How Long Before You Start Getting Hungry?

[Catracks 865]

I had my surgery on the 11 of January and my Surgeon has me on Clear liquids for two weeks. My husband didn't want to eat around me, but I keep telling him I'm not hungry. it's all I can do to drink the liquid. Seriously takes me all day to get 64 oz down.

So under 300 calories for two weeks? Can that even sustain a body?

I'm reading weird stories about people eating popcorn (BOY DID SHE HEAR ABOUT THAT!) and on mushies 2 weeks out.

But seriously, I'm not sure I can recognize hunger anymore. Does this change?

Also, I'm back down to my pre-op weight. I guess I got the extra Water out. How soon before people started losing? Yeah, I know -- Focus on healing blah, blah, but still ...

[Kerensa 0]

I'm in the same boat as you. I have NO hunger whatsoever and it's all I can do to keep enough fluids in. I knew it would be an issue for me prior to my surgery because I have never been one to drink alot of fluids anyway. As for the hunger, I wasn't expecting to have NONE at all so this has been weird lol. I've been watching my family eat and smelling their food and it doesn't even appeal to me. I went grocery shopping yesterday and nothing even made me want it.

I'm guessing this is normal?

Other than that, I'm feeling lots better, just still have a bit of gas that refuses to come out. I did check my temp earlier and I'm running a low grade fever of 99.3 and don't know what's up with that. I'm not in pain or anything. Incisions look great. I'll just keep a watch on it.

I had planned on returning to work tomorrow but I didnt' expect to be so weak or get exhausted so quickly. So, I'm gonna hold off a couple of days and attempt to go back on Wednesday.

[Catracks 865]

I do enjoy the smell of food. The smell of toasting bread is heavenly, but I'm not interested in eating it. I cooked some homemade broccoli cheese Soup for the puree stage. I had my husband test it.

BTW, make sure the top is on the nutmeg before you sprinkle it into the Soup.< /p>

One confession, I did stick my finger in the Peanut Butter jar (we're talking tiny fingertip - less than toothpaste). I only wanted to get the Isopure taste out of my mouth. I'm so sick of fruit flavored liquids.< /p>

[PdxMan 4,292]

Hunger, now, is a totally different animal. I don't crave food like I used to. I snack because I have to get calories in, not because I am hungry. But, what I do feel is body hunger. Meaning that my body feels a lack of nutrition, and so I eat. I relate it to a fire. I can feel there is less heat being produced, so I throw another log on. I am very active now, and my story is going to be different, for sure. When I say active, I mean I run 5 miles at a pretty good clip. Do an hour of aerobics at the gym and lift weights for and hour about 3x a week. So, I have to eat pretty much throughout the day in order to get enough calories to sustain that, but the feeling is still there and was before I was this active.

As I told my wife when I was 1 month out, if I didn't have to eat, I wouldn't. That is how much I cared about food. Now, going on 7 months out, I enjoy eating, and can eat pretty much anything, but everything is different, which, for me, is what I needed.

This morning, I took the kids out to Breakfast. They let me order off the senior menu which consisted of 1 egg over easy, 1 piece of toast (buttered, Whole wheat) hash browns and sausage link. I at 3/4 of the egg, two small bites each of hash browns, sausage and toast. I WAS STUFFED!

I am the cook in the family and made a huge traditional Turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. The family asked how I could do it, being around and making all this food while I couldn't eat that much. I told them that I really didn't care. It's not like being a bartender who is alcoholic. I can still eat. I can be around food. It doesn't bother me at all. The sleeve just keeps me from scarfing down huge amounts of food.

So, yes, it is totally normal to not care about food. This is not true for all sleevers, so I consider it a blessing. I have heard of the recent surgery folk eating popcorn (I started back after 2 months) and even read a post from a lady the other day who was asking why it hurts when she eats solid food ... she was one week out ... :banghead: What do you tell these people?

300 calories/day in the first two weeks ... sounds a little low, but not too bad. I was getting about 400-500. Two Protein shakes (2 x 160) and some other broth. How much Protein are you getting in right now. Early, early on, you have to get your liquids in. If you don't, you're looking at an ER trip to get hooked up to an IV.

Just keep following your program closely. If it sounds crazy, it is.

