I am currently pre-op, and I have a question for those of you who are past honeymoon phase: once the healing is complete, and hunger comes back, how bad is it? Are you able to manage it with the smaller portions? I am not talking about cravings, but rather about felling of not having enough of the regular food that you are actually allowed to eat.

Allow me to explain: I've been very successful in the past with loosing weight on the low-calorie diet. Keeping it off- not so much you know the story. Largely because I can go only so long while feeling starved /dizzy / weak. My body always wins, and eating comes back with vengeance. After starving/gaining/starving cycle for more than 20 years I got to the point where I am simply afraid of having to go hungry for weeks and months again ((

So tell me pls, what it's like for you? I so do not want to get it done and to find myself counting minutes until the next meal comes (

Thank u!

Edited December 15, 201510 yr by Primha

Thanks for everyone's input

I am gathering all info I can - good, bad, and ugly , so I can better prepare myself. In my experience there is no major life change (no matter how positive) that comes without some stress/struggle (unless you are a My Little Pony moving into her new castle. I am not).

I still have several weeks before my surgery, so I am using this time to plan, to prepare and to learn. I am OCD like that, I guess. I started some of a post-op practices so I just would not have to deal with the adjustments that were totally new to me on top of everything else. And I read, read, and read. There is something comforting in knowing I am not the only one out there

At first you're going to be starving, or at least you will be HANGRY. But it goes away. Grazing is a real thing too.....don't do it, or you will stall your weight loss.

I was never hungry or HANGRY. I am one of the few who actually gets full on Water so it was really important for me in the early stages to separate my eating and drinking. I may have experienced some head hunger, or an urge to snack, but I can honestly say I have never been ravenously hungry. There have been times when I had no appetite at all and had to eat on a schedule in order to remind myself to eat. I also do better planning at least one snack a day, but starving? Not even close.

Short answer? Yes, there may be times you are hungry. And then there will be times where you aren't hungry, but just want to eat. It will be up to you to figure out the difference.

I was never hungry or HANGRY. I am one of the few who actually gets full on water so it was really important for me in the early stages to separate my eating and drinking. I may have experienced some head hunger, or an urge to snack, but I can honestly say I have never been ravenously hungry. There have been times when I had no appetite at all and had to eat on a schedule in order to remind myself to eat. I also do better planning at least one snack a day, but starving? Not even close.

It must be awesome not to have to battle hunger every day. I've been dieting since I was 12, and spent much of my life within normal weight limits, but hungry because of the calorie restriction

Edited December 16, 201510 yr by Primha

@@Primha -- it really is awesome not to have to battle the kind of hunger I once felt -- to be distracted and tempted by every smell.

And it's even more awesome not to be tempted to numb every uncomfortable emotion or feeling or even stress with food. But that's not due only to the sleeve, but also to the some work I've done post-op around not using food in ways that harm me.

I totally agree with @@VSGAnn2014 and @Babbs. You will feel some hunger but you will have to learn if you are TRULY hungry or just THINK (head) you are hungry.

It is also easy to be like @@KarenLoh said - eating/crave for no reason - you have to be cognitive of those times and not eat.

You are mentally prepping, and that means you are on the right track -

Edited December 16, 201510 yr by jane13

It's going to be 6-12 months before your hunger will return. Try now to learn the difference between head hunger and actual hunger. The key to know the difference is that with head hunger you have to have a specific food. With actual hunger any food will satisfy it. So once you know the difference then you can easily fight head hunger and when you are actually hungry then just eat something healthy.

You are exactly right MrsRP, I am a year post surgery and lost 195 lbs. and that's what I found that hunger has diminished and you just fuel up with high protein small meals , drink your water and supplements.

I haven't had the surgery but the 'reason' for the sleeve and the diminished appetite is because hunger receptors are in the wall of the stomach so if you take 80% of the stomach out the 'physical hunger' is very low - some people report having to 'force' themselves to eat since they don't feel hunger. You can experience 'mental' hunger and that is when you want to eat a burger and fries with a Coke and you down two bites and feel full or even sick since it's not something your new stomach can handle. I have even heard patients said: if you think you will tell your sleeve what and how much to eat you'll be wrong because you WILL get sick!
Don't know from experience just from some medical knowledge and feedback from actual WLS patients.

I'm 6 months out and am rarely hungry. I still have to remind myself to eat.

Thank you all for your input. I am a very good example of how restrictive dieting does more harm than good long term - I clearly remember how in my childhood physical hunger was just a cue that my body needs some fuel, nothing more. It definitely wasn't a scare like it became later: something bad, that should be avoided and suppressed at any cost, yet always at the arm's length, ready to unleash. It's all very screwed up, I know.

Head hunger is also a very real matter to me , but I am actually planning on starting therapy to address that (and my sleep problems).

It's time to meet my demons.

I don't experience physical hunger, only head hunger. I'm 5 weeks out.

I also go through periods where food doesn't really interest me and it's merely fuel, only because the foods that I want to eat I can only eat in small portions, and I can't "enjoy" it as much as I used to, but I take that as a win. i think it will get easier when more of the swelling goes down.

I did have reflux though when I had my surgery, still do. Be aware that that can mimic hunger, as it did for me.

My VSG is 12/31/15 here in Houston. My biggest fear is the hunger thing as well. Reading these comments I have learned quite a bit. Especially "Eat to live NOT live to eat".

I recently ordered a sample starter pack of unjury Protein drinks. My wife says I need to wait and see what my surgeon recommends or ask him about it first before I start to drink anything.

Smart gal she is, despite her being a nurse she is my wife and bestie so she is right!

I was never hungry or HANGRY. I am one of the few who actually gets full on Water so it was really important for me in the early stages to separate my eating and drinking. I may have experienced some head hunger, or an urge to snack, but I can honestly say I have never been ravenously hungry. There have been times when I had no appetite at all and had to eat on a schedule in order to remind myself to eat. I also do better planning at least one snack a day, but starving? Not even close.

It must be awesome not to have to battle hunger every day. I've been dieting since I was 12, and spent much of my life within normal weight limits, but hungry because of the calorie restriction

it really is because it allows me the space to think before I eat. I can decide to drink water, or do something else besides mindless snacking. I plan my meals & Snacks, then go out and enjoy life.

Hi, I had my surgery 3 months ago and find that I am in a really dangerous situation as I just don't want to eat, I really have to make an effort to eat, I know some of you will say, nonsense just eat, it just doesn't sit well when I do, I'm not in pain just feel extremely full after a couple of bites. My nutritionist is useless, so I need to wait until my surgeon is back from holidays:/

I wasn't hungry for at least six- seven months. I still have days with 0 hunger where it's actually hard to eat.

Lately I've been having more days when I am actually hungry. I feel it as an empty/low blood sugar feeling more than a growling painful sensation like it used to be.

The more carb foods I eat the more I feel hungry. Protein lessens cravings and Hunger. I get so full with protein so fast. If I get dehydrated I also feel it as a sort of hunger.

But that said, it's nothing like before. My hunger now is manageable and only a small amount of food will quell it.