I had surgery 6/29 and have been doing very well. Can drink fine. Can finish a whole protein shake in a half hour. But, darn I'm hungry. I cannot stop thinking of things I'd like to eat. I imagine myself taking bites of the foods. Facebook and commercials are killing me. Is anyone else extremely hungry? I mean, I've even thought - for half a second- what would happen if I took a bite of that cheese in the fridge. [emoji15]. Now, of course I won't.....but I thought it!

That would be head hunger. ? The surgery makes it much easier to distinguish between the two.

Got any hints or suggestions on how to tame this beast?

I had surgery 6/27 and I can't stop watching cooking shows. I'm like obsessed hehe. I figure once I do start eating real food I'm going to cook the best things! Even cooked my husband and kid dinner tonight just so I could smell everything. Was kinda fun and not too torturous.

Yep, went through this too. Also watched food shows! It ended when I could eat soft foods. I have no interest in cooking shows and I'm only hungry when I should be hungry. Scared me but it will settle down.

I keep trying to eat stuff I'm not ready for. Today I thought a bean burrito would be soft. Two bites of the tortilla chewed well and I was cursing up a storm. I don't know what's wrong with me. I thought it would be soft enough but it was so painful. Next time I'll just get a cup of pintos and a cup of guacamole or something.

I'm so afraid of a leak I didn't even taste and spit out the stuff I cooked tonight. I told my husband I went by smell. I just want to do everything by the book now that I've put my body thru this surgery. Last night before bed I felt super hungry so I sipped one ounce of skim milk and it totally filled me up. So weird.

I've been there too. Walking down grocery store isles EVERYTHING looked good, even stuff that I knew I didn't like.

Mine lasted until I could eat more protein. I have stopped watching TV when food comes on, cause it is all mind hunger. I keep my self busy doing other things than watching TV.

Now that I'm 11 weeks out, I've learned to listen to my body and I get hungry for everything only when I have had too many carbs in my diet.

The good thing is that it does go away as you heal and eat better.

3 hours ago, NikkiWorldJourney said:

I had surgery 6/27 and I can't stop watching cooking shows. I'm like obsessed hehe. I figure once I do start eating real food I'm going to cook the best things! Even cooked my husband and kid dinner tonight just so I could smell everything. Was kinda fun and not too torturous.

Ditto

Congratulations! You are doing so much better at meeting your fluid and protein goals than I was at that point.

I had that hunger too, and still do. I am almost 7 weeks out, and on the full texture diet, so I can eat small amounts of actual foods but I still I get so head hungry sometimes. But it's nothing compared to what it was at the beginning, when all I could eat was liquid or near-liquid! That was really hard to get through. It's like, without chewing or having any meals to mark time, it makes the head hunger worse. So I think what you are going through is pretty normal.

Anyhow-- hang in there!! I am still struggling at times, but with each week it does get better. It reminds me of what people said when I had my son-- the first two weeks are brutal, then every two weeks it gets just a little bit better. That has proved pretty true so far, for me anyhow.

Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement! Helps a lot.

I'm currently having a real problem with this. I feel like I'm hungry ALL THE TIME! I know that even if my brain wants to eat something, there's no physical place for my body to put it anymore. I'm currently at the 2 ounce phase, and I realize at some point I will be able to eat 4 ounces of protein plus some applesauce or maybe even lettuce (God do I miss that, never thought I'd miss salad), but my brain still wants to eat a full plate of something.

I'm losing weight (although I've hit my three week stall a bit early) and you'd think that'd be reward enough, but I'm frustrated. I know it's something I'm just going to have to adjust to, but I worry that I won't be able. But the surgery is non-reversible and so I'm stuck here for the rest of my life.

Skinny people might point to obesity surgery as "the easy way out", but I am here to tell you, psychologically, it ain't so easy, at least for me.

Thanks for listening.

8 hours ago, Mrsa said:

Got any hints or suggestions on how to tame this beast?

Ice chips? I'm finding them helpful

Head hunger is powerful. I have zero physical hunger. I eat because I'm supposed to but I never feel the sensation of hunger. Early on I had crazy head hunger. I couldn't tell if my body was truly hungry or just craving crap, so each time I felt hungry I ate. I only ate what I was allowed on the phase I was in. So hungry?, drink some protein shake. Hungry? Have some yogurt. Now, hungry? Find some dense protein.

I still have occasional cravings for bad food. I am now in the habit of feeding that craving protein.

It gets easier to resist that pull.

I'm at 7 weeks and have rarely been hungry but, man!, am I interested in food right now! All the time! I spend a fair amount of time surfing "food porn" on Pinterest and planning what I want to make. I measure everything before I eat, tho, so I don't make myself sick. I've been a baking fiend this past week. Hubs and I can't eat it all so we take it to neighbors. We're pretty popular in the hood right now!

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I'm right there with y'all! June 28th was my date and I will literally scroll through every video of tasty on Facebook lol. I think it's just head hunger, but man it sure feels real