's say your body needs some Calcium. You are going to receive a signal that you are hungry ... a craving, let's call it.

"Hey you

!

I need

to

do

some

repairs

over

here

in

section #653

-

32

on

your body

and

could really use

some

calcium

."

So, you get this craving which would be satisfied by eating some cheese or some broccolli or some other calcium rich food. But you just don't have the practice, yet, of interpretting these signals, so you go and eat some deli turkey or a peach or some steak or ... not a food with enough calcium to satisfy your body's needs. So what does your body do?

"EXCUSE ME!! I THOUGHT I LET YOU KNOW I NEED SOME CALCIUM!!!"

You just ate not too long ago, but you are still hungry. WTF?

So, the bottom line is at the end of the day, we need to be eating a balance of foods which will supply our body with what it needs to function. Do this and your hunger may be staved.