I am almost 2 years post-op. I've been doing well with my weight, but the last two months I've put 6 pounds on. I am still below my medical goal weight, but I feel best at 170-175. I'm at one 180 now.

I have recently had UNCONTROLLABLE hunger. I'm still mostly eating on plan and have begin counting calories again because I DO NOT want to gain even one more pound. I'm also returning to the gym after over a year of not having to go. I'm eating proper portions, but I've had to increase the number of times I eat in a day to try to stay satiated and not overeat.

Has anyone had a radically increased sense of hunger post-op? How have you dealt with it?

Hunger usually starts to return around the 6 month mark and increases with time. It's okay. Regain has always been known about so you are not alone. Most patients will regain some weight by the second year. Two years out the weight loss phase is considered to be over with and any more weight you have to lose will have to be lost in the old fashioned way. That's why it's so important to try to lose as much weight as possible in the first two years.

The most important thing I have learned in dealing with post-op hunger is how to be okay with being hungry. I remind myself that hunger is not an emergency, and that I will not starve to death. I have a set schedule for eating, and when I get hungry, I remind myself something along the lines of "it sucks to be hungry, but you can wait until you have your snack at 4." I also did some self-evaluation where I considered the times in my life I had been in true physical or emotional pain -- that time I had multiple root canals, the time my friend died, etc. When I am feeling sorry for myself and like I just can't deal with being hungry, I reflect on the times I have truly suffered, compare my hunger to that, and realize I can absolutely get through being hungry for a couple of hours. The truth is, eating is never the only response or way to deal with being hungry. Our body tries to tell us that it is an emergency and the only way to fix it is eating, but that's a lie.

I learned these cognitive behavioral techniques (and others) by reading Beck's The Diet Solution and working through her exercises.

Bufflehead: "I remind myself that hunger is not an emergency"

That is where I'm getting to also. I take Omeprazole to help control the hunger but then when it comes right down to it, I find that if I can distract myself with work or reading or something, it fades and I can get past it. I HATE feeling hungry, but it isn't an emergency.