Appetite or head hunger?

[mia150 43]

I'm in my 5th week now and I was cleared for eating normal again yaaaaaay ))

Yesterday I was soooo hungry for meat so my husband Lebanese food (shishkabab, kebbeh and papagannoj)

I ete around 2 oz of all at dinner time then two hours later I went back to the fridge and eat another 1 oz of meat!!

Is that normal to get my appetite back (all of the sudden!!) or was it my head hunger which drove me to eat that much in one day???

My weight loss was way too slow and I was stalled for the last two weeks before I broke it this morning for another 2 lbs loss for a total of only 20 lbs in "5 weeks"!!!

Pleaeeeese help.

Edited May 2, 2016 by mia150

[2goldengirl 2,076]

No one knows for sure, but I'm betting head hunger. Most of us crave the texture of "real" food by the time we're cleared for it.

But eating another oz of meat may have been just what you needed, given your results this morning. I think a lot of us at this stage (I'm 7.5 weeks) are in a place where our swelling has gone way down, we're trying to see which foods are or are not tolerated by our sleeve, we now have the freedom and the challenge of things like restaurant meals where we don't pre-measure everything. I'm finding it a challenge, but I like it.

[Babbs 14,681]

I found early out it was good to listen to our bodies as far as what we needed. I would get RAVAGED for Protein sometimes and cave and have a tablespoon of Peanut Butter. I would end up losing the very next day. Never failed.

The hardest part of this whole process is walking that tight rope recognizing the difference between head hunger and real hunger, and satisfying that hunger and not just grazing. At 21 months out, I still struggle with it. And I feel the real hunger more frequently now, too.

[Barry W 336]

"Head hunger" is discussed a lot here, and while I am sure it exists, I am also sure that genuine hunger exists, and that it's very difficult to know what someone else is experiencing. Certainly, most of us are eating very little, so we have a sound physiological reason to be hungry. I realize that stomach-produced ghrelin is supposed to be reduced with the sleeve, but grehlin is not solely produced in the stomach, and there are other hunger hormones as well.

I suppose at some level, one can say that it doesn't matter where it stems from - the brain or the body - you can't change what you feel, and denying it won't alter that

We do have our goals though and so focusing on them can give us determination to ignore or distract ourselves from a sensation of hunger. I usually find that if I just ignore the feeling of hunger, or distract myself with thinking about something else or doing something to occupy me, it usually passes.... and I don't spend time thinking about yummy, calorie rich foods - that's a sure ticket to cravings for me.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Barry W