I'm about 2.5 weeks out from surgery and I have felt hunger all along except for maybe the first couple of days.

Deep, gnawing in my soul hunger. I drank my Soup for dinner. I felt satisfied. I took my Antacid. I am drinking my Water. I try to tell myself it's in my head, but oh how I feel it in the very core of my being. (This is turning out to be quite dramatic, isn't it?)

I had a single size unsweetened apple sauce, forced down about half a SF cherry Jello cup and drank a nice warm mug of morrocan mint herbal tea in order to curb this empty feeling deep within me.

Then I found my husband's sugar free gum and started chewing that.

Is this REALLY head hunger? Is it possible there is such a disconnect between my mind and body after years of mindless snacking and eating whatever I wanted, when I wanted and how much I wanted?

Will it ever go away? I feel WAY hungrier now than I did before (granted, I used to stuff myself way past the point of satiety on a regular basis).

Does anyone experience this and what do you to do to distract yourself from the deep, growling hunger inside? I need some good tricks or this is NEVER gonna work for me.

water, water, water, water! haha, I notice if I don't get in enough water I feel empty and weak but not hungry.. I am almost a month out.

Thank you. Keeping that in mind for sure. I'm actually getting used to the feeling- whatever it may be.

Edited September 28, 20169 yr by Browneyedgirl41

I am 5 weeks post op. I found that when I was a week out from Aunt Flo's visit, my hunger and cravings were terrible! But it wasn't any different than pre surgery PMS, other than I knew I needed to control it. I kept myself as physically occupied as I was able to, chewed SF gum and drank Water like a fish.

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@@Browneyedgirl41

For me, the first 2 weeks post op were the worst, hunger wise. As I was on liquids only for 2 weeks, I was constantly hungry. I was advised to keep adding Protein powder to my drinks. This helped a bit, but basically I managed to get through this with gritted teeth .....

I also had a super bad reflux, was on Rabeprazole originally, didn't help much,so I changed to Nexium and that did the trick.

On purees, my hunger was less than on liquids only, but it wasn't until I got onto Soft?Mushy stage that I finally stopped being hungry. Had to eat very regularly though.

Then later my hunger disappeared for many months.

It only recently came back, after 6 months post op. Still have to adhere to my portion sizes, and I get full quickly.

So, hunger is normal early post op, especially on Fluid only phase.

Good luck, you'll get through it!

Seems like a few common denominators..... Hungry folks always seem to state immediately after that they are not getting all their fluids. I was told to shoot for the surgeons recommendation, but then in reality each of us should ultimately be getting half our current weight in oz, for optimal weight loss, hunger relief and health.

I has a couple days at about 2.5 weeks out where my tummy growled and moaned and I was positive i was starving to death..... so I added a scoop of plain Protein powder to my Soup and it worked wonders! Topped out at 110 oz liquid with 120g protein. It only lasted two days and the growling went away.

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@@Browneyedgirl41

For me, the first 2 weeks post op were the worst, hunger wise. As I was on liquids only for 2 weeks, I was constantly hungry. I was advised to keep adding Protein powder to my drinks. This helped a bit, but basically I managed to get through this with gritted teeth .....

I also had a super bad reflux, was on Rabeprazole originally, didn't help much,so I changed to Nexium and that did the trick.

On purees, my hunger was less than on liquids only, but it wasn't until I got onto Soft?Mushy stage that I finally stopped being hungry. Had to eat very regularly though.

Then later my hunger disappeared for many months.

It only recently came back, after 6 months post op. Still have to adhere to my portion sizes, and I get full quickly.

So, hunger is normal early post op, especially on Fluid only phase.

Good luck, you'll get through it!

I ate some mushies yesterday as I was cleared to do so as of Tuesday (3 weeks post op). It was so much better- the hunger, I mean. Woo hoo! It's hard to stay full on liquids alone.

Seems like a few common denominators..... Hungry folks always seem to state immediately after that they are not getting all their fluids. I was told to shoot for the surgeons recommendation, but then in reality each of us should ultimately be getting half our current weight in oz, for optimal weight loss, hunger relief and health.

I has a couple days at about 2.5 weeks out where my tummy growled and moaned and I was positive i was starving to death..... so I added a scoop of plain Protein powder to my soup and it worked wonders! Topped out at 110 oz liquid with 120g protein. It only lasted two days and the growling went away.

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I started mushy foods this week and my hunger was much less yesterday. I almost felt back to normal again.

Yes, it is amazing how the Soft/Mushy food helps with the hunger pangs.

It was such a relief! And from then on I felt lot more normal.

Glad you're feeling better @@Browneyedgirl41

You are now over the really hard part. Now you will start playing detective, to find out which foods agree with your new baby stomach, and which don't so they can be avoided.

Good luck and enjoy your new food phase!