I need some input...I am considering the gastric sleeve and I encountered a situation last night that really made me think. Clearly I have issues with food. Last night, we ordered pizza. I hadnt eaten much all day because I was so slammed at work, so when that pizza arrived, I put 2 pieces on my plate and had my papa johns garlic butter sauce ready to dip into. I took a big bite and it was SOOOOO good. As I ate those 2 pieces of pizza...I couldnt help but think..."how in the hell would I ever survive the gastric sleeve"? At this point, I cant even imagine not being able to have moments like that...where I can just chow down.

Does this desire go away? Post op, are you sad or depressed that you can never do that again? How do you cope with that? Can you walk me through what this is like, on the other side?

(this sounds so pathetic...but it's the reality of life before the sleeve and it's how most of us got into this mess in the first place...sadly)

I'm still pre-op but have a lot of the same fears. But what I do know is that I am surrounded by people that have had a lot of success with WLS and they seem to just have a better relationship with food in general. We still have girls days together where we all cook and they are still able to enjoy these days it seems. It almost seems a little easier for them for some reason. My sister who was a serious dieter her whole life started watching food network only after she had the surgery because she no longer worried about her relationship with food. She said it felt freeing to her. I'm glad to have so many successful wls friends and family around me because I have been able to make a very informed decision and I am not so scared that this is the end of everything normal.

Physically, you'd most likely start to feel discomfort if you ate too much. Mine is around my breastbone. You might also barf.

9 years post DS, I still have much bigger eyes than my stomach. Other times I feel like I want to eat but feel too full to do so. That's the best description I can give you of how it works for me.

The beauty of the sleeve is that I never feel deprived or have that "I'm starving" feeling. So the urge to binge is greatly reduced.

Your sleeve won't permit you to binge on pizza. Other foods like chips, crackers, Cookies, etc., can be eaten quite easily and in too large portions.

It's a head game, too. You definitely need to be prepared for some changes. Like the food progression stages. Though you might feel ready to consume foods earlier than recommended, you need to be prepared to fight that off.

I imagine we all were like you - I know I was and that's what stopped me from having the surgery for so many years but in the end it;s all in our head. After the surgery you;ll still be able to occasionally enjoy your favourite foods - you just won't need so much. You don't really need large quantities to enjoy something.

Anyway you will get so much out of the experience that you won't need food.

I do have a small piece of pizza ..not often. Maybe once a month. As u go through the months with your sleeve. You will find that you do. Not have the hunger pangs as before. I got full very fast. Especially when I eat my protein first. Also my obsession with food has diminished a lot. I was always hungry before the surgery and never felt full even though I would binge on 2000 calories in a short time. It is so different nice. Now head hunger, I do get sometimes when I exhaust myself, don't get enough rest, and feel anxiety. But now I listen to my body.. When I feel hungry..i check with my body and I know it is not physical hunger most if the tine. . But not head hunger. . So I do what I have to do to relieve my head hunger .. My partying job does cause me to get anxious at times.. When I feel like that, I go my sugar free Popsicle .i sit down and rest , and I am fine. !!!!!!!! It is all good.

I think the majority of us had "issues" with food, which is why we got to where we are in the first place.. I had my surgery almost a year ago, and I'm not going to lie, the first month was hard for me..I did get a little sad and depressed of the thought of never eating like that again, but I realize now that it was more because in the first month I could barely eat anything, and thought it would be like that forever. After the second month when I really started dropping the weight and noticing it, and being able to eat a little more, it got better and better. Now that the weight is off, and I feel so much better, I don't even care about food anymore, I really don't. And if I really want something, I can eat it, just in small portions. Now when I'm out to eat or something and I see the amount of food people eat (and that I used to eat), it makes me think, geez, how do they eat all that food! LOL. It's honestly, the best feeling ever, knowing that you can't, and that you won't fail (once again). I have never regretted the surgery and have never felt better.

Your relationship with food will likely completely change. You will have that moment (or two) where you eat one or two bites too much, and it just doesn't "feel good" anymore. It becomes uncomfortable to overindulge and you just stop wanting to do that. Are there moments when my mouth wants more? Yes! Absolutely, but I learned to distinguish between an empty stomach and head hunger very early on. And to answer your earlier question, yes. The first 2 weeks for me was very difficult emotionally. I felt like I had to grieve the loss of the enjoyment of food. What I've found though, 6 months out, is that I haven't lost the enjoyment of food. I can still enjoy food....it's just a much more healthy relationship now. :-)

The night before I had surgery, my husband and I were driving down the road and I got really pissed off. I looked at all the places to eat and thought to myself, "I'm never going to be able to eat there again!" "Krispy Kreme donuts, never again."

