Excuse me... can i lick your dinner!?!?

So... Im new to this wls thing.. im 1 week post op. The first few days I agreed with everyone.."im just not hugry.." Now... after a few days, im like ...maybe he left too much stomatch in! lol During making my sons dinner, im like wow this smells so good. When anyone in the house eats, i make them eat in the other room. Im still hungry??? Am i supposed to be hungry already? This is by far one of the hardest things i have done yet. Let me back up...the past year I started at 264lbs in march...by december i had lost 64 lbs all on my own! Then 5 more before surgery. WHY is it hard now! because i cant have any food? I find myself going and opening the fridge realizing im not sure why because there is nothing in it for me right now! I find my self staring at my moms chicken the other day..she goes "are you staring at my dinner" im like yes...yes i am! I tell her...i just want to go around licking drifferent foods... like the peanut butter jar lid or the glaze off the honeybuns...or the chicken..or anything really because i cant eat it. Then im asking myself hungry? or just really like the taste of food!?Bahahaha!!! I think now i know how i got fat... lol!!!!!! Ive been in denial.. "i dont eat that much.."  "foods not THAT important" and now here i am wanting to go around and lick the flavor off everyones dinner! 

 

Head hunger is an evil monster. Also, are you on a PPI for acid? I found that I took mine twice a day for 2 months, layed off for 1 month and just put myself back on yesterday because I know what the acid feels like. I don't have reflux but it gives me a constant irritable feeling like I need to coat my stomach.

This is EXACTLY what I'm feeling.  It's this near-constant feeling like I'm "hungry" only because I feel like I need something in my stomach.  I'm fighting with my surgeon's office about my prescription.  They keep decreasing it, and I'm not even sure omeprazole (even at the higher dosage) is good enough for me. :|  What do you take?

Are we twins? lol
The smells trigger the hunger thought. You probably aren't actually hungry. I watch TV at night (evil commercials) and salivate over the steaks and pizza and hamburgers. I just remind myself I'll get there soon wnough and start thinking about how I will be able to have healthy versions of that...but yeah, I wanna lick a cheeseburger.

I find myself referring back to when I was a kid and my parents told me I couldn't do something - Of Course I Did It for sure then! I think sometimes that this is the same concept. So when I occupy my time reading or walking, or doing anything else, then my hunger goes away because I'm not thinking about what I can't have.

Its a mental process too .....maybe the body need to fast .....but you have the awesome power to control yourself you will succeed.

 

I am 3 weeks out today and down 16 lbs but I also thought that my stomach wasn't small (I even imagined when I had the swallow test and saw it, it didn't look small!) but I definitely have restriction, the most with high protein foods.  I've already had people tell me this is the "easy" way out but there is nothing easy about this because my want for food and hunger is still the same!!! 

I think given time (as with anything) our bodies will adjust and I read a lot here that most people start not craving the bad and enjoy healthier choices. 

Good luck!

I am three months out and still don't feel physical hunger but boy oh boy does the head hunger ever bite!!! Hang in there...

It took about 3 weeks for it to level out for me. My best advice would be not to avoid food like you are doing, it is unfair to your family. You have to continue like normal and exert some control, you have the tool for it now. It was about 3 weeks until I felt the restriction. Any hunger pains you have right now is more likely to be stomach acid than actual hunger. I was freaking out because it seemed like I could eat/drink too much too and then when I got to real food you could really feel the restriction. All that being said, it can take up to 2 months for the Ghrellin in your system to be depleated so you could feel some hunger but you have to rationalize that it is not real.

You also need to start focusing on getting your head right, you have lots of emotional and habitual eating routines to squash. The surgery does nothing to fix those. You should focus on the why and find ways to overcome the why. Focus on your health, healthy eating and when you can exercise. The rest falls into place. Until you start feeling the restriction (even after) I suggest you measure everything and stick to your doctor's instructions. If your doctor's instructions were a bit vague or weak like mine were, there are plenty of people on here with detailed instructions that will be more than happy to share.

If you ask me, you are one of the lucky ones! Your issue with food i****ting you smack dab in the face very early out. I have an issue which is very similar to what you describe. I want to eat even though I am not hungry. I have had to work like the dickens to figure out why I want to eat. Sometimes it is out of habit. Other times, it is out of boredom, wanting some comfort, feeling the need for a reward, you name it - an emotion strikes and I want to eat.

IMO, you are getting a gift of being able to deal with these issues when you are physically incapable of acting on the impulse to eat. If you are wise, you will sit with your "hunger" and figure out the root of the issue. Why are you standing in front of the open fridge? What emotion would eating "fix"? Those sorts of questions will really help you understand the behaviors you're trying to quell. You can do this. It is hard and a crazy maker, but you can do this. You'll be better off in the long run to figure these things out now. Believe me, it's a lot easier to make poor food choices farther down the road. Best to get a handle on it now.

I wish you all the best! Good luck!