Head hunger, real hunger... How to know the difference?

 Fellas,

I have never seen a definition of "head hunger" but I am assuming it means that your body is on a feeding schedule that has to be broken during our change of habits before, during and after surgery...    I already know what real hunger is  :-)  Here is the question: I am 3 months out from surgery, I had no real hunger or cravings until very recently... in fact I found it really easy to be neutral or ignore food. The last few days though I have been hungry and really jonesing for "all the bad stuff". I find it curious that I am right where the Nut and my surgeon said my goal weight is... weight loss has tapered off and hunger returns with a vengeance. What are your thoughts and what has your experience been? I have been doing OK, have not fallen off the wagon or anything but am anxious that now I will have some real work ahead of me to keep it off. Is this just a plateau or?

You ask the tough questions, amigo. I wish I had a good answer. I find myself "needing" to eat at scheduled times. I know some of it is real hunger, but it's difficult for me to believe that I feel real hunger at scheduled times every day. My solution has been to stay as close to schedule as I can. It's not a great solution, but the on,y one I can come up with. It's difficult relearning cues from the body that I never really learned in the first place.

 Hi Ken,

Thank you for the words of wisdom. I too am quite structured in my eating, during the week it is much easier due to work, the weekends get a little hairy. I have been working alot of Saturdays too but if I don't pack my lunch like during the week I'm into the danger zone.

Prior to surgery I had NEVER known the feeling of being full.. Even after a big Xmas dinner, when others were loosening their pants and complaining about being soo full, I'd be eyeballing another piece of dessert.. After surgery I finally learned what being full means..
Where I honestly couldn't get in one last bite.. What an amazing feeling...  I'm just over two years out and I worried that I was loosing too much weight. I'm down to about 165 lbs.  In the first year I'd get hungry around meal times  but never ravenous. At first I tried to avoid snacking because I feared it
would cause me to gain weight.  Now I'm hungry every 2-3 hours and if I don't have any snacks, I'm ravenous before meals.
As for cravings.. I initially tried to eat protein when I was hungry.. a yogurt, a piece of cheese, a slice of meat, some nuts. This would fill me up and make it easy to avoid the "bad stuff" As I continued to loose weight (.5 pound per month) I started eating some of the bad stuff.
I guess I'm lucky.. because I can eat anything I want and my weight seems to stay between 165-170. When I get closer to the higher end I concentrate more on protein  which fills me quicker and stops cravings.. Example an egg for breakfast as apposed to a piece of toast will keep me full till lunch. I NEVER eat once I get the "full signal".. I'm so appreciative of this new phenomena that I never pu**** Sometimes this is very frustrating.. (especially in restaurants) Even now, there are times when 4 or 5 fork fulls will fill me. and I stop..
I suggest you stick to the rules as much as possible for the first year or until your weight has
stabilized for a few months.. then allow yourself to experiement a little. 

Prior to surgery I tried many "diet tricks" to avoid eating.. drink a glass of water.. force yourself to wait 10 minutes when you get a craving.. etc.. none of these "tricks" worked.. but after surgery, you should be able to fill up on healthy protein and that will likely take away any of the cravings for the bad stuff.
Our relationship with food has developed over a life time and doesn't change just because we had surgery. hence "head hunger"  I still get "hungry" when I'm bored.. when I'm happy, when I'm sad.. when I watch a food commercial on tv.. but my surgery limits my intake.
Slider foods (crackers, chips etc) are still probably preferable to protein or even fruit and veggies, but if I eat the protein first, I'm full and the cravings seem to dissappear..
J

 Hi John,

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I think my stress level lately has led to me feeling out of control, wanting to eat is my first reaction. Taking back control of a few things and just plain faceing the issue and manning up helped me turn the corner and get back on track. I am like you in that just a couple bites is enough to bring the pain but I have never dumped or had something get stuck so the pain and nausea are my only real clues. I have eaten everything I have wanted with no ill effects, this could be bad down the road. What are you "go to" food that provide the protein and fill you up? I need a quick easy meal that is protein based for when I have to fend for myself in the kitchen.

