Pretty regularly I run across a post on here where someone is talking about eating 600 calories a day....and suffering "head hunger".

"I ate my two tablespoons of protien three times today, I'm lightheaded and exhausted. Worst of all, I have terrible head hunger!"

No...you have ACTUAL hunger.

Or worse...someone telling someone eating 600 calories a day...."it's just head hunger."

Folks, when you are eating 600 calories a day it's REAL FREAKING HUNGER. Like...every cell in your body is saying...I don't want to die...please nourish me because depending on fat stores is stressful and inefficient. They're also finite. You're giving me 600 calories a day and it takes over 300 calories just to make the sugar to run the brain. Please eat something...anything...something healthy would be great! That's REAL hunger.

Head hunger....from my understanding of this weird phrase...means that you are not physically in need of food...you just want it. You just had salad and a chicken breast...so you're well nourished,...but you really WANT a cheeseburger and fries, too. That's "head hunger". A craving for something you don't really need, but crave the taste of.

When we're recovering from major surgery and eating really low calories...we aren't being pansies and we' aren't having weak cravings.....we physiologically NEED fuel that we are NOT GETTING....so we're HUNGRY.

That's not "head hunger".

That's REAL hunger. Probably the realest hunger many of us have ever known.

Stepping off soap box. Sorry for the rant.

3 hours ago, Little Green said:

Dr. Weiner always says on his YouTube videos that you can tell real hunger apart from head hunger because you'll be happy to eat something healthy when you're really hungry, but that if you are craving greasy bad food and feeling sorry for yourself over eating an apple, it's head hunger. I'm pre-op so I have nothing to add myself - but I really appreciated the OP, @Creekimp13!

Well said!!! It's super tough though!!!

The struggle is REAL!!!! Hunger and fighting to have a balanced diet is hard. I'm only 4 weeks out and I can't wait to have a normal, balanced diet. It'll get better.