Head Hunger

thinnerrugger

At 8 weeks post op, I am dealing with head hunger. I am used to eating frequently and I think it's just a horrible habit that I can't seem to shake. I've been eating sugar free Jell-O so, I'm okay weight wise, but, I am worried that old habits will return eventually, like every other diet I've been on.

How Do You Break The Habit Of Head Hunger????

Mangopickle

I am copying an old post of mine to see if this answers your question

As obese people we tend to medicate with food.

When we are bored,sad,tired,happy,angry,grieving,broke,hired,fired,excited we eat. It is our default activity. In my opinion there are 2 rules to long term wt loss
#1- you must love yourself 100% exactly as you are right now as a fat person. Or you will never have the strength to follow rule #2.
Rule #2 be bored,happy,sad,angry,tired,broke,fired,celebrating or grieving. Just be. Feel the emotions. Don't run to food pleasure to suppress or improve your feelings. If you do, an amazing thing happens....they pass. You felt it, you dealt with it, you did not eat and you moved on.

The surgery will give you 20-30 lbs of wt loss but anything after that is you sticking to the 70% protein,25% veg-no potato,5% whole grain lifestyle and maintaining a calorie deficit. In order to do this you must address the "Why" of why you are thinking about food when you are not physically hungry. This is a permanent process of active food addiction remission. We are never cured. When you reach maintenance you will have to watch your intake forever or you will regain. My maintenance calories are only 1350 a day now that i am normal BMI for height. That is a far cry from the 4000-6000 I used to eat. i only get more food if i exercise and i force myself to exercise 1st before reaching for extra food.
The sleeve will stop physical hunger for 6 months to a year but it will have no effect on food addiction. You can completely eat around the surgery if you choose to do so. That is why you have to honestly examine your relationship with food. 50% of surgery patients refuse to change their lifestyle and gain all the wt back. "Fixing your head" my surgeon says is 90% of the process. Honestly, I think it is 99%
At 8wks you should be able to eat most foods, make sure you are eating a wide variety of healthy snacks. eating the same thing until you are sick of it could bring on a binge

pawoodhull

I too battle head hunger. Today is a prime example! I am not hungry, but have wanted to eat most of the afternoon. So tonight I will eat the protein portion of my meal at dinner time and save the veggies for a couple hours later. That helps me to keep from snacking all evening when my head hunger is active. On days when the head hunger doesn't hit until evening, I will allow myself popcorn IF I have the calories left. If not, I drink flavored water, a lot of it, until I feel too full to eat. I try to stay disciplined with this, trying to train myself not to eat just because I feel like it.

Mangopickle is right. After a certain point the weight loss is all about us making the changes we need to make and sticking to them. And keeping the weight off is the same.

Pat