They changed my stomach not my brain...

[chef neil 25]

This statement or something like it,has been said by guest speakers in my 14 week class- and the facilitator has said it many times-

(they did surgey on my gut not my head)???

have you heard this- LIVED this? can you explain it to me?

I am not understanding it-yet.

[JackieOMonroe 123]

I can't be sure, but I would imagine that it refers to the fact that you will still have head hunger, you will still want to turn to food for the same reasons you used to turn to food (emotional eating, etc.), you will still feel compelled to make unhealthy choices, you may still order or make more food than you need, your attitudes about food are not being altered by surgery on your stomach. The surgery is just one step in a long road of change. You'll see many people on the boards talk about bariatric surgery being a tool. They're correct. That's all it is. It will not solve your weight problems alone. You still have lots of work to do. Changing your brain is imperative.

[Nancy Rivers 24]

I believe Jackie has it right. It's referring to how you think about food and the fact that you really do have to change your mindset about food and living in general. The sleeve is a tool that is to be utilized and can help us I believe in changing our mindset and how we think about food.

[Tiffykins 673]

Being 2 years out, it's the one thing that rings true for my life everyday.

I'm still never physically hungry, but I still love food. I still have a fat girl's appetite, and I can eat all day, every day, practically every hour on the hour if I CHOOSE to do it. The big thing is that I choose to NOT do this anymore. I do eat Snacks and completely different than it was during my losing phase. I worked really hard at changing my relationship with food, changing how I looked at food, and changed how I ate food during that time.

When people say 'they operated on our stomach, not our brains' it refers to the mindless, eating just to eat habit that a lot of obese people experience. I was a volume eater. I would just eat huge amounts of food because I loved food. I didn't have any compulsive tendencies meaning I didn't get out of bed to just eat, or hide food. I wasn't really en emotional eater either, I just ate because I could, and because I really did/do love food. I did like that super full Thanksgiving day stuffed feeling that came with overeating, and I totally hate it now. BUT, that's because I recognized that overeating/getting stuffed was a behavior I had to change.

I admit that I have fallen back into an old "fat habit" since early this year. I like a snack before bedtime, and even though it's not a horrible food, or junk food, it's still a habit that is one of my behaviors associated to my obesity. So, I had to nip it in the bud again.

Surgery, any weight loss surgery, only alters your physical capability with food to an extent. I could still suck down a huge milkshake without physical issues, but I choose to not do it. Overall, it takes a physical, mental and emotional commitment for long term success with any WLS. Some days, some months are better, and I have found that replacing better habits over the old habits/behaviors that got me fat really helped me succeed with VSG.

[chef neil 25]

Thanks for your help-

the thing I am having a hard time wrapping my head around is needing a good amount of food to be full.

I'm talking less than a portion at a restaurant- but more than my "fixed" wife.

My wife suggests to start cutting back this last week.

I am not doing my last meals- I just want to eat, be full enough to carry on with work or play...

My Breakfast and lunch are so on plan, but if I don;t have dinner by 4 pm, I am a raving hunger maniac.

So I have a snack- on plan, but then I still need/want(?) a dinner- 4 oz. Protein, veggies and a little starch.

(program)

so advise me- I am not depressed- and have handled stress issues- My alcohol intake is also none--

now that Grad parties are over.

just trying to figure this out.

[Nancy Rivers 24]

Your body needs food about every 4 hours or so to keep going. Most nutritionists/doctors suggest eating 3 "meals" and 2 or 3 Snacks throughout the day so that you are eating something about every 3 to 4 hours. This is necessary for your body to not go into starvation mode and start storing any calories that you may take in - no matter how healthy those calories may be.

Keep in mind, restaurant portions are often more than double the "normal" portion that we should be eating. That's how a few of us have ended up being obese. (I know that's how it happened to me - I ate out all the time.)

The key is moderation and not to over-indulge. Eating small amounts of food several times a day helps in that regard.

[Suzannesh 376]

This statement or something like it,has been said by guest speakers in my 14 week class- and the facilitator has said it many times-

(they did surgery on my gut not my head)???

have you heard this- LIVED this? can you explain it to me?

I am not understanding it-yet.

Hi,

Yes, I can explain this. When you have sleeve surgery your new smaller stomach can only hold 6 to 8 oz and it knows when it is full--you need to pay attention to that. And right after sleeve surgery, your new stomach is swollen and will only hold about the amount the size of your thumb. Your head is where your "brain" is. The old thinking "brain" has been in control for all your life,and it is used to eating and eating and eathing. Now with the sleeve you will need to learn the difference between do I need to eat or do I just WANT to eat because that is how you lead your life for so many years. We call this "head" hunger." Your old briain is thinking like your old habits. You need to TRAIN your old brain to think like your new stomach.

You will be sure that you are staving and aren't getting enough food because your old brain is still doing your thinking. In time they start thinking a like. So that is what they are talking about when they said they had surgery on ther stomach and not their head.

I hope that helps. It takes time and effort on your part to not allow the OLD thinking brain to be in control.

Hugs,

Suzanne

[meghuffman 4]

I'll tell you what was explained to me by my cousin's wife, who had gastric bypass 8 years ago. I've told this in another post, so I'm sorry to anyone who has already read it. I can't remember where I posted it, but I think it's very important here. She said that she was hungry when she went into surgery and when she came out. She said that the surgery (now remember, this is bypass) did not remove her feelings of hunger. 'This is when she made the statement that after a few weeks, her mind caught up with her stomach.

What she meant was that before the surgery, she would eat whenever- bored, stressed, happy, etc. Because she had always eaten much more than what was needed to survive, her body thought it was starving after the surgery because she was eating so little food compared to what she used to eat. This caused her to think she was hungry even when she wasn't. After a few weeks, her brain realized that her body wasn't going to starve and her hunger began to subside. She says that she now eats to live, instead of living to eat.

We are so used to eating whenever- whether we are hungry or not. Just because we have surgery that limits the amount of food we eat, our brains don't know this and for whatever reason we ate before (unless we were truly hungry), our brains are telling us that we still need to eat at these times. It takes a while before our brain realizes that something has changed. That's what is meant by your mind (or brain) catching up with your stomach.

I hope this clarifies it for you. I haven't read anybody else's posts, so there may be other reasons for this saying. But, I think that what my cousin's wife said makes a lot of sense.

This statement or something like it,has been said by guest speakers in my 14 week class- and the facilitator has said it many times-

(they did surgey on my gut not my head)???

have you heard this- LIVED this? can you explain it to me?

I am not understanding it-yet.