Over a year out, and I am starting to feel hunger!

I bottomed out six months after my WLS. I even went to the gym and hired a personal trainer. I wasn't able to lose half a pound. I am very happy with my results, even though I would love to lose that last 30 pounds.  My problem today is this: Over the last two months, I have been feeling a strange feeling that disappeared over a year ago....HUNGER. I didn't know then, and still don't know now, what to do with it. I am frightened of it taking control, and I gain even five pounds back.
I am currently looking at ways to keep my hands and my mind busy. I am looking at stressors in my life also. I am currently sitting down to eat, and truly taking my time. I have spoken to others who have been over a year out, and every single one of them has talked about some regain. I haven't even hit my goal....and I don't want to regain.
How have you dealt with that beast HUNGER when it returned???

I suppose you are talking about head hunger where you want certain foods even though you are not actually hungry.  However, if you have been getting a lot of exercise and haven't increased your caloric intake, your body may be fighting starvation and preventing you from losing more weight.  I suggest contacting the nutritionis at your surgeon's office and seeing what she has to say. 

If you are getting proper nutrition but still are experiencing feelings of hunger, you may want to try delaying the response to eat.  If you have several small meals throughout the day, you know that you will be eating in just a matter of a couple of hours.  If you only have 3 main meals and an evenening snack, you may want to add some protein snacks during the day.

I am nearing my year and experiencing a similar problem. In my case I'm sure it's head hunger and I think a lot of it has come about because of the holidays and the availability of excessive food. I'm trying my best to replace my "hunger" for food with a cup of coffee or another drink or at worst a piece of fruit, but I'm struggling. I've still been losing weight although it will sometimes be stagnant for a week or more. I assume this is a struggle that many people deal with. Best wishes to you.

Carbs trigger my hunger. More carbs - more hungry I get.   By journaling all food I ate  and how I felt afterwords - I discovered what foods - foods combination triggered my hunger. 

Now I eat 5-6 times a day.  Never just carbs - small meals that all have some proteins, some fat and good carbs (veggies, fruits, etc).  I made sure that all my meals have less net carbs (fiber not included) than proteins.  That keeps my hunger in check, and allows me to stay on 1440-1600 cal a day and maintaining.  If I see gain - I cut out some carbs (simple - fruits from 2 to 1 a day) and slowly allow my weight to go down. 
Works for me...

IF I see my hunger getting out of control - I try a few days low carb - more fiber, protein and fat - and usually that helps. 

Eating often - does not allow the hunger to be out control so I eat when Is time and not when I get too hungry - always carry HP snacks with you. 

Hunger is the devil!!!  I had my surgery in Sept. 2006 and feel hungry all the time!  I can eat a lot more than before surgery and can even eat a whole Taco Bell grilled stuffed beef burrito and carmal apple empanada in one sitting!  Needless to say I have gained back 30lbs. since my lowest weight of 155lbs.  I am now trying to lose 20lbs. of the regained weight and have noticed that if I cut the carbs out again (which is very hard for the first week) than the hunger & food cravings go away.  The surgeon told me 2 years ago to stay away from chocolate completely instead of having the snack size bars like I was having.  Now I know that when you test the waters (see if your body can tolerate sugar) than you want it more.  Like they say "What you don't know won't hurt you."  Good luck girl!!!

Carbs are the devil. Cut them out entirely if you can (the bad ones especially) and it will cut way down on your hunger.

EVERYDAY I get AT LEAST: 25g fiber, & 80g protein.  I NEVER go over 100 carbs per day.  

Here lately I have been having CRAZY head hunger.  ESP In the evening! :"(
I eat perfectly throughout the day, and when I do snack in the evening I try to keep it healthy (i.e. yogurt & granola, fruit, veggies) but nevertheless there is no need for me to eat right before bed, but it just takes over although I try to keep myself busy, nothing seems to work :( 

I am down 81lbs, and 50 to go - This scares me so bad bc I am terrified of gaining any back - ANY ADVICE???!?!??!?!

THANKS!!  

As the old saying goes:  "Surgery doesn't fix your head."

I'm nearly two years out, and I've been struggling BIG TIME with eating these days.  I can pretty much eat the equivalent of a small meal (example:  I just had a cup of coffee and two pieces of toast.  Took me a while to get it all down, but I did.), and I realized it all of the sudden:  I can eat more food now.

I also don't have many intolerances (beef and icecream are the only things I can't eat).  I am constantly panicking that I'm going to gain weight back, because all my old demons are back.  And I'm now in the tough part:  maintainance.

Here's the thing, though:  I'm human, I make mistakes.  BUT, I also decided that even though I can eat more, I can still make healthy choices, and all the small things add up.  For instance, here are some recent things I've done:

1)  NO SODA.  I absolutely don't allow myself to drink soda AT ALL (haven't since the surgery, and don't miss it).  I think that saves my behind more times than I can even imagine.

2)  I started a food journal again.  It's kind of a pain, and sometimes I forget, but holy shnikies,  it makes me MUCH more aware of what I'm eating, and helps me to make better choices overall.

3)  I started the Couch to 5K program.  Granted, I'm sucking serious wind and not really running a whole lot yet, but it makes me feel MUCH better about eating anything knowing that I'm doing something to work it off too.  Tomorrow starts week 2 for me.

I think most of us are always going to have food demons.  The only thing we can really do is keep working at it, and striving to make little choices - no matter how small they seem.  We're going to be hungry again, there's no way around it.  But I think the important thing is to not get into that whole "Screw it - I've already made bad choices, and so the day is shot" kind of mentality, because that always bites us in the behind (literally!) in the end.

But oh, I feel your pain. It's a constant battle every day.  I think part of me wished (hoped) that it would all go away with surgery, and for almost two years, it did.  But hunger (and the food demons) are back.  I just have to hope that the surgery gave me the tool to be stronger, and I think it did.  :)