VSG effects on eating

Dec 02, 2015

My one year surgiversay is coming up and I am feeling reflective.  Of course we all have the restrictive effects from VSG but I was wondering what other eating effects others have experienced.  

If you are farther out, did that extra effect go away over time?  Personal stories welcome!  I don't care if it is scientifically proven or anything like that.

For me, it silenced an ancient voice that always wanted more (MORE!!!!!!) food.  As ridiculous as it sounds, I had an internal compass that tracked available food.   If I was in a far corner of my home, I swear I could close my eyes and be pulled to deliciousness on the kitchen counter.  At work, the knowledge that there were treats in the breakroom would dance around the edges of the mind causing great distraction from my tasks at hand.  

I have a distinct memory of overhearing my parents talking about my eating when I couldn't have been older than 4.  They were wondering why WHY I would eat the leftover creamed corn.  Afterall, I couldn't be hungry, I just had lunch.  I remember wondering what hunger had to do with wanting to eat delicious creamed corn.  That was my first inkling that I was different than my siblings.  

That voice, that pull, is now absent.  This feels miraculous to me.  Was its origins in the part of the stomach that was removed?  I have no idea and honestly I don't think anyone has THE answer to that question.  

I still have other disordered eating habits at play.  But as a former volume eater, silencing that voice made the remaining issues much more managable.  

I feel truly lucky that VSG happened to target what I feel was a root cause of being an overweight child.

PS, sorry but I initially posted on my blog.  I am not smart.  Reposting to forum because I would love to hear other's stories!

That's interesting and sounds very familiar to me. I'm always aware of available food and almost never able to resist "free food" like donuts in the breakroom. I'm still pre-op (not for long, surgery on Friday, Dec 4th!) but I'm really hoping I have a similar effect. I've heard the sleeve will reduce your ghrelin and reduce your hunger but that doesn't mean it will reduce your desire to eat "because it tastes good." So while working on my other issues with food, I'm hoping that I have an experience similar to yours! Congarts on your one year surgiversary!

"Aware of available food" describes it well. I may not have been technically hungry but I also didn't know what satiety felt like unlike after VSG.  

I wish you well in your journey!  You are going to have a great year! 

Thank you! I hope so! :)

Your post reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the film, "Other People's Money." Danny Devito (playing a rotund tycoon) is wooing Penelope Ann Miller (playing a slender lawyer):

Devito: Would you like a donut?

Miller: No thank you. I'm not hungry.

Devito: Gotta be hungry to eat a donut? I never heard of such a thing!

psychoticparrot

Exactly right!

Yes!! "That voice".   Mine is so much quieter now too, and to me, that is the biggest benefit of my VSG surgery.  Thanks for sharing this, I've never been able to really articulate the problem, but you nailed it.

Congrats on "near 1 year" !!!!!!

I had to look up your back posts to get some numbers...... Stellar !

Although what your experiencing with that silenced voice may not be true for everyone as you know, but what is evident and a great benefit to you is that you are able to recognize and isolate feelings and issues. This is a great skill and will bode well for you if you keep in touch with it and build on it. The more tools you acquire in your tool box will help you fix things as time goes on.

I have that voice also, although not silenced, it's much quieter. I often have to supply full tables of crap food for film crews as is deemed "craft services".... just a regular part of my business. I know I gained a lot of weight over the years because I knew there was left over craft services that I could eat. I'll just eat 3 of the left over 15 muffins and a plate of lasagna will be just right at midnite !!! and a granola bar every time I walked by.....

Congrats on a great year!!!

Keep learning and keep the path !!!

frisco

Thanks for the encouragement!  I am trying to collect as many tools as possible as I begin to move into year 2. 

As wonderful as craft services sound to my sense of volume eating, I guess I would have to count myself lucky that I work in a place where it is easy to stash a lunch in a fridge.  It is rare for there to be tempting treats just laying around.  Hats off to you for being successful with that type spread available!

My ticker comes, my ticker goes.  It will be interesting to see if it is posting tonight.  

I know exactly what you're talking about. I refer to it as "free food". Like you, it was never a matter of honoring hunger or satiety. It was simply a matter of delectable food being available and the drive to eat it with enthusiastic abandon! You can check my back posts and see I've referred to my trouble with free food. It has taken me years to learn to cope with it. Like Frisco, my Free Food Voice is not silent, but takes very long naps now. 

I am happy for you that the pull is gone. Just know it could still be there, doing push ups, waiting for you to let your guard down. I know you've developed a great set of tools over the past year, so my misanthropic warning is most likely completely unnecessary! 

Congrats on a great year!