What is head hunger?

[Dave_NW 92]

I read this term here a lot, but don't know what it means. Anyone?

Dave

[Tiffykins 673]

Your mind telling you to eat instead of you physical hunger is the best way for me to describe it.

[mp8btpc 33]

What Tiffany said! Also the I am bored I think I am hungry vibe or the I just saw an Olive Garden commercial, I think I need to eat vibe. LOL I could go on and on.

[Dave_NW 92]

Ohhh! THAT head hunger! Got it. Thanks!

So the trick then is to manage the difference between your head saying it's time to eat, and your wristwatch saying it's time to eat? If you never have hunger pangs, how do you decide when it's really time to eat?

And one more thing: What does being "full" feel like post-op? I know we're supposed to eat slowly, to give your stomach time to warn you it's full. But I'm someone whose stomach (pre-op) doesn't have a full switch. I can eat until I'm miserable. How will I know I've had enough? (Can you tell I'm getting myself psyched up for my Wednesday visit with my surgeon? I'm already starting to buy diet stuff. I must have the bug. :ohmy:)

Dave

Edited September 28, 2010 by Dave_NW

[Tiffykins 673]

Ohhh! THAT head hunger! Got it. Thanks!

So the trick then is to manage the difference between your head saying it's time to eat, and your wristwatch saying it's time to eat? If you never have hunger pangs, how do you decide when it's really time to eat?

And one more thing: What does being "full" feel like post-op? I know we're supposed to eat slowly, to give your stomach time to warn you it's full. But I'm someone whose stomach (pre-op) doesn't have a full switch. I can eat until I'm miserable. How will I know I've had enough? (Can you tell I'm getting myself psyched up for my Wednesday visit with my surgeon? I'm already starting to buy diet stuff. I must have the bug. )

Dave

Dave, I literally had to set an alarm on my Iphone as a reminder to eat every 3-4 hours. Without it, I would literally forget to eat.

Immediately post-op, you might not get a full signal and that's why it's so important to measure your portions, eat slowly, but do not stretch your meal out over to long of a period because the food moves through as we eat.

I didn't get a full signal for months. Literally, I measured food for the first 3 months. Of course, pre-measured stuff makes this easier. And, I always measured by volume not weight with measuring cups. The little kid's ounce medication measuring cups is what I used until I got to 1/4 cup of food then just plain ole measuring cups work just fine.

I get the hiccups when I'm full. I have rarely eaten to a stuffed or uncomfortable feeling. I took that "one last bite" a couple of times early out, and well that one last bite came back up. I called it my little hitchhiker. It's a creepy, crawly feeling of undigested food coming back up your esophagus. NOT pleasant, so I learned my lesson quickly.

Now, I eat on a decent schedule.

Breakfast- around 9ish

snack- around 11

lunch - around 1

snack - around 4

dinner- around 6-7

snack - around 9 or 10 (this is not a daily thing, only if I'm shy on calories or protein)

Through my losing phase, I ate 4 meals. No Snacks. I just can not consume 1500-1800 calories a day in just 4 meals anymore, and if I don't eat that many calories consistently, I continue to lose weight.

I will tell you that if you are prone to allergies/sinus drainage, take your meds, use your spray, whatever you need to do to prevent sinus drainage sitting in your sleeve. That's the most miserable thing in the world. I've had major allergy attacks and had to go on thick liquids and mushies for a day or two because food wouldn't fit in there with all the mucus. Disgusting, I know, I apologize, but it's something that I never thought would be an issue.

I don't get hungry at all, but I know when I get cranky, and kind of have this "oh sh*!" I haven't eaten anything feeling, that it's time for me to eat something. It happens a lot with my hectic schedule, but I'm still never hungry.

[mp8btpc 33]

LOL, that all sounds understandable. Before surgery I could pack in some food. I would eat Cereal late at night after a full dinner and I would eat it from a mixing bowl lol. I could eat a box of Fruity Pebbles in one sitting. Things are different for me now. You will feel the fullness believe me. It feels like pressure right in the center of your chest. Heaviness in that little tummy is for me easy to distinguish. As for feeling hungry the hunger pangs I get now are sorta intense. Like when I wake up in the morning it feels totally empty and like something is pulling on my stomach. I have to take my PPI first so once I take that with a glass of Water and get something in there it amazingly calms down just from the Water being in it.

Some people don't feel much hunger at all. I think I feel a healthy amount of hunger it is enough to tell me to eat and I manage to get my nutrients down. It is different for everyone but I think most will agree that you will know when you are full and it only takes once of eating too fast or overeating before you learn to pay more attention.

[Dave_NW 92]

Thanks again. There is so much great information here. I can see I need to start taking notes.

Dave

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Head hunger for me is not my stomach growling. It's that feeling in my head "oh boy, what sounds good?"

[chilo1 62]

I do feel hungry, nor much though, and I'm satisfied with small amounts of food or a drink. For years my fulness signal hasn't worked, I did therapy with an eating disorder psychologist and she told me that so many decades of dieting and bingeing messed up my cues of when I felt hungry and when I felt full. For the first time in decades (I'm 41 now and started my first diet when i was 9!) I learned with this surgery when I'm really hungry (physical physiological hunger, not head hunger) and when I'm full. Full at first hurt like a chest oppression that mp8 mentioned, not nice. I have now learned the right amount to eat before feeling that uncomfortable fullness and I don't eat a bite more, it's not woth it! This is an incredible journey, the best of luck to you!

[Dave_NW 92]

Thanks, ladies. I'm an I.T. computer tech guy, so I think in a linear fashion. I see this weight loss as a basic math equation - the right kind and method of food volume in, plus exercise and common sense, equals the right weight lost. Your experience is very helpful in teaching me what to expect. I'm getting more excited than ever.

Dave

Edited September 28, 2010 by Dave_NW