I see a lot of people saying they don't feel hungry anymore just an empty feeling. What's the difference between feeling hungry and feeling "empty"?

To me that new hunger is the empty feeling.

That's all I get. Unless I have too much acid, no tummy rumbles. No "oh, it's a certain time of the day, must eat." It's just that empty feeling that reminds me I should probably put something in my stomach. Usually hours after I should have eaten, and after I'm already lightheaded or have shaky hands!

Now, head hunger? That can feel like hunger but it's not. There's nothing physical about it and it's purely in my head. But when I'm hit by it my mind doesn't care if it's real hunger or not because the desire to eat for whatever reason can be completely overwhelming.

~Cheri

Ha! I was just sitting here contemplating hunger...

I've been think about "true" hunger since yesterday and what that means and feels like.

So this morning I asked a naturally thin person

(My husband) I explained my confusion on this.

I don't know what hunger is/was? I think I'm not as hungry as before, but quite honestly before I don't think I ate most of the time out of this thing called hunger...

"So what does hunger feel like to you?" I ask what are your "signals" he tells me "my head, I get a signal in my brain that says you need to eat, your body is in need of food" ????

Not a empty feeling? Not weak??

No! a brain signal! He tells me "right now I'm not hungry at all I'm not thinking about food it hasn't even come up in my brain since I've been awake"

Well f**k! I tell him "your brain?"

My brain is always telling me to eat! I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about food. When I woke up this morning my second thought was food...

To this he says "well there's the problem, your brain signals are broken" ...

Hunger? What is it? Good question, I think it is so many different things for different people.

Well f**k! I tell him "your brain?"

My brain is always telling me to eat! I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about food. When I woke up this morning my second thought was food...

To this he says "well there's the problem your brain signals are broken" ...

Well, I'm screwed. My brain doesn't always tell me to eat but my body doesn't want me to eat junk food or overeat - that's all on my thinker. If it's busted, well, crap.

I have to wonder, though, if this is a bigger issue to do more with wiring than habit. My kids come to mind. My daughter? Heavily influenced by any discussion, pictures, books, etc. that include food. If she sees or hears about food she's "hungry" even if she's just had a snack. My son? Hardly ever hungry and his response to food does seem totally different. Maybe he's wired different. If he sees a food commercial or smells food while we're out he can separate appreciating that from wanting/needing it, where my daughter (yes, she's also obese) has a harder time doing that. He'll say, "Yum, pizza smells good. We should eat pizza next time we're out." She'll say, "Yum, pizza, I'm hungry!"

My kids don't have crappy eating habits. They're five going on six and don't even remember fat Mommy or fat Mommy's food binges and crappy food isn't part of our lives. Seriously, we go out to eat like once a month and they might get fast food once every six to eight weeks! They can also walk away from Cookies and cakes and freshly baked goodies like they're nothing and ask for Greek yogurt instead. But the hunger thing seems to be the real difference - also, what the hunger is FOR. She always wants carby crappy stuff if she's swept up by the idea of food. If she's just having a normal day? Fruit, veggies, yogurt, etc. - very healthy choices all around.

Things to ponder. Thanks for that, Laura.

~Cheri

Ha! He hit the nail on the head.... I'm sure my brain signals are broken when it comes to food and hunger! I've been really curious about this too, and can't wait to see what "hunger" feels like when I'm out of this clear liquid stage. I'm only 6 days out from surgery, so I expect nothing to feel totally "normal" at this point. I'm guessing that the hunger comes later.... when on soft or solid foods? I'm truly hoping something feels different than it did before, and that my brain signals start to get with the program.

Well' date=' I'm screwed. My brain doesn't always tell me to eat but my body doesn't want me to eat junk food or overeat - that's all on my thinker. If it's busted, well, crap.

I have to wonder, though, if this is a bigger issue to do more with wiring than habit. My kids come to mind. My daughter? Heavily influenced by any discussion, pictures, books, etc. that include food. If she sees or hears about food she's "hungry" even if she's just had a snack. My son? Hardly ever hungry and his response to food does seem totally different. Maybe he's wired different. If he sees a food commercial or smells food while we're out he can separate appreciating that from wanting/needing it, where my daughter (yes, she's also obese) has a harder time doing that. He'll say, "Yum, pizza smells good. We should eat pizza next time we're out." She'll say, "Yum, pizza, I'm hungry!"

My kids don't have crappy eating habits. They're five going on six and don't even remember fat Mommy or fat Mommy's food binges and crappy food isn't part of our lives. Seriously, we go out to eat like once a month and they might get fast food once every six to eight weeks! They can also walk away from Cookies and cakes and freshly baked goodies like they're nothing and ask for Greek yogurt instead. But the hunger thing seems to be the real difference - also, what the hunger is FOR. She always wants carby crappy stuff if she's swept up by the idea of food. If she's just having a normal day? Fruit, veggies, yogurt, etc. - very healthy choices all around.

