Post "honey-moon" phase

Another question I would like to honest feedback from, if you please....

When I was frist banded, I felt invincible! I never felt hungry, I could a spoonfull of yogurt and feel full, and the weight was just dropping off like melting butter. I had this "spring" to my step and would RUN up stairs just because it felt so good to be able to! However, after running into my problems and the weight loss slowing down to a halt, the honeymoon phase was over, and I started reverting back to the "old ways". I later came to learn that I had gone through what everyone goes through... the "honeymoon phase". 

Question for those of you who have already had the surgery. How long did this phase last for you? Or, maybe this surgery is different and the phase never ends (wishful thinking). Even now after 3.5 years of being banded, I still never fell hungry. But, what I came to learn is that there are two types of hunger: Physical hunger and emotional hunger. If you stop having physical hunger, the only way to "know" that you are hungry then becomes emotional. And well, I can't speak for everyone, but I'm sure most of us can agree that emotional hunger is NOT a friend of ours. What does "hunger" feel like with DS? For those who have gone from band to DS, how would you describe the difference? I understand that I will always have emotionally triggers and that I need to learn more carefully how to handle those with non-food releases. But, I actually miss the feeling of actual hunger. Will that return?

Thanks!!! :-)

Hunger came back with a vengence.  For the first 18 months (after recouperation) I ate constantly.  I took bags of food (a cold bag and a not cold bag) with me with cold water, everytime I left the house.  Even if I was planning a 30 minute trip or even if I was going out to eat.

When I went out to eat by the time I got back to the car I was eating AGAIN.

The trick is WHAT you eat, not how much or how often.

Now at 3.5 years out I do not eat often any longer.  Sometimes I get hungry, sometimes not.  Sometimes I crave sugar and I eat it and suffer the consequences, sometimes I crave it and don't eat it and sometimes I don't crave it.

Everyone is different.  But during your weight loss phase if you remain true to very low carb and never letting yourself get dehydrated or hungry the weight will come off.  I think it is magic.  The more I ate the more the weight kept coming off.  I think the nearly constant eating (of protein) kept my metabolism racing for a long time.

We used to post lists of protein foods that we could pack and carry easily.  There are tons of them to choose from so you never have to choose a carb.  Protein supplementing is really important in my opinion during the weight loss phase.  It is harder to get enough protein in food during the first year than you think.

~Becky

The DS offers freedoms that others surgeries do not BUT there is a right way to live with the DS and a wrong way. It's the same with the band and RNY. 

I lost my weight with the DS and I keep it off. I don't think there is a honeymoon phase if you take the right steps but you have to WANT to make it work. 

Everyone is different, truly. I feel hunger a few times a day at this point (4.5 years out) and it's true hunger. I eat until I'm satisfied (or bored/tired of eating) and then stop. I've moved away from "living to eat" and into "eating to live."  Food no longer consumes me because I know I can eat what I want--but more often than not, I choose not to eat things that aren't good for me. 

I'm not perfect by any means. I have bad days and I sometimes crave eating just because I'm unhappy. It's a process though. Being a thin person isn't just a physical thing. I say it all the time, we have surgery on our stomach not our brain. You can't deal with your issues post-op the same way you did pre-op. You have to find new/better/right ways to deal with your issues.

Hunger with the DS feels like hunger would even without surgery.  The trick here is, to make sure you follow a regular schedule your meals so that you don't get so hungry you wolf everything down.  I have done that a few times, even this far out, and it's guaranteed to come back, because you are not giving your brain time to recognize that you're full.  Even normies can do that!

WOW, Thank you to everyone for your replies! Yes, I completely agree with everyone in that this is not a magic cure that will force you to eat the right food. If we continue to eat high-calorie, non-nutrituinal foods, then of course the weight will not come off. My weakness is sugary / high-carb foods, and I'm worried that I would trend in that direction again. But, it sounds like with DS, due to the effects that sugar has on DSers, it would be easier to want to stay away from sugar. Of course I will need to work on changing my mindset as well, but the extra "push" from the DS would be of great benefit. Having the band for 3.5 years has taught me to stay away from foods that my band does not like, and now just looking at those foods makes me not want to eat them. I'm hoping that this would also happen with DS (and that it would be high-carb foods I would "want" to avoid). It's great to be able to hear from DSers whom have had DS for longer than a few years. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to those who continue to post and give inspiration to the rest of us!