Repeatedly overeating

[JamieLogical 8,727]

I'm confused....I thought the sleeve removed the hunger hormone. How can you be eating so early after surgery??

There's a lot more to "hunger" than just ghrelin. Many of us didn't get to be morbidly obese by just eating when we were physically hungry. There was a HUGE psychological and emotional component as well. As people on these forums often say, they perform surgery on our stomachs, not our brains. Post-op, even if you are physically incapable of eating your favorite foods, you still WANT them. You still wish you could turn to food for comfort. You still smell something delicious and want to eat it. That doesn't just go away like some magical switch is flipped.

On top of that, it's a whole learning process about the physical limitations of your new stomach as well. Even if you somehow, miraculously, aren't "hungry" anymore post-op, you still need to eat to live. You still need to get all your Protein in. And sometimes it's hard to judge what and how much you can safely eat and not have physical consequences like pain, gas, vomiting, etc. You are like a baby learning to eat for the first time all over again and you will make mistakes and you WILL overeat a few times. You will eat too quickly. You will eat too much. You will eat things that your stomach just doesn't like one day, but is perfectly fine with the next. It will be a lot of trial and error until you learn all about your new stomach.

[NoBsVs 70]

I'm confused....I thought the sleeve removed the hunger hormone. How can you be eating so early after surgery??

There's a lot more to "hunger" than just ghrelin. Many of us didn't get to be morbidly obese by just eating when we were physically hungry. There was a HUGE psychological and emotional component as well. As people on these forums often say, they perform surgery on our stomachs, not our brains. Post-op, even if you are physically incapable of eating your favorite foods, you still WANT them. You still wish you could turn to food for comfort. You still smell something delicious and want to eat it. That doesn't just go away like some magical switch is flipped.

On top of that, it's a whole learning process about the physical limitations of your new stomach as well. Even if you somehow, miraculously, aren't "hungry" anymore post-op, you still need to eat to live. You still need to get all your Protein in. And sometimes it's hard to judge what and how much you can safely eat and not have physical consequences like pain, gas, vomiting, etc. You are like a baby learning to eat for the first time all over again and you will make mistakes and you WILL overeat a few times. You will eat too quickly. You will eat too much. You will eat things that your stomach just doesn't like one day, but is perfectly fine with the next. It will be a lot of trial and error until you learn all about your new stomach.

This could not have been worded better.

I think I've felt physical hunger once since the surgery. Generally, I don't get hungry. Going back to a day of only liquids after I ate something too spicy showed me that. I had no issues going from 400 calories to 0 calories.

The urge to eat bad things is definitely still there though. I crave things I know I can't have. And when I am stressed out or depressed, the desire to eat is still there. It's not hunger at all. It's habit. Unhealthy habits that I built up over years of creating self-destructive coping mechanisms.

The restrictions from the surgery are supposed to help retrain you. Even if you want to do those bad things anymore, you can't. Going out to a restaurant to use food for comfort would be a complete waste. For one because ordering what I'd want to would make me sick. And for two because what's the point when you can only eat a tiny fraction of what you could before.

I think that after the surgery, you have to relearn a whole lot of things. Eating is a big part of it. You can eat too fast. Eat too much. If you're early out and the nerves in your stomach haven't regained feeling yet, it's really hard to tell when enough is enough. And beyond that, you need to relearn how to cope emotionally with your relationship with food.

Prior to the surgery, food was a friend. It comforted us. We got that high from too much sugar. We could sleep off life's problems for a little while after a carb crash. That doesn't exist post surgery. Food isn't an enemy, but it can't be there for you anymore to help you through the hard times. You have to learn to turn to something else, and that has been extremely difficult for me.

As far as hunger in relation to eating, since I don't physically get hungry anymore, I schedule my meals. Just because you're not hungry doesn't mean that you can't eat. You need calories for energy. And you need to get adequate protein to combat Hair loss, which is super common from the surgery. Plus, it helps build muscle, which will make you lose fat faster.

I've never thrown up either. I get the same feeling as JamieLogical. And believe me, there have been several times that I have prayed to the sleeve Gods that I could throw up because I literally thought I was going to explode.

On a non-related note, not all spicy foods are created equal. I accidentally had a bit of jalapeno during my liquid stage and my stomach was perfectly fine. I've had peppers since then and been fine. A few days ago I had buffalo chicken with Sriracha sauce, and my stomach was in pain for two whole days. I called the surgeon, and she confirmed that pain from eathing something you're not supposed to can last for up to 3 days. If it's something spicy, you might want to back off to liquids for a day to give your stomach time to recover. Just an extra tidbit.

This was supposed to be a multiquote post, but I screwed it up, so you get it all at once. :-p

[chines66 39]

Thank you all for responding cuz I really don't know what to expect after my surgery. I'm scheduled to be sleeves on June 30th and I've just always been told that I wouldn't be hungry but I'm in my pre op diet right now of liquid and I'm not hungry but I'm bored hungry. Does that make sense? Like I wanna eat but only cause I'm bored. I hate that feeling !! I was literally crying on my last day of food because I knew I was eating out of boredom. It made me really sad.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Thank you all for responding cuz I really don't know what to expect after my surgery. I'm scheduled to be sleeves on June 30th and I've just always been told that I wouldn't be hungry but I'm in my pre op diet right now of liquid and I'm not hungry but I'm bored hungry. Does that make sense? Like I wanna eat but only cause I'm bored. I hate that feeling !! I was literally crying on my last day of food because I knew I was eating out of boredom. It made me really sad.

