Cravings & Hunger Q's

[bandalyons83 46]

Have a question for all you post op's. My surgery is scheduled for aug 7! Yay! Anyways. Everyone on the pre op forums talks about food funerals and how they want to clear out their homes of all bad foods.

My question is. Once you have the surgery do you crave foods? Will I be hungry all the time and be thinking of foods I can't have? I know they cut the part of your stomach that tells your body you are hungry. But I still wondered about craving foods we cannot have. I have a family of five so it would be hard to clear out the uouse of foods that cause temptations. Thanks! And congrats to all you post op's!

[IlyssaDel 42]

Yes you still crave all you love..they operated on your tummy not the brain....everyday I think about about the foods I love and want , it's just a little easier! Hunger...not so much , I'm 17 days post and it gets easier everyday ..the compulsiveness feels like its under control better ...but I cried for a week after surgery ...I wanted everything my family was eating , they couldn't even eat in front of me ...but again , that's MY experience and it def feels like its getting easier...

[Star1221 270]

You mentally will want the food for a good month. You'll see or smell it and that's all you'll want. I was like that with a burger. I wanted a double bacon cheese burger so bad. I even googled pics of it. Then just one day, it stopped. You will "crave" a lot of stuff. Things just don't taste the same anymore. Fried foods smell so bad now. Like old burnt grease. Don't worry. Everything will calm down.

[ValerieSJackson 35]

Your cravings will be all mental: this is why we failed other diets; your sleeve won't hold much though! So this tool will not allow you to eat much. I use no sugar added fudge pops as my sweet, when I feel I need it or just as a snack. I have eaten a small amount of chocolate and muffins and believe it or not the next day I was down 1..8 lbs. but I will not rely on that to loose weight.

[quietcougar 29]

As Valerie points out, your sleeve only holds a small amount of food. liquids go though easily, at least for me, so I have to be careful about making sure I drink mostly Water. Solids, though - you'll find that it'll be all you can do to eat one meatball, or a piece of string cheese. As the others have said, it does get better, but you have to watch out for "slider" foods. I've found one of mine and I have to treat it like an enemy.

[thinmymind 107]

I really have not had any cravings. I was sleeved on the 14th and I have no problems being in front of people eating, or smelling foods. In my case, I am guessing it will come later and I will have to deal with it then.

[MinaT 669]

I think it depends on how you go into the sleeve. If people use the time wisely to actually get into the mentality of this HUGE surgery they are going through, if they use the time to slowly adjust to less carbs and start changing their patterns in advance of surgery, those people seem to have less of a problem after surgery. It sort of stands to reason that the person that eats everything and anything up until the pre-op shake diet, seems to have the biggest issues with the pre-op shake, and more problems after surgery with cravings. That's why this process is a long process though for you to work on some of the issues before surgery.

The sleeve is only a tool though and it's how you use it.

I'm almost 3 weeks out. I do have cravings, I want a pickle. I couldn't eat a pickle for the life of me right now. I have a taste for Turkey Meatball, something I have never had in my life. I smelled the Taco's I made for my family and it smelled delicious, but I knew I would sick as a dog if I ate it. I'm still on the liquid phase. Of course I would like to eat food with my family, but my life isn't over.

Illysa said she cried, the truth is a lot of us cry after surgery and break down for weird reasons, and though she cried about food, she could have easily broke down because the anesthesia leaving her body. Most people a week or so after surgery have some really weird emotional outbursts, which don't make a lot of sense, but it's due to the surgery itself. I cried because my 4x pants that I loved had to be packed away and now my 1x pants are too big, what a stupid reason to cry, but I even read that once the body starts actually burning fat, it can cause hormones to be released that make you more emotional.

I would love to sit and eat a normal dinner with my family, I do get a little hungry, but a few sips of a shake and blah I'm done. I spend the time with my family to still do the family thing, and realize some day I will be able to eat a little bit of the same food, just a smaller portion, but today is just not that day and I enjoy the fact that every day I am getting healthier.

A little Peanut Butter in a shake made me nauseated. I would love a nice refreshing crisp salad, I can't have it. I'm not craving Doritos, candy bars, (right now the thought of chocolate makes me want to hurl). I still have to cook for the family food I can't have.

I really wish to impart on those that are on the pre-approval stage to use your time wisely, I realize like me everyone is going for the sleeve so you can get off the diet roller coaster, but there needs to be a mindset that this is it, and that YOU can do it, with the help of the sleeve and it's not the sleeve that is going to do it and people don't have to put any effort into it.

You are having surgery on August 7th, so you have a month to start working on lowering your carb intake and getting mentally prepared for the road ahead. I wish you the best of luck.

[alliegb3 112]

Yes, yes you do. The stomach changes but nose and mouth don't. I found myself wanting a McDonald's double cheeseburger and chic fil a quite frequently. And I want bread. I'd kill four midgets for some bread. But all that said, this is a test of some great will power!

[Dooter 1,457]

Have a question for all you post op's. My surgery is scheduled for aug 7! Yay! Anyways. Everyone on the pre op forums talks about food funerals and how they want to clear out their homes of all bad foods.

My question is. Once you have the surgery do you crave foods? Will I be hungry all the time and be thinking of foods I can't have? I know they cut the part of your stomach that tells your body you are hungry. But I still wondered about craving foods we cannot have. I have a family of five so it would be hard to clear out the uouse of foods that cause temptations. Thanks! And congrats to all you post op's!

I keep THINKING I want certain things, so I'll taste it to see if it's still everything I think it's going to be, and EVERY time without exception, it's wholly unimpressive!! So now i'm reforming my thoughts on all of these foods and they bother me a LOT less!! food just tastes.....different now. I actually crave Protein now. THANK GOD!!!