I am 5 weeks post-op, doing fantastic and down 30 pounds. Clothes are hanging off me. I am following ALL the rules and tolerating everything well. Recently I have noticed when I get hungry,or wait too long to eat I get mean.... Fussy, frustrated and I don't like it. I try to not let myself get to that point but sometimes when life gets busy it happens. Has anyone else noticed that.. what are you doing to avoid it?

Surgery date 3/18/2021 Gastric Sleeves

startweight 207

Current 177.

Had surgery for health reasons gastroparisis/gastritis/ weight loss.

I hear ya! Cranky cranky - if you watch The Office, it reminds me of Kelly in the weight loss episode - “just leave me alone!”

I will get something down really quick - nuts, a cracker, juice - to stave off the hunger until I can prepare something with more substance.

This doesn’t happen often because I’ve learned to set routine times for meals and water. That usually helps. I’m month 7 now, so it feels very routine at this point and I don’t have to think about doing these things. I hope I can maintain!

Yeah, that happened with me right after surgery and still sometimes does a year later, though to a lesser extent now.

Normally, your body stores excess sugar in your liver for quick access when your blood sugar starts to drop. When you're eating a lot less than your body needs, you tend to have very little sugar stored in your liver, so it's harder for your body to compensate when your blood sugar starts dropping. (By the way, this sugar is stored along with a lot of water. This is the reason why you can lose 5-10 lbs in a week when you first start a diet - you could never lose that much fat in a week. It's also why if you binge on carbs, you may gain 3-4 lbs the next day - even though you probably didn't eat 15,000 calories of pizza. It's mostly water weight in your liver.)

I do what qianmij suggested - keep a lot of little (healthy) snacks around. It's funny, because I was absolutely not the snacky type before - I liked to wait for a full, hot meal.

4 hours ago, Qamilian1 said:

I am 5 weeks post-op, doing fantastic and down 30 pounds. Clothes are hanging off me. I am following ALL the rules and tolerating everything well. Recently I have noticed when I get hungry,or wait too long to eat I get mean.... Fussy, frustrated and I don't like it. I try to not let myself get to that point but sometimes when life gets busy it happens. Has anyone else noticed that.. what are you doing to avoid it?

Surgery date 3/18/2021 Gastric Sleeves

startweight 207

Current 177.

Had surgery for health reasons gastroparisis/gastritis/ weight loss.

If I'm going to be out for a while, I take a portable snack with me: nuts, granola, protein bar, quest chips, cheese sticks. Something I can eat while on the go. I also carry a bottle of water because I find dehydration can lead to irritability too. You have to prioritize having what you need with you to avoid ending up starving.

Don’t know if I got angry but I used to get frustrated if I was out & couldn’t find anything suitable to eat. I got caught up in making sure I ate regularly to meet my protein & fluid goals. If I missed a meal or my routine was out, I felt I wouldn’t meet the goals for the day & thought this was a bad thing. I eventually realised that this is just life & I couldn’t control everything. It really wasn’t a big deal if I didn’t meet my goals one day as long as I did the next. I always carry a protein bar in my bag now just in case.

Congrats on your surgery & loss so far.

Edited April 25, 20215 yr by Arabesque

I absolutely had to pack food to go with me if I was out for too long. My go to was string cheese or nuts.

How long after surgery can you eat nuts and seeds? That sounds like a good non refrigerated snack.. I have just started eating pure protein bars and that helps but I don't always want something sweet or processed. I like the string cheese option and will try the quest chips too.. I don't get angry..I get snappy and short tempered,.. very unpleasant. I know I'm doing it and it frustrates me because I don't mean too and it's not my personality at all.. it only happens when I wait too long to eat. I definitely think it's a low blood sugar thing.

20 hours ago, Qamilian1 said:

How long after surgery can you eat nuts and seeds? That sounds like a good non refrigerated snack.. I have just started eating pure Protein Bars and that helps but I don't always want something sweet or processed. I like the string cheese option and will try the Quest chips too.. I don't get angry..I get snappy and short tempered,.. very unpleasant. I know I'm doing it and it frustrates me because I don't mean too and it's not my personality at all.. it only happens when I wait too long to eat. I definitely think it's a low blood sugar thing.

I think I was in the final/regular diet phase. I chose softer nuts like cashews so it was easier to eat. But be forewarned because they are easy to eat and readily accessible without preparation IMHO you have to weight/measure nuts. They are calorie expensive in respect to the amount you can eat. They are a slider food for me.

Also, I became unfocused and easily frustrated with a headache long before I felt any sign of hunger.

Edited April 26, 20215 yr by GreenTealael

Same and it's weird because I don't feel physical hunger, but I definitely get HANGRY! I'm a March surgery too!