Climbing the walls with head hunger

I'm six days post-op and feeling much better physically (thanks everyone who told me day five would be the game-changer; it was)!

I am getting in most of my fluids from water, jello, and broth.  I am absolutely climbing the walls from head hunger.  I even dreamed of cheesesteaks and hershey candy last night (don't laugh)!

I have my first post-op tomorrow and am hoping Doc will advance me to full liquids so I can at least start my protein shakes. I hope that will help; at least I'll taste something.

Please tell me this head hunger and relentless craving for food will subside. It's hard!

I thought I was so prepared for the surgery, and I guess I was as much as I could be, but just didn't know how bad the head hunger would be.

I'm so thankful and grateful for your ladies and gents on this forum; no one else gets it!

can u go for a walk or anything else to distract u??

It TOTALLY sucks... I still struggle with it from time to time...

At your stage, for some reason, broth made me feel better... nice and warm and taseting like actual food :-)  I got the good kind (to me any way)... campbells actually makes just the broth, though I was gonna just strain the soup... :-)

Good Luck!!!

I hear ya! I'm 12 days out now & I see food & want it even though I have no physiological hunger.  It makes me want to slap myself!  My surgeon progresses through food faster than yours though so I was on full liquids & mushies by 3 days & at 7 days I began eating things like canned chicken, tuna, cottage cheese, etc.  I thought that would be a blessing...yay, I can actually eat food again, but I'm not sure that it has been a blessing because now I know I "CAN" eat without hurting my new pouch & therefore I do eat!  I'm worried that I'm nibbling too much in between meals already & need to get myself back into a 3-meal routine!  Good luck with it, I sure know it's kicking my butt too!

It's natural, obviously, to want to eat! It's the main reason we're all here, right? ;-)

Drink, drink, drink til you can't drink anymore, then you drink some more.
Water will be your new BFF and the more full you stay with water the better your body will like you. It's incredibly easy to quit drinking and not realize that you're actually dehydrated--and the last place you want to be is in the ER getting IV fluids....on the other hand, that might take your mind off food ;-)

Seriously, most people do not have the true hunger feeling--for me I was actually a bit afraid to eat when I was cleared to do so....I liked the feeling of NOT eating so much!!

Later on, when you CAN eat, a thing to remember is if you think you're hungry and something healthy doesn't interest you, then you're not really hungry. Your brain will F*CK with you the rest of your life. It's up to you to put the hammer down and not let it win. Just like overeating has been our battle, now choosing the proper foods at the proper time will allow you to lose the weight battle by burning the stored fats.

It is imperative you find something to keep you occupied--it IS a brain game! A month from now you'll look back and wonder what the big fuss was about.
You've been given THE ultimate tool, learn how to use it!!

YOU CAN DO THIS! Remember we were all right where you are--we know it's harder for some people. Think positive and keep busy.

I too had head hunger the first week or two. I even dreamed about food. And for a few days did notbeven think life wasvworth living without my usual food. But I decided to really rest and now a few weeks later feel great. I even eat out with friends and my husband (soup mostly). I'm super happy and energenic now.

Take this as the time you're re-establishing a whole new respect for food. This whole process will re-establish your relationship with food. Plan your meals, log portions and menus make grocery lists. These will make you grateful when you do begin to eat. Make the best of your meal planning and take the 30min time for ea meal and enjoy every single thing you put on your plate. This too will pass!