Hi everyone,

I don't have my surgery date yet, but I'm having cold feet. I am scared that I will be hungry and therefore return to all my old habits.

Dieting has always proven to be ineffective for me. My willpower isn't the greatest. The only times I can actually lose weight is if I took diet pills. However all diet pills give me headaches, so for the last 4 years I have refrained from taking them and thus have gained 45 pounds. I am VERY SCARED. Everyone expects me to fail and I don't want to prove them right!

For me its a different kind of hungry. If you follow the instructions you will feel full very fast and its uncomfortable to exceed that limit. Remember the sleeve is only a tool. You can cheat it.

@@par1959 thanx for your input ????????

And yes, I reckon that it is just a tool. I hope that it works as well as the diet pills have done for me in the past. I want to eat to live not live to eat. My mind is set on accepting & embracing the lifestyle change. I guess I just have strong fears due to all my previous failed attempts????

I'm only a few weeks out, so I can't answer the long term question, but I can say as someone who had a lot of "head hunger" before my surgery, right now I am hardly ever hungry. I eat on a schedule and I eat what I need to eat to meat my nutritional goals for the day (protein mostly, but also making sure I get enough calories). I was a binge eater before and I am pretty reconciled to the fact that I will never be able to binge again. I think it would be easier to eat around your sleeve if you are more of a grazer... eating a lot of foods throughout the day. I never did that. I was prone to HUGE meals or eating an entire pizza in one sitting, not much of a snacker.

Yes, my hunger returned after about 4 months, but it's not the same as it was before. I don't feel compelled to eat everything in site or give in to a craving as soon as I feel it anymore. I don't "diet". I eat what I like in small quantities and exercise regularly. I make better choices and sub high protein options for formerly high carb favorites. For example, if I do pasta at home, I choose Tolerant Red Lentil pasta for its high protein. I have it with a bit of Neuman's Alfredo and parmesean and my "pasta" want is satisfied. My "cookie" want is satisfied often by Power Crunch protein bars. My Ice cream want is satisfied with Skinny Cow bars because they are portion controlled bits of goodness that don't wreck my day of good choices. No more than I eat, I can work ALL of those things into one day if I've exercised, get my protein, and still stay between 1000-1200 calories, (where I lose well). So yes, I get hungry, but I guess I've found ways to manage it well with the help of my sleeve.

So who are there people who expect you to fail? Obviously not a part of your support team, right? What do you expect? Do you expect success? Then go after it. The surgeon starts the process, but you are the one who will be doing the work long term. Don't start this process with expectations of failure. And these people who will be watching you expecting you to fail.....make a plan before you have surgery how you will handle that.

I'm two months out and I will say yes, I do feel hunger, however it is pretty easy to ignore. For example, on Tuesday I ate my greek yogurt for breakfast from 10 to 11:30, and then I didn't eat again until almost 6. I was hungry but I had a Gyno appt, then a dentist appt and while I wanted food it wasn't the same as I normally would have felt having my entire stomach. I don't feel the need to snack, and I don't really have any cravings, not even during TOM. My restriction works incredibly well. I don't over eat no matter what I eat. I can even get full from water. I'm almost 40 pounds down.

Thank you all! I just got my surgery date (10/22) & I'm going to go through with this. I believe that I can succeed, and I will be happy to prove those that expect me to fail wrong!

I had a real heart to heart with the surgeon just now and he too assured me that although I would feel hungry I would be able to stick to my new way of eating.

I think we all have this fear @Newtina, I know I do. I've only ever lost with diet pills so and when I stop I put on way more than I lost. My surgery is October 6th and its my 2nd day on my liquid diet and I've already almost gave up twice. We just have to stick with it. Good luck

@@itsjessica Thank you! Good luck to you too!! I will say a prayers for u on 10/6 ????

Don't cancel. I thought about it too. Just go with it and you won't be hungry because your new stomach is so small.

@@zengoddess honestly I wish I would have found this group 6 months ago. I would not have hesitated and wasted so much time...... Thank you for the support!