My Head Hunger Rant

[Creekimp13 5,840]

Pretty regularly I run across a post on here where someone is talking about eating 600 calories a day....and suffering "head hunger".

"I ate my two tablespoons of protien three times today, I'm lightheaded and exhausted. Worst of all, I have terrible head hunger!"

No...you have ACTUAL hunger.

Or worse...someone telling someone eating 600 calories a day...."it's just head hunger."

Folks, when you are eating 600 calories a day it's REAL FREAKING HUNGER. Like...every cell in your body is saying...I don't want to die...please nourish me because depending on fat stores is stressful and inefficient. They're also finite. You're giving me 600 calories a day and it takes over 300 calories just to make the sugar to run the brain. Please eat something...anything...something healthy would be great! That's REAL hunger.

Head hunger....from my understanding of this weird phrase...means that you are not physically in need of food...you just want it. You just had salad and a chicken breast...so you're well nourished,...but you really WANT a cheeseburger and fries, too. That's "head hunger". A craving for something you don't really need, but crave the taste of.

When we're recovering from major surgery and eating really low calories...we aren't being pansies and we' aren't having weak cravings.....we physiologically NEED fuel that we are NOT GETTING....so we're HUNGRY.

That's not "head hunger".

That's REAL hunger. Probably the realest hunger many of us have ever known.

Stepping off soap box. Sorry for the rant.

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

17 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Pretty regularly I run across a post on here where someone is talking about eating 600 calories a day....and suffering "head hunger".

"I ate my two tablespoons of protien three times today, I'm lightheaded and exhausted. Worst of all, I have terrible head hunger!"

No...you have ACTUAL hunger.

Or worse...someone telling someone eating 600 calories a day...."it's just head hunger."

Folks, when you are eating 600 calories a day it's REAL FREAKING HUNGER. Like...every cell in your body is saying...I don't want to die...please nourish me because depending on fat stores is stressful and inefficient. They're also finite. You're giving me 600 calories a day and it takes over 300 calories just to make the sugar to run the brain. Please eat something...anything...something healthy would be great! That's REAL hunger.

Head hunger....from my understanding of this weird phrase...means that you are not physically in need of food...you just want it. You just had salad and a chicken breast...so you're well nourished,...but you really WANT a cheeseburger and fries, too. That's "head hunger". A craving for something you don't really need, but crave the taste of.

When we're recovering from major surgery and eating really low calories...we aren't being pansies and we' aren't having weak cravings.....we physiologically NEED fuel that we are NOT GETTING....so we're HUNGRY.

That's not "head hunger".

That's REAL hunger. Probably the realest hunger many of us have ever known.

Stepping off soap box. Sorry for the rant.

I get it. Hunger makes me cranky too. lol I still get real hunger 3 years out on 1200/1300 calories.

[fruitandveggies 456]

What I can't figure out is how much we actually need to eat. I know it varies by individual, so there's no real answer. But it still drives me nuts. My nutritionist is telling me that a bariatric patient at maintenance needs about 1000 calories a day. What? How is that possible? How is it that regularly sized humans are maintaining their weight at 1000 cals?

So I've been aiming to do that much daily but it's freaking impossible. I feel like I'm starving all the time and my BED is coming back full force. The last few days I said screw it and ate whatever I wanted and ended up eat over 2500 cals and laying in bed most of the day (so I'm eating way over my TDEE). I'm trying to be compliant but every time I try, I end up eating like a crazy person.

So I'm with you, I must be having REAL HUNGER. Not sure what calorie level will turn that off.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

I don't see how 1000/day is maintenance? That is dieting, imo. Unless the person is immobile, then perhaps.

[Nessy76 134]

I can't count how many times i've seen posters on various sites tell someone complaining of hunger that it isn't physically possible that they are hungry because "all the nerves were severed during surgery" or that "its just acid".

[fruitandveggies 456]

56 minutes ago, Sosewsue61 said:

I don't see how 1000/day is maintenance? That is dieting, imo. Unless the person is immobile, then perhaps.

Same! I really don't understand the mechanics of this.

37 minutes ago, Nessy76 said:

I can't count how many times i've seen posters on various sites tell someone complaining of hunger that it isn't physically possible that they are hungry because "all the nerves were severed during surgery" or that "its just acid".

So they severed all the "nerves" in our brains? Hahaha

[Brittanyblue 55]

Right now i'm almost 3 weeks out and I only get in about 700 calories a day at most. Most of the time its usually like 580 but that's because I only eat when I'm physically hungry, which isn't very often. Is this normal?

