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I think a big part of it is the actual chewing sensation. We have our teeth to chew something on after all, LOL. How long is your liquid/mushy phase? Mine was 4 weeks and it tremendously helped to know that after 4 weeks it would be over. Limited time periods are easier on the mind than "forever" or "never again". What I also noticed was a craving for salty things (the protein drinks are usually either sweet or neutral in taste).

I’d recommend a fan for white noise and your own pillow. Hospital pillows are awful.

hit a small stall but didnt give up upped my protein and exercise and kept on

Just taking it one day at a time is hugeeeeee! Thanks for the awesome perspective. Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats! You just won the internet! Let's all go home now. ((hugs))

I had lotion, body soap, change of clothes for 2 days just in case I had to stay an extra day, and a good book for when I couldn't sleep at night. You might want to bring some good house shoes to walk in. Sent from my Moto E (4) using BariatricPal mobile app

Guess it depends on how long you anticipate your stay being. Some people are outpatient and leave the same day, others like me stay 2 nights. I took my own toothbrush and toothpaste, chapstick, hairbrush and deodorant. I wore the same comfy outfit I wore into the hospital with the exception of fresh underwear. Some people recommend bringing your own socks to walk in but hospital floors are gross - surgeons and other staff walk right out of the operating rooms up to the nursing floors to round on their patients. I wore the ones they gave me and threw them away when I left.

This is such a marvelous post and success strategy!!!! Gosh I you! Hey would you come post this over on the Doing the Headwork thread. It's such actionable advice!!!! TY in advance hon!

Ahhh ... yes, good ol' hunger monster and I go way back! Had had 6 months post op without physical hunger, and then similarly to you, at about 20 lbs to goal, it came back. Lots of great info on this thread! Here's my $0.02 Physical hunger and head hunger are totally different animals, and have different ways to fight them Physical hunger is actually easier for me. First, as mentioned above, Intermittent Fasting (IF) was a game changer for me. For me the more I eat, the more hungry I am. The longer I go without eating, my hunger lessens. My body is also easily trained to expect to eat at certain times. My hunger was actually awakened on a vacation. I not usually a breakfast eater, but B&B's include breakfast, so I ate the "free" breakfast every morning. I started waking up hungry, which continued after I got home. So for me, the way I fast is I just push my first meal back as late as possible. When I feel hungry, I push liquids. Most of the time the hunger will pass. I could often get to 2 pm, and do a 18:6. And while their might be magic in IF itself, the fact is I eat less calories if I'm only eating for 6 hrs out of the day vs. 12+. Additionally, if you're truly hungry, it's easier to make good choices. Grilled chicken is delicious when I'm hungry, while it is boring if I'm just snacky, you know? You know what I think I may love best about IF ... you can't fail! If one day the hunger monster won't be banished, that's ok, just eat. No reason to be miserably hungry, just try to make good choices, and try again tomorrow. Some version of IF actually have fast days and feast days. So you didn't fail, you just did 5:2 IF Now head hunger, that's a tougher one for me, and one I've had less success fighting overall. I tried to remove temptation from my house. If I had to go to the store for chips, I was less likely to eat them. I stopped watching any cooking shows, and stopped browsing food or recipe website, even healthy ones. I kept healthy foods stocked, low cal soups, jerky, fresh veggies, laughing cow cheese, deli meat, poached chicken, low cal condiments. If I was just feeling snacky and it was overwhelming then I'd just try to eat all the good stuff. As @GreenTealael said, you're not going to gain weight on lettuce! Sometimes though, I just really really wanted food X. I had two strategies. Say I was craving Mexican food. Sometimes I was able to be satisfied by going out and getting something that satisfied the craving, but was still a healthy choice. For instance, getting ceviche vs. cheese enchiladas. Sometimes I just really really wanted the cheese enchiladas, then I had them! But I didn't take home the leftovers, logged it, and what was done was done. Tomorrow was a new day and no reason to beat myself up for being human. Hope that helps!

Pre surgery testing for me was ultrasound of liver, abdomen, etc., EKG, and labwork. That was it! My surgery date is June 3rd [emoji3] Sent from my LM-G710VM using BariatricPal mobile app