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Hungry Every Few Hours



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Hello! 8 months post op gastric bypass here!

I have a question for ya guys. Did you get to a point where you are hungry every 2-3 hours? It seems really odd to me, but lately I've really been feeling the need to eat every few hours. I have not changed anything in my diet recently.

What do ya'll think?

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Yes, I do get hungry every few hours and I also get reactive hypoglycemia if I allow too many carbs into my diet. When that happens it can be a vicious circle.

Instead of eating 3 regular meals a day, I eat 5 or 6 small meals ensuring I get dense Protein. It does help with feeling hungry inbetween.

There are also times when I am truly not hungry but my brain is telling me I need to eat something. I fight that head hunger all the time using distraction.

Having gained 7lbs between thanksgiving and now, I have to get myself back on track 100%. I may do a 5 day pouch reset just to help get any sugar out of my system which I think will help with that hunger every few hours.

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Appetite ebbs and flows. If you feel you are truly hungry, then eat when you feel you need to eat. Honestly, I hit goal and am still maintaining over a year later by eating on a schedule and every few hours. That has just worked for me. Your body may just need more food. I know when I exercise a bit more I am more hungry. Ravenous, even! Just learn to read your body and know the difference between true hunger and just wanting to eat for the sake of eating :)

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I don't always get hungry every 3 hours, but my doctor said I need to eat every 3 hours so I try to do that. But I do get hungry, so I guess I was not one of the lucky ones who never gets hungry. It does seem to be though, when I eat every 3 hours or so, I tend to lose more weight. If I don't eat enough, then my body thinks I'm starving and I won't lose anything.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using the BariatricPal App

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My Nutritionist told us to eat every 3-4 hours, 4 - 5 times a day. Meals are to include at least 3 oz of Protein (eventually) with 1 serving of whole grain at two meals and 1 serving of fruit at two meals (if there is room after the protein). After spending the first 6 weeks not hungry at all, I now do get hungry around the 3 - 1/2 hour mark. I actually like it because it reminds me to eat. Prior to surgery it took a lot of food to make me feel full. Now two ounces of dense Protein does that.

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I agree with @@Babbs (as I often do!), hunger is variable. I find somedays I have very little hunger and 3 small meals will do it. Other days I find myself hungry every few hours. The key, for me, is to make sure what I'm eating is healthy. I will almost ALWAYS eat fruits or vegetables between meals if I'm hungry.

If you find you're hungry, but fruits and vegetables (or whatever is an on-plan snack for you) don't sound good, you aren't really hungry. When this happens to me, I go for a walk or find something to do to take my mind off of it.

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It happens sometimes. I think it is just metabolism changes. I usually eat every 2.5 to 3 hours when I am awake anyway, but every once in a while I have days where I am ravenous hungry or at least mentally I am. I just go with it. I only eat meat and veggies. Even if I go nuts the calories are still minimal.

One thing I started doing was having a huge bowl of baby spinach in the afternoon. I will have a whole grocery store salad bag with either salt and pepper or Walden Farms dressing as an afternoon snack. It helps on hungry days because I get to do a lot of chewing.

And hungry is "hungry", some days I just want to eat more, but I'm not really physically hungry.

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