I am just starting this journey and I am learning a lot from everyone so Thank you!! I do find myself having questions as everyone and one of them is regarding "head hunger"... How do you determine the difference between head hunger and real hunger?

if there was a straight answer for that question I'd be a millionaire

I keep a journal of when I feel hungry and make notes to determine if there are other things contributing to why I feel hungry. Am I bored? Upset? Worried? If any of those things ring true I know it's head hunger. If my stomach is really growling I know I'm probably really hungry. Then once I determine those things I wait 10 minutes and if my stomach is still growling I eat something.

Good Luck

My head hunger drives me to want foods that may or may not be good for me -- usually not. I tend to find my eyes drawn to, and my mouth watering for desserts, simple carbs, big steak, truffle fries, or other rich stuff. When I've got real or gut hunger, I can physically feel it in my gut. My tummy growls or rumbles, feels empty - but this is NOT a bad thing. We don't need to be full all the time. That's a serious myth. A bit of empty time is good, rare as it was for me to be empty pre-sleeve! Standing in front of the frig of healthy food and nothing appeals to you? Chances are it's head hunger or boredom, not gut hunger. I just ate what I KNOW fills my sleeve, and i'm 'full.' That doesn't mean my head doesn't still think finishing the meal off with a cookie or chocolate doesn't sound good - it's just not on my plan, and i'm not gut-hungry for it, just head hungry because I know it tastes good. Sadly though it too often leads to my wanting more! Journal writing as suggested above is a great way to get a fix on this too!

As katesuccess says, when you feel hungry, if you have an actual empty feeling in your gut, and it has been 3-4 hours since your last meal, then it's probably real hunger.

If those things are not true, then assess whether any of these could be underlying it:

Bored

Lonely

Angry or Anxious

Sad

Tired

The acronym is BLAST.

Here's an example. I ate a meal of dense Protein about 2 hours ago, and I'm not feeling empty in my gut. But my mouth wants Cookies. As it happens, I'm facing a deadline at work right now that I may not be able to meet. My assessment is that what I'm feeling is head hunger.