Today I officially returned to work and it felt so good to be back. The day was pretty much slow so I caught up on the 256 emails I had received and reviewed the open positions available. I had a normal day but the only thing I encountered was being hungry every 2 hours. I could not believe the way my stomach was acting. Because I just assumed I wouldn't have an appetite. I only packed 1 package of instant oatmeal, 1 cup of chickent tortilla soup and some no sugar added apple sauce. I also brought my caffeine free iced tea with some non flavored protein. Did anyone experience an increase in hunger when they went back to work? Let me know what you did when you returned back to work and what type of lunch did you pack? What did you pack to snack on in between meal? I sipped on my protein all day but I was still hungry. I am still on soups and I won't be able to start on regular foods until June 10th. I need some help with food suggestions.

I felt hunger the first few days. Now I do not feel hungry at all.

Are you sure that you are not feeling more of a somatic response to old behaviors? It is comforting to pack a lunch (I used to do) with all the little goodies we like to treat ourselves with. You shouldn't feel hungry at all.

I am 11 days out and am not hungry at all unless I am low on protein and then I feel "cloudy" at which point I will grab an Atkins shake or make a protein smoothie. That is how I know I need to eat something at this point. The remaining 90% of the time is just sheer mental lust for food.

I go back 5/30 day after my 2 week appt.

Same day I go from liquids to full liquids which dietitician said will have a few inclusions.

Interested to see what others reply.

I feel "hungry" when I forget to take my acid-reducer. The extra acid in your stomach mimics hunger. Check that out.

I'm 6 months out and still feel hungry. I'm not sure how far out you are but once you're healed and past the scared to eat phase, real hunger is normal. The world according to eggface website has some great ideas for packed lunches. I only work part time, so I usually bring left overs from dinner the night before. Just bring extra snacks like string cheese, almonds, granola bars, yogurt,edamame,etc. Eating every 3 hours is good for your metabolism.

Ohh just read the last part of your post. If you can eat yogurt, cream soups, or cottage cheese it might be more filling.

I actually talk to a good friend who was sleeved also and she gave me some great suggestion. The problem was that I wasn't eating frequently. I should have at least been eating someting every 2 hours. Well today I was better prepared. I made sure I packed some extra unsweeted apple sauce, Jello and I have my Protein shake to sip on through out the day. I also have my soup for lunch as well. Things seem to be better than yesterday. I can't wait until I am able to get regular foods. I will have more food choices to pack to snack on. I can't wait to have some string cheese, nuts, tuna etc. But until then I will stick to the soups and all the soft stuff. Thanks for all the advice it surely does help. By the way has anyone tried the Total Lean shakes by GNC. The have 25 grams of protein, 170 calories plus 24 Vitamins and mineral & Lactose free. I am drinking the Swiss chocolate with 2 teaspoons of PB2 which is powdered Peanut Butter. OMG! this stuff is so good. It is recommended to have 2 tablespoon which is 53 calories and 5 grams of protein. They sell it at Wal-mart in the section where they have peanut butter. You can mix Water with it to make your own peanut butter. I found a link that give you a little information about it. Check it out and tell me what you think. Again, thanks for all of your help!

http://www6.netrition.com/bell_plantation_pb2.html

I love the greek yogurt. It has 14 grams of protein and seems to keep me satisfied.