maybe your eating the right foods and stuff mama.  I hope i am one of those that is never hungry.  Please please please let that happen to me.  

So are you still weighing your food and eating slow and all that and are you drinking no water before and after meals and are you sipping water all day?  i am not much of a water drinking but i know i need to probably do that to keep myself feeling full.  i think that will be my dirty little secret to keep me losing and full.  

Can you really eat as much as someone that hasn't had surgery?  My surgery was in 2008 and I can sure eat a lot more now than I could a year or two ago, but it's still not nearly as much as people that haven't had surgery.  Sometimes I see people post here that are a couple years out and they post that they can only eat a tiny bit and I can eat more than that.  Like, I can eat a whole grilled cheese sandwich if it's made on thin bread.  But someone that hadn't had surgery would be able to eat that sandwich and a bunch of chips or something.  I'm very, very full with just the sandwich.

I don't really get hungry what I get is a strong urge to eat.  My problem is that I am a stress eater and I currently have a lot of stress in my life.  I spoke with my bariatric surgeon about it because I am worried that I am in jeopardy of sabotaging my progress.  I was referred to a bariatric psychologist which I am so looking forward to seeing.  I'm down 61 pounds since my surgery almost 5 months ago.

Right there with ya. I get hungry to. 5 yrs out. Here is the trick, drink lots of water. If you are hungry eat more meals, but smaller portions. There's nothing we can do about it, its all about managing from here on out. I feel your hunger.

Yep. I have that dang hunger feeling as well. I do not dump either. Sheesh. A little frustrating. I also hate those who have to remind themselves to eat... Really? My body still likes to eat and am ready for every meal. Oh well, there are just some of us who will always have to work harder than others to succeed.
Best of luck to you my friend. We will conquer......

I think I went 2 weeks after surgery without being hungry before my normal appetite came back.  I never forget to eat.  I sometimes don't realize how long it's been since I ate (meaning that breakfast is still a challenge for me and getting it in before noon is difficult) but I recently had a colonoscopy and had to do a clear liquid diet for the day.  I was miserable.  I focus on eating appropriately when I do eat so I don't graze, but yeah, I totally get where you're coming from.  I was looking forward to not being hungry.

Ok, don't throw things but I don't get hungry.  I do forget to eat but I never miss a meal, even if it is at 10pm.
I attribute it to a few things.  One, I am always drinking something.  I get in at least a gallon of fluid a day.  That really fills me up and helps me avoid hunger.  I don't drink because of hunger though.  I just get really thirsty.
Also, I am past TOM.  Thank God.  When I did get my cycle I could eat the wallpaper off the wall.  I think it really helps not having those hormone fluctuations.
Another reason I think is because my surgeon removed almost all my stomach except what is left of my pouch.  I don't have a clue why he did it.  I was a revision and I previously had a sleeve and maybe that was the only way to do it?  I don't know and I wasn't happy about it but maybe the fact that the ghrelin producing part of my stomach is gone helps.
And lastly, I don't eat any refined carbs.  I found in the past when I thought I could try to eat them moderately that all it did was make me want more.  I was hungry constantly with my first WLS.  All I could think about was eating and if I thought about it I did it.  Not eating refined carbs seems to keep the cravings away and eating mainly dense protein fills me up pretty quick.  I don't eat anything when I wake up.  Sometimes I will have a protein coffee but usually I save it for later.  I have decaf coffee and sugar free drinks until I eat lunch, which can be up to 6 hours after I wake up.  I may have a protein decaf a few hours later and then I eat dinner about 3 hours after that.  I also have a protein shake or smoothie at night before bed, which I think is what holds me over so well.  Sometimes I am still too full from dinner to have the shake.
I hope and pray this lasts to tell you the truth.  It has been over a year.  Life is so much better for me now that I am not thinking about eating all the time.  It is hard not to think about eating when you are hungry.

I think it was Nik who posted this but it stuck with me. Feeling hunger is not  an emergency. That sentence helps me/calms me you know? It's not an emergency. It's a normal thing. Before surgery  I was never hungry. I would eat giant meals that could easily last 6-8 hours. Now I'm eating meals of 100-300 calories and I do get hungry more often. That's a normal thing I think...but very very different from my pre-op world.
I eat 6 small meals a day. I usually don't "forget" meals!
Deb T.

This has been a great thread, pertinent to what I have the hardest time with, hunger and wanting to binge, especially at night.

I go to my surgeon's info sessions, and he says no hunger afterwards. Ha!!!! I had awful nausea for 4 months after surgery, but then the nausea left and the hunger returned. I have taken my surgeon to task about being more honest about what post-op is really like, and have been facilitating some of his info and support sessions. I am honest.

So 6 small meals it is- measure until I can eyeball portions, run, track, weigh-ins, etc., etc. Eat a treat every now and then.
At least I can't eat as much.

Being hungry is not an emergency. I like that.

Lisa,

I'm a little late jumping in here, but have to ask - what=hunger to you?

Are you talking about truly hungry, ie, weak, shaking feeling, or head hunger, ie "I want to eat" or "I feel like eating something"?

That may be the difference. I rarely get shaking hungry, but lots of times I get "want to eat" hungry. When I get the shakes I eat right away. When I "want to eat" I wait until my next mealtime.

You're doing great btw - congrats on your surgery and your awesomeness=)