[clk 3,519]

Life after the sleeve is NOTHING life life prior to surgery. It took me about three to four months to get to the point where I could consistently get all my calories (800 a day), Protein and Water in - and that doesn't mean it wasn't a challenge even at that point!

I am 18 months out from surgery. I still don't get "hungry" but I do get an empty feeling that tells me it's time to eat. I still don't eat much. I still don't really like to be around food. If I'm not feeling like I need to eat, the smell of it totally turns my stomach. I'm also the cook in my house and many nights I'll make a nice meal for the family and only eat a few nibbles at the dinner table. I don't mind cooking for them but I simply don't want to eat.

I may not have the popular opinion but in my experience most of the people that talk about raging "hunger" this close to surgery are dealing with head hunger and cravings, a totally different monster. The only time I ever feel compelled to eat or snack is during my monthly cycle. I'm far enough out that I now realize this is completely driven by hormones and I'm to the point where I can ignore it or shut the monster up with some beef Jerky or a hard boiled egg!

Your calories are low, but mine were, too. It used to take me half the day to finish a 16 oz. Protein shake, or two meals to eat two eggs. I'm a year and a half out and still can't eat more than one egg in a sitting! You can do little things to boost your calories if you're concerned. Try going with a higher calorie, higher carb Protein Shake (like the Syntha-6 ones) so your half-a-day shake packs more punch. I used to combine Protein powders - I'd have a scoop of a high protein unflavored with a scoop of higher calorie Syntha-6 so I'd get my protein and some extra calories. As you keep working at this you'll find your capacity will increase. After you're totally healed, you might want to focus on some softer foods to boost your intake. For instance, until I developed lactose intolerance, I'd make Breakfast a protein shake and eat a serving of cottage cheese, too. If I ate meat or an egg for that meal it's all I'd be able to eat, but by eating something softer, I could pair it with the shake and boost my nutritional and calorie counts. I also made sludge, something a bodybuilder friend of mine told me to try. I mixed a Tbs. of Peanut Butter (or Nutella or almond butter) with a scoop of chocolate Protein powder, then stirred in a tiny bit of Water to make...well, sludge. It's packed with calories and protein but is very soft and goes down easily. If my counts were low at the end of the day I'd have this before bed and it really helped.

I will not lie: eating got to be a hated chore. It was so hard to understand because eating used to be my favorite pastime! But every day I would get up in the morning and log my meal plan for the day and then force myself to consume those calories.

It gets easier. Not for a long while, but it does get easier. I think most people that have this surgery never find their hunger again - at least not the way we experienced "hunger" as obese people. We have a healthier take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards food. Sometimes this makes meeting our nutritional guidelines a chore, but overall, we're very lucky. I have too many bypass friends still fighting that endless empty feeling and struggling to keep themselves slim. With the sleeve, this becomes almost effortless, provided you make the smart choices a habit.

Good luck!

~Cheri

[christin 54]

Definitely not getting hungry although I still have a little mental desire for food. That mental part is getting better every day. I was able to get my fluids in from the 2nd day and I think that helped me flush out all the IV Fluid from the hospital. The more Water you drink, the quicker your body will release the fluids and the quicker you will start to lose! Happy recovering! I am feeling a little better every day and hope you are too!

[Catracks 865]

Excellent information! I'm getting only 50 oz of liquids right now. I think 64 was the magic number. I have pro-max, but I like to mix that with 6 oz of 1% milk and flavorings. My doctor considers that full liquids so I have to wait another week or so, Right now I'm drinking this:

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2612796

I drink two of them for 80 grams of Protein. it just takes me so long to drink them.

So I hope I'm one of the lucky ones who actually feel mostly real body hunger. It seems that way. food doesn't revulse me, but I don't seem to need it. Now I will be able to eat like my husband. He eats when hungry and stops when full.

The only thing i do miss is :lurk5: . It's a head hunger habit and it will be weird to go see a movie without it. I do hope I will be one of the lucky ones to be able to tolerate it, but I won't try it until 6 months out. I guess that's when internal organs heal. Then I will not mindlessly eat it, but savour every bit.

Thanks for the info. I will try to get more fluids in.

[Lissa 2,631]

I'm 4 months post op and the hungry feeling has returned, but only when I haven't eaten in several hours. Some days I do eat almost constantly, but I've finally figured out it's because I'm missing nutrients when I do that. Yesterday, for instance, I wanted something crunchy all day. Finally, I ate a few baby carrots that apparently made my body happy, because the hungry feeling went away.

