Powerful Head Hunger

OK, I feel so dumb because less than 1 week post-op I could not be LESS hungry than I am right now.  Still, when I sleep at night and right before I go to bed all that I can think about is food - lots and lots of food.  I wonder what I am going to eat next week, or next month, or next year.  I think about all of my favorite recipes and how I can adapt them to post-op recipes.  I wonder if I will dump, what I will like to eat, what I won't like to eat.  It's not like I'm thinking about unhealthy foods - I think about eating vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, etc.  Anyway, it's hard to describe, but it seems that I am just obsessed with food.  I think that part of it might be that I haven't really eaten anything since May 22nd since I've been on the liquid diet (although I did have a few cheats) and I'm really looking forward to moving to solid foods on Friday.  When I do eat, I eat until I'm full (although I'm still trying to get used to my pouch) and I have to force myself to eat at scheduled meal times because I don't physically feel hungry.  I really think that this hunger is all in my head and I do a good job distracting myself during the day, but I can't make it stop at night!  Did this happen to anyone else?  Anyone have any tips?  I know it sounds stupid, but it's really bugging me.

I think the first few weeks following surgery are the very hardest to deal with.  Some surgeons have different rules and I was one of those.  For six weeks I could have soft fish, lunch meats, moist chicken, eggs, canned veggies, dairy and that was about it.   I can remember I shopped a lot to deal with the loss of food.  Then I got really depressed because when I shopped I wanted to go for fast food and I unconsciously turned in to taco bell.  Then I cried because I realized what I was doing was so mindless and that I couldn't do it any more.   The head hunger was really tough to deal with when I would just reach for whatever I wanted to shove in my mouth at any  moment!  For 4 months, I didn't snack at all.  I stuck to the surgeon's 3 meals a day format.  Now I am snacking.  I eat nuts, fruit, or a piece of cheese in between breakfast and lunch and sometimes between lunch and dinner.  The breakfast to lunch snack is coming from a calorie deficit created by my morning workout. It does get better though.  The best thing is to keep your water, or crystal light or whatever by your side.  It really helps with the head hunger and the desire to snack (for me at least).

Head hunger is a terrible thing! I swear after surgery I watched the Food Network (porn channel) 24 hours a day. It's an illness for sure. That being said I can tell you that as a food addict, and being almost 2 years post-op, food is still something I think of all the time!  I love cooking and baking and I'm always thinking of and trying recipes. I love to adapt my old recipes to be healthier for everyone not just me. 1 week after surgery I was back in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I had enough food to feed an army. Hubby came home and I know he thought I'd lost it. I had baked 2 or 3 cakes and a few different casseroles. I couldn't eat a bite of any of it since I was still on a liquid diet. Cooking and baking has always been a passion and stress relief for me. It's something I'll do until the day I die.  One tip my Dr gave me is when you think about food force yourself to drink.  Your body has no different way to tell you if it's hungry or thirsty. We automatically think we're hungry, but surprisingly enough sometimes it's just fluids we need. By the time you have a dry mouth, your already in the early stages of dehydration. Good luck!

I was totally obsessed with food early out.  I dreamt about it.  Food commercials made me want to cry, and like Jan, I watched food network constantly.  Because of my second surgery, I was on liquids for about 6 weeks total, and I was very excited to move into soft foods.  Ironically, there wasn't much I actually could stand eating (avocado, cheese, peanut butter, and milk made up most of month 2) - but I was still obsessed with food.  I was obsessed with salad the most.  I don't know what to tell you, except it does get easier as you get farther out and can try more things and realize your life with food is not over and there are still a lot of things you can enjoy.  I also think its been fun to try a lot of new ingredients - I buy something new every week at the grocery store.  Its funny how I like things I didn't like before and hate things I liked before (olives, UGH) - its like you have to re-learn everything, and its kind of fun :) Good luck making it to Friday!

Thank you!  It's so good to hear that this is natural.  I don't even want to eat, yet all I can think about is food.  I think that I will be like Jan, it seems like cooking is something that won't leave my veins post-op.  I'll just have to work on making things healthier for everyone.  As of right now I can't wait to get back into the kitchen.  Maybe as I get farther out I won't care as much about it and I'll be OK with that too. Thanks for the tip on drinking too.  These thoughts might be because I'm thirsty.  I try to stop drinking around 7 or 8pm so that I don't have to get up and go to the bathroom during the night too much, but maybe I am dehydrating myself in the process.

I know getting up during the night is a pain, but your getting in so little right now that I don't think you should stop drinking before bedtime. I know an RNY patient that was doing that, plus not really getting in enough fluids during the day and he ended up with major kidney stones. He now drinks every time he can, he says even when he gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom he stops to drink before going back to bed. He never wants to go through that pain again. It's a good reminder to me.

Ick!  I can't imagine the pain of kidney stones.  I have a coworker that suffers from them terribly and it seems so painful.  OK, I will keep drinking (although my pouch is not happy today) and try my best not to get dehydrated.