Here's what I can tell you almost 4 months after surgery - it doesn't matter to me. food no longer has the same hold over me. It's weird. My husband will ask what I want to do for dinner and my response is usually, "I really don't care. You pick." And I really mean that - it really doesn't matter to me. I'm going to eat a few bites and be done. I had pizza from a really great place the other night. I ate some turkey beforehand, then had one slice of pizza and was completely satisfied. I would have never thought that would happen 4 months ago.

You will probably start thinking of food differently - you'll start looking at it as fuel for your body rather than looking for it for comfort. I do. I am not saying I never want something sweet - I do and when I do, I have a Protein bar.

One thing I didn't realize prior to surgery was my emotional dependence on food. I wish I would have identified those problems prior to surgery because I had to struggle thru them on my own after surgery. Had a bad day at work? Head to the kitchen - oh wait, I can't just grab those pretzels. I need to think about what I can eat. I can't eat yet, because I just had some Water and need to wait 30 minutes. And when I eat, it needs to be some protein...I got frustrated! I wasn't prepared for that emotional stuff.

You will be able to eat what you like just not as much. Also like the rest of the guys said your relationship with food will change. The fat of fat comes down and your life will be different. Food while you still need it will not be the only bright spot in your life. It will be there when you need it but your addition will become less. I am still addicted but not like I was. Hang in there and keep going! Change is hard and can be scary but once you do it you will love it! Says the girl who was 310 lbs this time last year and is now 177lbs now! No more type 2 meds and I have more energy. I needed to lose weight for my health and I now have it back!!

Wow..these are some really inspirational responses and they actually made me tear up. To see that this procedure helped so many people NOT feel like I feel right now is amazing. Being on this side of things, it's so hard to comprehend. I want SOOOO badly to take that leap and just do it...but I am SO scared. Did all of you feel terrified about this like I do? I'm scared I will have a leak or a blood clot or that I could die. Is it natural to be petrified into non action due to those fears?

Everyone gets scared (mostly) because this is a scary thing. But right now my dad is sick and dying from never taking charge of his diabetes and health, which is also scary. This surgery helps prevent that from being my future.

I'm three months out and I eat pizza. I can have like 3 bites and then I'm satisfied. I eat it slooooowly because there isn't much room. I am not sad at all about this.

Wow..these are some really inspirational responses and they actually made me tear up. To see that this procedure helped so many people NOT feel like I feel right now is amazing. Being on this side of things, it's so hard to comprehend. I want SOOOO badly to take that leap and just do it...but I am SO scared. Did all of you feel terrified about this like I do? I'm scared I will have a leak or a blood clot or that I could die. Is it natural to be petrified into non action due to those fears?

Heck yes I was scared! I was terrified. I think it's normal to think about the "what if" statements. I read about the complications and risks, yes, including death. I assessed the risks and talked about them with my husband. This is not a decision you take lightly (no pun intended).

Inaction has it's own risks - for me, it was the looming diabetes. I felt ill and tired all the time. I was often in pain. I got frequent headaches. Those are the just the physical things...emotionally I was a wreck. I wasn't an active participant in my own life - I was a spectator in my own life.

Pre-surgery, I had moments of thinking about backing out. Asking myself if I worked hard enough to lose weight on my own. Asking "How did it get to this?"

For me, this was the best decision I could have made. My husband once said, "The surgery is going to force your hand" to lose weight. There's no turning back - this changed my life. It hasn't been all sunshine and lollipops - it's been hard work and I have been happy, sad, mad and depressed since surgery. I now realize I'm stronger than I ever thought I was.

I think the majority of us had "issues" with food, which is why we got to where we are in the first place.. I had my surgery almost a year ago, and I'm not going to lie, the first month was hard for me..I did get a little sad and depressed of the thought of never eating like that again, but I realize now that it was more because in the first month I could barely eat anything, and thought it would be like that forever. After the second month when I really started dropping the weight and noticing it, and being able to eat a little more, it got better and better. Now that the weight is off, and I feel so much better, I don't even care about food anymore, I really don't. And if I really want something, I can eat it, just in small portions. Now when I'm out to eat or something and I see the amount of food people eat (and that I used to eat), it makes me think, geez, how do they eat all that food! LOL. It's honestly, the best feeling ever, knowing that you can't, and that you won't fail (once again). I have never regretted the surgery and have never felt better.

I'm gonna read this post over and over again because this made me feel so much better about this decision. Thank you!

The good news is one slice of pizza has about 20g of protein...

Thank you everyone for your answers. I have the same concerns as Flutterfly19. It is a foreign concept to not be able to turn to food for everything....you all seem like you have such a handle on your eating and that seems foreign to me. I am an event planner so I tend to think out every detail and try to plan how to make things work and for the life of me I cant seem to figure out what my day to day life will be like without turning to food the way I always have. I equate it to all of a sudden moving to Mars. I have to find strength in the fact that it seems to work out for most people.