Things to ponder. Thanks for that, Laura.

~Cheri[/quote']

Wow, there you go Cheri! I'm with my husband right now. I told him about your children's responses to the pizza smell.

We talked about it and sure enough, he said when he's at work and smells things banana bread being baked he loves the smell but it doesn't make him want a piece... I told him "when I smell something good (like banana bread yum) it makes me want to eat it!"

Eyes wide open.

I kind of wonder if the problem isn't that most of us never really new what hunger truly felt like in the first place, maybe what we have always considered hunger was just our minds messing with us in the first place. I truly don't believe I ever feel hungry anymore, I do sometimes feel the need to eat because I am getting week and/or shaky, and sometimes I get a headache because I am deficient in something. I feel it is an important part of journey to figure out what our bodies are telling us so that we can respond to it appropriately instead of shot gunning every problem with as much food a possible. Anyhow that's my thoughts on hunger, good luck to everyone.

EXACTLY... I have no idea what hunger is/. In the "old days" I just ate... continuously. Now I just follow the plan and tell mt brain "skippy" to go away...

I guess I don't know what hunger is either. If my stomach feels empty and I'm weak, I say I'm hungry! Maybe if someone could explain how hunger felt to them pre op,I'd have a better understanding. Soes it mean your stomach doesn't growl anymore? Mine still does and I take a PPI everyday.

For me, when I'm really hungry, I don't think about it, I just have to find something to eat.

When I have head hunger, then I start to think, am I hungry? Do I want something? What do I want? Hmmm, how about a sandwich? No? Then Soup? No? So what sounds good? Maybe I shouldn't eat. But I think I'm hungry?

In contrast when I'm hungry for real, it's like food. I need to eat something NOW. No debate, no questioning, no time spent debating this option or that, I need food now. I also feel light-headed and a bit nauseated when I'm really hungry.

At three weeks post-op now, I haven't had the head hunger I had during pre-op and first week or post op. Now I feel shaky, weak, and nauseated when its time to eat.

Don't know if that helps, it's difficult to articulate but the debate vs not is a pretty clear sign for me.

Nicole my stomach growls.. I fast two day a week and on those days my stomach growls and feels like its eating itself.

When people say they feel "empty" I feel that too a bit, I'm not sure that's hunger? I eat I'm full and a couple of hours or (less sometimes) the fullness goes away and it's an empty feeling right?

But is it hunger? I know I think about food then.

But I think about food all the time it seems.

Ohhh! Like, you don't feel full anymore but not hungry either? I think I get it now. When I get to the point that I'm feeling weak, I still get hunger pangs. I guess some or a lot don't. That's where I was confused.

Nicole my stomach growls.. I fast two day a week and on those days my stomach growls and feels like its eating itself.

When people say they feel "empty" I feel that too a bit, I'm not sure that's hunger? I eat I'm full and a couple of hours or (less sometimes) the fullness goes away and it's an empty feeling right?

But is it hunger? I know I think about food then.

But I think about food all the time it seems.

Does this help you with getting your mind in control? Do you still drink H2O?

Does this help you with getting your mind in control? Do you still drink H2O?

Control? Yes I think that's part of it. I like giving my body a rest two days a week from the all day grazing we seem to do as sleevers (me anyway)

Too... Oh yes I drink Water and sugar free drinks all day!

Thanks Laura, I'll consider this for my arsenal when I am a vet...

Pre-op...my hunger was driven by my constant need to stuff carbs down my pie hole. I was seriously insulin resistant, and I got caught up in a cycle of eating high carbs foods every 3 hours....having huge insulin spikes followed by the inevitable insulin crash which left me shaky, irratable and weak. And that crash would usually hit like clockwork 3 hours after a meal....unless I ate something before hand, which I pretty much programmed myself to do without even thinking about it. I was constantly working to avert the next crash by planning my next meal just in time to avoid it. And for me, the higher carb foods worked better to avoid the crash so that's what I always sought. My stomach never had a chance to get empty or make any grumbling noises....there was always something fresh going in. My blood sugar spikes and crashes necessitated it. This lasted at least 20 years I'm sorry to say. It was a miserable existence.

Now....I do get the empty feeling, and sometimes a grumbling feeling. But I do not get weak, shaky or irratable because I eat fairly low carb (80-95g/day) and I spread those out through out the day....no one meal has a large portion of carbs unless it's a big salad or some fruit. Previously it was all starches.