Fending for myself in the kitchen is never a problem for me since I'm the cook in the family!
Not sure if you are looking for protein snacks or meals so I'll list both:
Protein Snacks that fill me up:
-cheese (just a cube of any kind of cheese)
-egg (not a real fan of hard boiled eggs, but I usually have a few on hand and will cru**** with a fork add a little lite mayo and some onion and just eat it from a bowl.. no bread)
-oatmeal  (not something I crave while watching tv but  easy to prepare and fills me up)
-chicken (buy rotisserie chicken at Costco, cut up a bunch of chunks in salad, or same deal as the egg, I mix with mayo and eat "chicken salad" from a bowl)
-milk (a glass of milk is actually pretty filling.. add a scoup of protein powder, a banana and some sugar free flavoured syrups and it's a meal)
-meat.. pretty much any kind of meat.. slices of cold cuts, reheated left overs, pepperettes etc
-popcorn.. not much protein, but I buy the "smart pop" (I confess I melt a little butter on it) but 1/3 of a bag fills me up and satisfies the need to chew.
Meals:
Since my 5 sons have grown and left home, food prep seems like a lot of work for the little bit my wife and I now eat.. so I cook a big batch and freeze it in smaller containers.
-chili (the first real food I ate and still a regular staple) make a pot and freeze it in individual servings
-meat balls, I cook up a whole batch then freeze them in baggies (quick meal)
-Rotisserie chicken, it's moister than other chicken, I usually "butcher" it when I get it home and make soup or stew with the bones.. lots of chicken chunks in the soup (again frozen in individual portions)
-ribs.. I buy these boxed frozen ribs (1 slab per box) 1/2 a slab 6 " fills me. I never dump so the bbq sauce doesn't bother me
-mini "new" potatoes. I can't eat a whole potato.. those little ping pong ball sized new potatoes are perfect.. boil a bunch. left overs heat up in a couple seconds in microwave
-slow cooker anything. Dry meats don't sit well. but if I throw a chunk of beef in the slow cooker, and let it cook all day.. it just falls apart and is very moist.. Same thing with a chunk of pork (add bbq sauce while it's "stewing" ) and you'll have pulled pork a few hours later.
Dessert
For some reason I've developed a sweet tooth post surgery.. Never used to be one for desserts
Now I crave something sweet after dinner.. even when I'm full..  (again.. I don't dump so sugar doesn't bother me)
-jelly beans.. 4 or 5 handle the craving for something sweet
-Dad's Oatmeal Cookies.. eh. it gives ya a little bit of protein
-home made ice cream.. I've got this little cup sized machine.. add skim milk, flavoured syrup, some nuts, stir it a few times and I get  ice cream without all the sugar and fat
Hope that gives you some ideas.
J

 Hey, thanks for this... It should be a sticky!

I love cheese, eat too much of it already, calorie hit is often worth it though.
Eggs, eh, not a fan... I love the greasy meat products associated with them!
Oatmeal, yum! Complex carbs are OK... I love me some shredded wheat too.
Warehouse club chicken, live on it... Where else can you get a fully cooked chicken for 5 bucks?
Chili, another staple, Wendy cooks mine for me.
Meat balls, I stay away because of the fat content... how to make them tasty while using lean ground beef?
Ribs, love them, worth the calorie hit?
Potatoes I want to dude up with all the fixins... I try to limit them, mashed with a little margerine once in awhile...
I am all about the Crock Pot, pulled Pork is a great idea!

I can tell you don't count at this stage... calories still freak me out. I guess I will have to mellow and expand my foods a little to avoid bordom.

Thanks again,  Brian

 Hey Brian-

I have adopted a mental attitude that I must eat at least 3 meals a day- and for the amount of food that I intake at these meals and the type of food I choose to ingest ultimately dictate whether or not I am sticking to the "game plan".  I have heard all the stories about peeps having surgery and a couple of years later the weight is back on. People whom I have had that discussion with ask if I am afraid of regain. Thruth is, I am scared ****less of it. I tell them "Sure, I can dip fried chicken in a bucket of ice cream all day long, and I will gain weight". But the plan is to choose dense protein and get that stuff down first at every meal- veg or fruit next - and simple carbs last- if there is honestly any room left- and stop drinking when you start eating.

I jones for the bad stuff sometimes- we all do- we're not robots. And on occasion I indulge myself- but the small amount it takes for me to satiate my craving is not a deal breaker. If you're incorporating some kind of cardio excercise into the mix on a regular basis, you're indulgence will seem minimalistic. 

As far as the head hunger vs. real hunger goes-  I can get pretty hungry for real. If I wait too long between meals I can get pretty cranky sometimes and sometimes it passes but it never makes me want to kill something and cook it right away like it used to (or stop at Wendy's and have a meal before I get home from work to have another meal, right?) My problem these days is I merely want to have quality food, well prepared- not fast food and not junk food- and that usually means buying something expensive and ordering way too much of it. My fridge is usually full of to-go boxes with more food in them than what I finished when they were on a plate. But I don't regret eating like that for a second, because even though I did what I did to get to where I am at this point in my life, I wouldn't trade it for all the KFC in the world when I look and feel as good as I do today.

Just sayin'

Tim T.

 Thank you Tim, your experience and wisdom are invaluable to me.

I too indulge once in awhile, the guilt is tremendous! I try not to eat out very often because of the waste... most meals out come with some bad stuff too which I try to avoid. We did do a japanese steak house the other night, that was good, all protein for me and a few veggies thrown in. My "go to" when I am out is one of the burrito chains... I get black beans, chicken and salsa in a bowl... no tortilla. A touch of sour cream and cheese on it for a treat. I get 2 meals out of this without too much of a calorie shock and lots of protein.

I define head hunger as cravings.

I don't get physical hunger anymore. Mostly I get the head hunger for two reasons.

The first, I'm bored and I want to revert back to my old ways. Drinking some water and then finding something to do ie take a walk to distract my boredom helps. I do very well at work as I'm usually busy. It's the weekends that are tough for me. Last week was a perfect example. I was on vacation. Went Camping, the weather was crappy therefore didn't get in all the hikes I wanted too. I grazed on Nuts and M&M's. I gained 5 pounds. Back to basics for me. 

The second is my trigger foods. Eating anything high in carbs and/or sugar starts an eating frenzy and I'll loose control. I'm a self diagnosed carbaholic (sp). Once I start...I can't stop. Before I know it, I fill up on the bad stuff and tend to graze on it over long periods of time. To combat this I try to fill up on dense protein so that there is no room for the bad stuff.

The key for me is to stay away from my trigger foods and stay busy.