I was sleeved on 10/18/2017. At four days out I saw food and wanted to eat everything. Burgers, chips, chicken, pizza, chili, etc. I didn't feel that hungry for two months leading up to surgery in which I lost 20+ pounds on my own. I thought that hunger was supposed to go away with the grehlin producing cells in the portion of my stomach that was cut out. ?? I was also told that after getting sleeved you will actually crave healthy foods and not the unhealthy ones. Will this still happen for me or did it just not work for me that way?

Hello! We were sleeved around the same time! I got mine on October 11 this year so I'm almost 2 weeks out. I was starving the first week after surgery. I just got moved into soft foods so that has helped some but not a lot. I still crave a lot of unhealthy foods, especially burgers brats fries etc. I'm also dying for a drink of Diet Pepsi. I think it's a mind game at this point with me. I'm hoping it gets better as the weeks go on. Congratulations on your sleeve and good luck!

They cut your tummy not your brain. We all crave different food. I still crave bad food. But I don't want to eat it as it makes me feel like crap. Were as I would have eaten it no matter how it made me feel.

I have no room for pasta rice and bread my favs but others do.

Hunger- some peoples hunger doesnt go away. I'm 3 months post. I feel hunger sometimes but the minute I have a bite the hunger is over.

Keep going

1 hour ago, LoBMI VSGguy46 said:

I was sleeved on 10/18/2017. At four days out I saw food and wanted to eat everything. Burgers, chips, chicken, pizza, chili, etc. I didn't feel that hungry for two months leading up to surgery in which I lost 20+ pounds on my own. I thought that hunger was supposed to go away with the grehlin producing cells in the portion of my stomach that was cut out. ?? I was also told that after getting sleeved you will actually crave healthy foods and not the unhealthy ones. Will this still happen for me or did it just not work for me that way?

Also relax your a couple of weeks out all this did it not work for me that way . your actually still healing so give your body a chance. And stay positive. I was hearing growling for a while and had painful hunger. Was part of healing. My advice is from my personal experience if you start doubting this early we can feel abit defeated and its hard to stick to the plan if you think its not working lol but you will be fine ! 50lbs down in 3 months and I'm a light weight that's how I know it's working even with a rumbling stomach specially in the morning.

Yea don't worry man I'm 18 days post op and I've definately lost my hunger. If i was only getting 900-1200 calories before surgery I would be absolutely starving. I'm fine with that now. It didn't kick in till like day 14. But it definately will. For the couple weeks post op you probably still have ghrelin in there. It goes away.

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For me, the smell or sight of a certain food/foods makes me want to eat it. Not that I am hungry for it. Like someone else said, you cut your stomach, not your brain. When I am sad I still crave bad stuff. But there has only been 2 times I was actually hungry. You have to stop and really think about it. Our brains are programmed from old eating habits, and habits are hard to break. I usually have coffee with sf pumpkin creamer in my fridge. When I think I am hungry, I take a few sips, wait 5 minutes and see if it is still there. I am only a week out, but I am noticing some triggers, I started listening to my body and not my brain.


SW:350
BSW:260 (10/17/17)
CW:256
GW:175

I was sleeved on 10/18/2017. At four days out I saw food and wanted to eat everything. Burgers, chips, chicken, pizza, chili, etc. I didn't feel that hungry for two months leading up to surgery in which I lost 20+ pounds on my own. I thought that hunger was supposed to go away with the grehlin producing cells in the portion of my stomach that was cut out. ?? I was also told that after getting sleeved you will actually crave healthy foods and not the unhealthy ones. Will this still happen for me or did it just not work for me that way?

I'm about 4 weeks out...and still feel hunger. Don't know if it's "brain hunger" or real hunger but it's hunger all the same to me. I've been saying that I don't think that part of the surgery will be happening with me, so i guess it's just something I'll have to overcome now, with my new WLS tool. Which, to be honest, IS helping. Like someone else above said, if i was only eating ~800 or so calories prior to surgery, I'd be chewing my arm off at this point! So, hunger or not, I dont want to fail so I'm going to do my best to ignore it. That's all we can do for those of us who still feel hunger.

