Two weeks post op. 12 lbs net loss ( I have 180 lbs to approach a healthy weight). Yesterday I ate a small bag of chips at work. It took about an hour. Later, I had small pieces of chocolate. Altogether, probably 400 calories over what I should eat. I feel like such a failure. I didn't have any pain stopping me... My hunger was out of control. I don't know how to deal with it... Advice?

I too feel great hunger pangs since days after my surgery...when I feel the pangs I check the time and see what and when was last time I ate. If it has been longer than 2 hours I will grab a snack that I have planned out for the day. I always have my meals and snacks planned so that I do not eat something I shouldn’t. I also use a bariatric app on my phone to track all my foods and fluids. This is the only way I can stay on track.

Do not beat yourself up, this is just a small hiccup. Look at your success rather than your failure, you have dropped and broke up with 12 pounds! You got this and you have support here.

One of the best pieces of advice I've been given is "Before you eat something bad, eat something good". What that meant was, don't force yourself to choose between starvation and eating junk. If you're hungry, eat - but eat something protein rich and nutrient dense. Allow yourself to eat when hungry, just eat on-plan rather than choosing candy or chips. So a eat a cup of light yogurt rather than ice cream. Eat a serving of string cheese rather than chips. Eat a protein bar (with good nutritional composition) if you're in a situation where you can't take the time to eat something more substantial. A boiled egg with salt and pepper is a filling snack. Sugar-free pudding can quiet a sweet-tooth.

You have to plan ahead to make sure you have something on-plan to eat. Because if you're like me, if you wait until you're starving, you'll eat whatever is close at hand. Don't beat yourself up, there's a learning curve to this. It will take some time to incorporate your new eating habits into your daily life. Persistence is more important than perfection.

Thank you for the support and advice. I think I just need to have extra snacks on hand that are on plan to avoid this in future.

Be very careful with what you’re snacking on especially this early post op. The staged return to solid food & restricted food choices are to aid healing & not to put pressure on your internal wounds. All because you can’t see them there are a lot of stitches & staples inside you holding your tummy together.

Once you are able to eat solid foods there are many high protein more nutritious snacks you can add to your diet if you need to like yoghurt, cheese, a boiled egg or small pieces of chicken. When you can tolerate vegetables try carrot or celery sticks with a little hummus. I sometimes ate chunks of cucumber sprinkled with salt or wrapped smoked salmon around the cucumber. Chia pudding is also great - you can add in some protein powder or milk powder to enrich it & up the protein content.

It is likely your hunger is head hunger & your desire for food may be coming from cravings, emotional needs or simply eating out of habit. Working out why you want to eat is a big part of the work we all do. Some can do it alone. Others need the support of counselling & therapy.

Don’t beat yourself up. Losing weight is not easy. It’s damn hard & sometimes we trip up. What we have to do is get up & get back on track.

Good luck.

3 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Be very careful with what you’re snacking on especially this early post op. The staged return to solid food & restricted food choices are to aid healing & not to put pressure on your internal wounds. All because you can’t see them there are a lot of stitches & staples inside you holding your tummy together.

Once you are able to eat solid foods there are many high Protein more nutritious Snacks you can add to your diet if you need to like yoghurt, cheese, a boiled egg or small pieces of chicken. When you can tolerate vegetables try carrot or celery sticks with a little hummus. I sometimes ate chunks of cucumber sprinkled with salt or wrapped smoked salmon around the cucumber. Chia pudding is also great - you can add in some Protein Powder or milk powder to enrich it & up the protein content.

It is likely your hunger is head hunger & your desire for food may be coming from cravings, emotional needs or simply eating out of habit. Working out why you want to eat is a big part of the work we all do. Some can do it alone. Others need the support of counselling & therapy.

Don’t beat yourself up. Losing weight is not easy. It’s damn hard & sometimes we trip up. What we have to do is get up & get back on track.

Good luck.

I have been in therapeutic case management since July 2020 when I decided to do the surgery. It is a requirement of my insurance. I can tell you that this is NOT in my head, thank you for that diagnosis, it was not helpful.

I was just asking if anyone else was feeling any hunger pangs, since I was told I would NOT feel them after the surgery.

I plan all of my food and when I will be eating the foods. I am currently 6 weeks post op and still on soft foods to make sure my sleeve is doing well. This was a decision I made and told my dieticianthis was my plan. I am happy with what foods I am eating just that I feel hunger pangs after being told I would not feel them and was wondering if others did as well.

8 hours ago, Virginia M said:

I have been in therapeutic case management since July 2020 when I decided to do the surgery. It is a requirement of my insurance. I can tell you that this is NOT in my head, thank you for that diagnosis, it was not helpful.

I was just asking if anyone else was feeling any hunger pangs, since I was told I would NOT feel them after the surgery.

I plan all of my food and when I will be eating the foods. I am currently 6 weeks post op and still on soft foods to make sure my sleeve is doing well. This was a decision I made and told my dieticianthis was my plan. I am happy with what foods I am eating just that I feel hunger pangs after being told I would not feel them and was wondering if others did as well.

most people don't feel hunger after surgery - at least for a few months, anyway - but some do. It's sometimes acid or thirst mimicking hunger. OP: I'd let your clinic know if you haven't already (Virginia: since you're in therapeutic case management, it sounds like you already have). For some people it could be true hunger, but for many it turns out to be one of the two issues I mentioned. To the OP: many clinics put their patients on a PPI for the first 3-6 months post-surgery, both VSG and RNY patients. Yours may do that if it turns out to be an acid issue. I'd just let them know what's going on and see what they suggest.

P.S. Virginia - I think Arabesque was responding to the original poster rather than you. Since you are in therapeutic case management, then they're probably already trying to figure out what's going on in your situation. She wasn't trying to diagnose you. Arabesque is a long-time, valued member here who's been very helpful to new people. She was responding to the OP here....and I agree with much of what she was saying (i.e. that it's sometimes head hunger).

Edited May 16, 20215 yr by catwoman7