[sleeved2win 79]

Pretty regularly I run across a post on here where someone is talking about eating 600 calories a day....and suffering "head hunger".
"I ate my two tablespoons of protien three times today, I'm lightheaded and exhausted. Worst of all, I have terrible head hunger!"
No...you have ACTUAL hunger.
Or worse...someone telling someone eating 600 calories a day...."it's just head hunger."
Folks, when you are eating 600 calories a day it's REAL FREAKING HUNGER. Like...every cell in your body is saying...I don't want to die...please nourish me because depending on fat stores is stressful and inefficient. They're also finite. You're giving me 600 calories a day and it takes over 300 calories just to make the sugar to run the brain. Please eat something...anything...something healthy would be great! That's REAL hunger.
Head hunger....from my understanding of this weird phrase...means that you are not physically in need of food...you just want it. You just had salad and a chicken breast...so you're well nourished,...but you really WANT a cheeseburger and fries, too. That's "head hunger". A craving for something you don't really need, but crave the taste of.
When we're recovering from major surgery and eating really low calories...we aren't being pansies and we' aren't having weak cravings.....we physiologically NEED fuel that we are NOT GETTING....so we're HUNGRY.
That's not "head hunger".
That's REAL hunger. Probably the realest hunger many of us have ever known.
Stepping off soap box. Sorry for the rant.

PREACH!!!

[orionburn 1,024]

It's hard navigating posts and trying to get into someone's mind. You're right in that we can't know for sure what is real hunger vs head hunger. I was lucky in that I had no desire to eat for the first month after surgery. It would suck to have a legitimate starving sensation so soon after surgery. I think the intent is well meaning because head hunger is a very real thing. But like you said there is a difference of being hungry on a 500 calorie/day diet vs eating a meal and not feeling satisfied and wanting something else. It's important that we learn the difference between the two because I do feel that's a big component of being successful.

[Creekimp13 5,840]

This is the gist of it...to me, anywho.

Head hunger....wanting food you like, but don't need...or wanting to eat to sooth emotional stress, when you've already met your body's nutritional needs.

Real hunger....wanting healthy foods because you are out of fuel.

One of these conditions is fixed by a piece of apple or chicken breast or a cheese stick....and one isn't.

I'm concerned when I see folks stuggling with obesity calling real hunger "head hunger"....because it's another extreme that leads to a bad place, you know?

There really is a middle ground between "OMG I can only eat 600 calories or the sky will fall"...and "lets pick up some donuts and soda to go with the pizza." I've actually been on both these boats a time or two...and they both go over the falls and crash.

I want a sane, moderate, healthy diet, now. No more extremes. No more drama in either direction. I just want a normal diet.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Creekimp13

[orionburn 1,024]

That's spot on...and hence why it's difficult to read somebody's mind from a post.

My example is that I can eat a meal right before I leave work. I get home 45 minutes later and feel like I'm starving and I need to eat. That's because of old bad habits of always eating when I got home from work whether I was actually hungry or not. That's head hunger. Any other time I wouldn't feel a (true) hunger sensation for hours. No different than when I used to smoke. HAD to have that smoke right after dinner no matter what. Even if I had smoked right before dinner I needed that fix afterwards because it was a habit. It wasn't actually nicotine withdrawl.

[fruitandveggies 456]

On 1/16/2018 at 12:49 PM, Brittanyblue said:

Right now i'm almost 3 weeks out and I only get in about 700 calories a day at most. Most of the time its usually like 580 but that's because I only eat when I'm physically hungry, which isn't very often. Is this normal?

Yes, totally normal! I wasn't over 400 calories until at least a month. Wasn't hungry until 3 months or so.

[Little Green 583]

Dr. Weiner always says on his YouTube videos that you can tell real hunger apart from head hunger because you'll be happy to eat something healthy when you're really hungry, but that if you are craving greasy bad food and feeling sorry for yourself over eating an apple, it's head hunger. I'm pre-op so I have nothing to add myself - but I really appreciated the OP, @Creekimp13!

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

4 minutes ago, Little Green said:

Dr. Weiner always says on his YouTube videos that you can tell real hunger apart from head hunger because you'll be happy to eat something healthy when you're really hungry, but that if you are craving greasy bad food and feeling sorry for yourself over eating an apple, it's head hunger. I'm pre-op so I have nothing to add myself - but I really appreciated the OP, @Creekimp13!

Well said! thank you.

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

It's a learning curve to figure out real and head hunger as you go.

We have different perspective when we first start out with WLS. Our views change and evolve with time and our personal experiences.

I understand when someone new may not understand that yes! we feel real hunger. Some people believe that hunger completely goes away with surgery.

I take what is useful from forum threads. I try to just ignore the rest and move on.