But I'm with u...everyone was saying the feeling of hunger just eventually goes away...poof...gone... Uh-huh, ya sure, not for me! Lol. I guess they left that part in me! [emoji6]

I am almost 10 weeks out and have felt hunger since the morning after surgery. I personally think “head hunger” is bullsh*t. The hunger I feel is real. I am afraid it will never go away. The only time I don’t feel hungry is immediately after I eat. Such is life.

I am really sorry to those who are feeling the actual hunger. I can not imagine feeling that way all the time.

For me, the thinking is real. There is a lot going on around me, that normally a pint of ice cream and a spoon would help fix. I have been an over eater since I became a ternager, and it has gone up and down over the years. Psycolical hunger is a habit. Alcoholics, you do not give a drink to, drug users, you do not give them more drugs. Unfortunately we dont have a choice but to eat. And, for me at least, I would eat for everything. For happy, to celebrate, sad, anxious, my brain aways looks to food as a comfort. I am not sure it will ever go away, but at least I became aware of it. And truly I would fell like i am starving with about 800 calories a day, if it wasnt for the surgery.

I hope ot gets easier for the ones who feel hungry all the time.

Yeah I was just sleeved on 10/17/17 and I feel actual hunger. My hunger triggers around the time I would normally eat prior to surgery. At 7:30/8:00 my tummy is rumbling, 11:30/12:00 I'm hungry, 6:00-7:30 I'm hungry. In between these times I am not hungry, I didn't snack in between meals pre surgery. Head hunger may happen for those who would aimlessly eat, but not for me. When I feel hunger it's hunger. I have medicine cup or two of my cream soup or broth or protein shake and then I'm good.

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If I'm honest, I have never been one to just not get hungry, or one that "forgets to eat". The ghrelin levels in my stomach are still in full effect. I normally eat every 2-3 hours to stave off hunger pangs, but if I don't, I definitely get them. I have long days, so I start off with coffee at 5am. I don't go to bed until 10pm each night, and eat 6X in between. If I don't, I will probably overindulge on something in the Pantry of Horrors.

It is a reality that most of us will still have hunger every few hours for the foreseeable future. We just have to accept it, and plan ahead so that we don't snack on crap. As other posters claimed, there is just no way that I would be able to make it through a day of eating less than 1,000 calories without this surgery.

I sat and had 1/2 of a garden salad for dinner at Whataburger last night while I watched patron after patron, skinny and fat alike, shred through 2,000 calories or more in one sitting. I wasn't sad...I didn't feel as though I was missing out on anything...I felt gratitude and pride. My not so little one kept asking me why I was smiling. I finally told her that I was happy that a double meat, double cheese with extra large fries and a giant sweet tea was no longer on my radar.

Be sure to stock up on and/or prepare healthy ready to eat snacks so that you aren't caught without something to eat.

Thank you all for your responses and insight! I do hope that hunger pangs will be relieved when I start moving into more solid foods. Tonight I had some cream of chicken soup and it was wonderful! I don't feel hungry at all now that I had it. I wonder if the sodium has something to do with it?

If I'm honest, I have never been one to just not get hungry, or one that "forgets to eat". The ghrelin levels in my stomach are still in full effect. I normally eat every 2-3 hours to stave off hunger pangs, but if I don't, I definitely get them. I have long days, so I start off with coffee at 5am. I don't go to bed until 10pm each night, and eat 6X in between. If I don't, I will probably overindulge on something in the Pantry of Horrors.
It is a reality that most of us will still have hunger every few hours for the foreseeable future. We just have to accept it, and plan ahead so that we don't snack on crap. As other posters claimed, there is just no way that I would be able to make it through a day of eating less than 1,000 calories without this surgery.
I sat and had 1/2 of a garden salad for dinner at Whataburger last night while I watched patron after patron, skinny and fat alike, shred through 2,000 calories or more in one sitting. I wasn't sad...I didn't feel as though I was missing out on anything...I felt gratitude and pride. My not so little one kept asking me why I was smiling. I finally told her that I was happy that a double meat, double cheese with extra large fries and a giant sweet tea was no longer on my radar.
Be sure to stock up on and/or prepare healthy ready to eat snacks so that you aren't caught without something to eat.