"Hunger" from boredom, is just another form of emotional or "head hunger". You will still experience that A LOT post-op. The psychological component of this surgery should not be glossed over. It is a very big deal and you will struggle with it a lot. You may even want to consider some counseling or professional help for it if you are having a hard time adapting after surgery.

Also, you can definitely still experience real, physical hunger post op. Your body still needs food for energy. If I go more than about 4 hours without food now (9 months post-op), I do get really, truly, physically hungry. I try to eat every 2-3 hours to avoid that. But, because I eat so little at one time, it doesn't "tide me over" for as long as a bigger meal would have pre-op. Pre-op, I could eat a huge lunch and/or dinner and not feel physical hunger again for the rest of the day, because I'd already gotten in a full day's supply of calories. But, post-op, only being able to eat at most about 200 calories at a time, if I go more than 4 hours between meals/snacks, then my body runs out of fuel and I get physically hungry.

[SaintTeresa 15]

WE'VE BEEN LIED TO

Hiya Ladies and Gents!

This is my first real reply/post to the forums but it is something I have wanted to say to "us" for a long time.

NOT EVERY FAT PERSON IS EMOTIONALLY EATING!!!!!

My goodness, that feels good! And I didn't have to eat anything to feel it or not to feel it. Why is it that doctors, therapists, TV talk show hosts, nutritionists and the like are always saying "stop eating your emotions", "you're going to have to really deal with your feelings to stop overeating (or diet or have a GS or lose weight in any way).

Did it ever occur to any one of them that we are just normal emotional and feeling people who eat too much because our bodies want us to? Before I go on too long (and I will save most of my opinion for later) I want to say this: I was fat when I was 3 weeks old. I was fatter at 3 months old, I was fatter at 3 years old. Those 3 week old fat cells are still in my body and they want FOOD! I was eating all the time before this surgery and still had plenty of emotions. Healthy ones, normal ones. I am not an inept, flaky, neurotic nelly who can't make it through the day without having a break down and eating a Whopper.

OKAY, enough said for now. I have plenty more to say about this but I would like to read some replies and ideas out there. I'll be back with the science to back me up!

Congrats to all of you --I am just a week post-op and I know it's hard. I also know I can handle it.

ST

[Mooseknuckle 85]

Good for you I think you are right in some aspects. I for one got a divorce once and I didn't eat nothing for 2 weeks . That was not healthy but when I did start to eat it wasn't much and the lbs just grew so fast then I lost weight on the Atkins diet then gained twice what I lost 6 months later . And all this time I ate small portions . Then my job kept me busy all day and I ate at night and went to bed . I gained 150 lbs in 2 yrs because of that. Not a whole lot of emotional eating there but I do love my food . And crave all the bad stuff once in a while. I am 6 weeks out now and still can only eat 3 teaspoons of food . Which I am totally happy with. I have lost 43 lbs so far. Food addiction is what I call my problem so I have moments of mourning for my food lose lol. At times

[JamieLogical 8,727]

@@SaintTeresa Not every fat person eats their emotions and I don't think many people believe that to be true. However, it IS true that MANY overweight people did get that way by eating emotionally and socially. We are the ones for whom appetite suppressants don't work. Actual, physical hunger has very little to do with our eating. There are ways to chemically limit and control physical hunger. Those things don't work for emotional eaters.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

@@SaintTeresa I agree with you.

I do stress eat at times but it was never my core problem. My core issue was being driven by an overwhelming hunger 24/7. I have been obese or overweight since I was a child.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

@@SaintTeresa I agree with you. I do stress eat at times but it was never my core problem. My core issue was being driven by an overwhelming hunger 24/7. I have been obese or overweight since I was a child.

This. The only thing pre WLS that worked for me was phentermine. It made me forget about food completely and I'd go for days without eating. I lost 80 pounds in three months with it, but it wasn't something I could take long term.

Once I had brain surgery, my doc said it could cause seizures so I was taken off it all together.

My issues were not linked to abuse, self hatred, emotion, boredom, etc., I simply could not control the overwhelming hunger that I experienced all the time.

[NoBsVs 70]

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, because I actually was an emotional eater(I realize that's not lucky either). Pre-surgery, I rarely experienced real physical hunger. It wasn't unusual for me to eat one meal a day(albeit a huge one). Head hunger was my biggest issue.

Whenever I get stressed out now, it's torturous because I have no outlet. I can't get my high from food, and I can't sleep off my depression with a nice carb crash. I'm actually considering going to counseling to try to find some other way to distract myself when I'm upset. I don't want to turn to shopping because I burn through sizes too quickly. And exercise won't work because it doesn't distract my mind.

Getting back on track with the topic though, I talked to the PA at my surgeon's office about my overeating, and she said not to worry about it. My diet is about 95% Protein at this point, so she says that overeating won't hurt me. It's nearly impossible to stretch your sleeve in the beginning, and most people have issues with overeating for the first two months.