Head hunger

As I head into week 2 (of 3) of my optifast,  I noticed today,  as I was running late to have my dinner shake and my tummy was rumbling,  that I thankfully no longer feel like I am starving to death ALL the time 

It made me wonder if I might have actually figured out which tummy rumbles are serious hunger and which ones are head hunger and can be calmed with water intake.  

I am wondering if anyone who did the 3+ weeks of optifast,  found that they  didn't have head hunger so much post surgery.   Or am I just having wishful thinking! 

I definitely felt like I could eat all the time during my first week!  Now I am good between shakes and only really get rumbling when it's time for my next or time for a bathroom break... 

Thoughts?! 

Head hunger will always be around and it won't always be easy to tell the difference. 

Head hunger is a lot of emotional eating. For most of us we had to learn to tolerate and deal with in healthy ways a whole range of emotions. It's a long tedious process but well worth it in end. 

it is very true it is due to detoxing off carbs which make us hungry. 

Mad long as you keep carbs out of your life, it will likely stay this way 

In terms of body chemistry - there are at least 8 hormones (chemicals) that influence your hunger and metabolic rate.  Ghrelin makes you feel hungry and want to start to eat.  Peptide YY336 is the hormone that makes you feel satisfied - like OMG that was a wonderful meal, push myself away from the table and not even think about food for hours.  

I think I have a delayed (or absent) onset of YY336 - that is one explanation for head hunger - not really hungry, but also not satisfied - so you go and open the refrig to get something to eat, but if you really stop and think, there is nothing in there you really want.

Now, after surgery, I can feel when that YY336 kicks in - sometimes I feel a rumble and a few minutes later, I feel satisfied. So it is easier for me to stop eating after the measured amount and wait for the feeling to be satisifed.

This article begins to explain the body chemistry side of why people without WLS have body chemistyr that are working against them.

Post-op, I felt that everyday was a science experiment as I got to know who my body reacted.

At 18 months, I would like to tell you that I never have head hunger, never stress eat, never make a stupid food decision.  I do, but I did not for the first 8 months post-op - I was Miss Follow The Rules (except for Easter Sunday and a family wedding - predetermined indulgences****il I got to my first dream goal weight (165). I encourage all to do this.  After being there for a month, my body was saying, I want to go back on the post-op plan and I lost another 20 over the next 3 months.  Then I had a shoulder surgery and a PS and lost 10 more during the recovery phases - which were difficult beyond all imagination.  Recovering from WLS was no where near as painful.  I can tell that I have lost muscle mass - esp in my back. So, as soon as I can get back to weight lifting on a regular basis, I hope to recover some of that last 10 pounds, but as muscle, not fat.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816     - hormone changes in regular dieting

I am sure we are all different. I had no head hunger for the first nine months after surgery. After that it started to creep back in. I am far more aware when it is head hunger vs real hunger now though so I don't give in to it.

The weeks on the pre-op diet do get easier as they go by. The last few days the excitement that it is really going to happen made it far easier for me.

I was told a long time ago that if you're truly hungry, an apple or green beans sound good.  If they don't, then you're truly not hungry.