Post-op, there is definitely a learning curve to eating. I need to add more veggies into my routine, obviously. Of course, I also worked in the yard nearly all day yesterday, so my body probably wanted the carbs for energy. It's not rocket science, but sometimes it feels like it!

[hadouni 301]

I started feeling hungry on Saturday and it's definitely worse when I'm around food. I'm taking in lots of liquids I think it's just the 300 calorie a day max that was taking its tole. It could be cravings too, who knows? I'll be happy to get some Greek yogurt next week. This week I'm supposed to be able to eat thinned cream of wheat or instant oatmeal and I don't even want to bother because of the straight carb calories.

[Catracks 865]

Still not really hungry. You're right. I might stick stick to the yogurt and/or cottage cheese when the time comes.

I've been spending my time making Soups so when I get on pureed food I know exactly what's in them. So far I have Tomato basil, chili, broccoli cheese, ham & cheese Soup, crab bisque and philly cheese steak soup. Tomorrow I'm going to make a roasted cauliflower and a potato leak salmon soup. I put them in one cup containers and freeze them so I can pull one out when needed. Most of the soup recipes I got from Eggface aka Shelley, but I tweaked the ham and cheese soup. I halved the recipe, but doubled the onions, carrots and spices and incresed the ham & cheese a bit. Sorry. Love talking recipes.< /p>

I love to cook and I miss it so I cook without eating. I'll be happy when the soup is there when I get back to work.

I will be on Clear Liquids until the 25th. Ugh!

[LoserMama 37]

I'm having the opposite problem of most on this thread. I'm not physically hungry but am having head hunger. I'm having no problem getting in my meals, more problems with liquids. I'm fearful about getting my head hunger under control.

[swizzly 901]

LOL...well, I'm a bad advert for the sleeve and hunger eradication because I was only NOT hungry for like 24 hours post-op (and then I was dry heaving, which even curbs my hunger). So I never lost mine at all really. That said, having hunger isn't a problem for me because it makes me want to eat instead of want to cut calories more and more (an ED trick of mine that I don't want to get back into), and I also have a good full signal, so I just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Works out pretty well overall.

[Foxbins 625]

I'm a year out and feel the same as Pdxman and clk. I feel "empty" but not true hunger. Sometimes old habits rear their ugly heads and I think I want chocolate or a pastry but if I have a bite, the second bite really doesn't taste good and I throw the rest away. It is so strange not to buy cakes and ice cream anymore. I have tried them but I would rather eat Protein or roasted vegetables now.

[clk 3,519]

The only thing i do miss is :lurk5: . It's a head hunger habit and it will be weird to go see a movie without it. I do hope I will be one of the lucky ones to be able to tolerate it, but I won't try it until 6 months out.

OT, I know, but I, too, love popcorn! I had it around five months out and was fine but yes, I'd wait as long as possible. This is a trigger/slippery slope food for me, though, so if you love it as much as I do be careful! I LOVE popcorn but naturally I want that cherry coke with it so I can have that comforting movie experience I'm used to. The good news is that when I first started eating it I could only eat a few handfuls over the course of the entire movie, and maybe I could get in a few sips of soda, too. The bad news is that around one year out it became possible to eat large quantities of the stuff - in fact, I'd say that this is a total slider food for me and I could eat tons of it without feeling discomfort. Now when I stop it's because I've had enough, but I can/do eat about 2-3 cups of the stuff at a time. I just budget it in to my meal plan.

The issue I have is when I stovetop pop it at home, because then I want some every night. I have to budget it out and only make some every other week - so yes, you'll most likely be fine with popcorn (but take it easy on the buttery oil they use at the theater as it can cause, erm, issues) and be able to enjoy it again. Just be conscious of it and don't let it get the best of you!

And yes, it was totally weird to see movies without it but I had a diet soda and slowly sipped it and I was fine. My husband opted not to get any because I couldn't partake yet, though, so I may have felt differently if he'd had a big bag of popcorn right next to me.

~Cheri

[swizzly 901]

I think I want chocolate or a pastry but if I have a bite, the second bite really doesn't taste good and I throw the rest away. It is so strange not to buy cakes and ice cream anymore. I have tried them but I would rather eat Protein or roasted vegetables now.

You are soooo lucky. Everything still tastes awesome to me.