I guess I went into this thinking (based on things i read and was told) that the grehlin levels would be so low that i WOULDN'T feel hunger generally for at leat 6 months post, and that i would need to combat "head hunger". Then i was given a list of signs that would tell me my body was actually hungry, like stomach grumbling or difficulty concentrating or empty feeling in belly, etc. And if i didn't have one of those signs, then it was "head hunger"...and go drink water!

But, it seems that I'm not the only one who still has hunger. But what about those that say they're truly NOT hungry anymore? What about their procedure is different than mine? Wonder what makes their feelings of hunger now so much less than mine?

I guess I went into this thinking (based on things i read and was told) that the grehlin levels would be so low that i WOULDN'T feel hunger generally for at leat 6 months post, and that i would need to combat "head hunger". Then i was given a list of signs that would tell me my body was actually hungry, like stomach grumbling or difficulty concentrating or empty feeling in belly, etc. And if i didn't have one of those signs, then it was "head hunger"...and go drink water!

But, it seems that I'm not the only one who still has hunger. But what about those that say they're truly NOT hungry anymore? What about their procedure is different than mine? Wonder what makes their feelings of hunger now so much less than mine?

I think it also depends on how long you’ve been addicted to food so to speak. I have found that more mature ones (40’s and above) battle with hunger more. I got my sleeve a few days before you (I’m 26) and while when I smell something good I want it, I’m definitely not hungry. I have alarms set telling me to eat because there was a day I did nothing but drink water and orange juice. The only thing that temps me really are big fantastic breakfasts. Pancakes eggs sausage the whole nine. But I also ate something I shouldn’t have and I got sick, so that memory also keeps me from eating bad. You can probably also get more physical. Every hour I get up and take a couple laps around the office just to get the blood flowing. That may help as well.

1 hour ago, Amburmist said:

I guess I went into this thinking (based on things i read and was told) that the grehlin levels would be so low that i WOULDN'T feel hunger generally for at leat 6 months post, and that i would need to combat "head hunger". Then i was given a list of signs that would tell me my body was actually hungry, like stomach grumbling or difficulty concentrating or empty feeling in belly, etc. And if i didn't have one of those signs, then it was "head hunger"...and go drink water!

But, it seems that I'm not the only one who still has hunger. But what about those that say they're truly NOT hungry anymore? What about their procedure is different than mine? Wonder what makes their feelings of hunger now so much less than mine?

I do think that my ghrelin levels are lower than they were before surgery. I ate 4X per day before, and had an enormous appetite. After I ate, I would get hungry again within 3 hours. I don't eat much now, and can still last 2 1/2 to 3 hours before I start feeling that I should probably eat something. it is a subtle hunger, though. Maybe a stomach growl or something.

After surgery, one of my surgery buddies was seriously hungry. She kept complaining that she felt that she was starving. I had no hunger at all. The IV was fine for me. I thought the difference was because I did a 2 week real liquid diet, and she ate up until the day before surgery. Now, I don't know if that was the reason or not.

There are people in this forum that are not eating more than 4 ounces of food per sitting at well over a year out. I am fine with 4 ounces of dense protein, but other than that, I can eat up to 7 ounces or so. I am only 2 1/2 months out, so that scares me a bit. All I can do is follow my guidelines though. If I end up eating 16 ounces of food in the end, that is okay. I was able to eat up to 3 pounds of food per sitting before. I can maintain with 16 ounces.

I guess the thing to remember is that since we are all different, we will all respond differently to surgery. I would assume that none of us had the same ghrelin levels to begin with. I know a few obese people that don't really eat that much. They just eat the wrong things. I would guess that if they had the surgery, they would probably not experience hunger like I do. That doesn't mean that they will experience more success though. They still have to stay away from the wrong things, as they will not get full on a bag of m&ms, but they will gain weight nonetheless.

I’d so like to throw in my two cents and say that apparently often times heartburn can be confused with hunger. So pop a Tums and see if that does it?