question for rny grads?????

hi, i am hoping to have RNY before the end of this year and i am wondering abouth the hunger hormone,,,,,,,,does Rny  really change our "desire" towards food,,,,,i guess maybe cravings for it???? I'm not sure exactly how to put it........i worry because i am afraid i will have the surgery and still want to eat as much as i do now, and that wont be possible after surgery,,,,,,,,thank s for any replies

Sherry, i am almost 2 1/2 yrs out and the surgery did intially change the amount and my desire for foods. My tastes changed and i craved the healthier stuff. My advice is to take advantage of the time you don't want to eat, but have to to retrain your tastes buds to fresh foods like vegetables, lean proteins and fruits. I must say that now my cravings are back, and if it wasn't for changing what i desired it would be horrible hard to maintain. As it is now it takes constant attention. I love this tool! best of luck, Melinda

Thanks for answering,,i am going to go through with it,,i was afraid that i would still be "ravenous" right after surgery like i get now,,,i will use the advice wisely and retrain my eating while i have the chance

Dear Sherry, I guess you are asking about grehlin--the hormone that helps with feeling satisfied?  Research has shown there is a difference post surgery in this hormone, so you are able to feel satisfied, which is very different from feeling hungry.   I am 20 months out and rarely feel hungry.  There are times I want to eat, but that is often driven by "head hunger" rather than physical hunger.   And there are times when I know I am physically hungry because I didn't eat on time.  But I am able to feel full and satisfied with my limited portions.  I still take a long time to eat (at least 30 min.) and that helps. You may want to eat too much after surgery, and some people do find a way to graze their way back up to eating too much.  As the other poster said, you'll want to work on developing good habits and a correct sense of portion control early on.  You will still have to exercise control of your eating, but post surgery is it so much easier. Good luck, Sally 398/162/170

thank you,, They started us this month by using baby spoons and chewing a lot  and putting the fork down between bites,,also i cant drink 30 min before or 45 min after,,,this is my 1st day, i guess the doc's want us to get used to this ahead of time ....i am glad to hear that about that hunger hormone,,

I don't know if you are into any kind of handiwork, but you might find this to be a good time to take it up.  I started knitting to help me pace my eating.  I would knit a row and take a bite and chew along with the rhythm of the knitting.  I wouldn't want to put the knitting down and lose my place to get another bite, so I had to wait until I got to the end of the row.  I still find it helpful to knit when I eat as it keeps me at a good slow pace.  I also now have lots of sweaters, socks, shawls, hats, and mittens! Good luck, Sally

Your regimine sounded familiar and then I looked at your surgeon and realized your a Vanderbilt surgical canidate!!!  I was as well, but chose Dr. Richards to do my surgery.  You have one of the BEST surgical facilities and surgery team with an awesome track record plus all the support from Christian and Molly, the nutritionist.  It's a well rounded program and I wish you the best of luck.  Feel free to ask me any questions about the surgery or Vandy.  If you need a surgery angel, let me know, I'd love to cheer you on! Rachael

I'm almost 2 years out.  I posted something like this before.  After surgery, you will really not have hunger for anything.  Your tastebuds will be so different.  Your hunger will only be in your head.  You'll realize at the end of a day, that you really didn't eat anything and have to force yourself to eat something at the beginning.  Once several months out, you still notice that you're not hungry.  You're not hungry for anywhere from 6 months to a year out.  If you don't stray by eating your trigger foods, eating sugary foods even in small quantities, adding simple carbs to your diet, you won't crave those foods.  Once you take a smidgen of cake, donut, soda, chocolate, or other foods that are no-no's, your tastebuds will crave those foods.  Trust me!  I thought I'd have a new start after WLS.  I blew it by cheating about 9-10 months out, once I was 100 lbs. down.  I cheated slowly with 1/2 sweet/1/2 unsweet iced tea (Southern thing sweet tea).  Then taking a small piece of a donut, slice of cake, et****il I could practically eat a whole donut or a whole taco with the flour (yes, flour) tortilla.  I started craving these foods all over again.  You could say I've had an intervention and am now detoxing.  I haven't had any of these foods - other than protein bars with chocolate - in 3 weeks and now I'm not craving them.  I don't really feel hungry.  My pouch feels like it's normal again.  I'm back to listening to my pouch, and it's telling me "I'm not hungry, no more food".  Now, this is based on my personal experience.  Good luck on your journey!  It's an amazing ride! JackieBel

I really havnt been hungry in almost 4 years  but let me smell it or see it on a comercial then i want it :(

thanks to everyone for answering,,,yall have really helped my confidence,,i didnt want rny and come out eating like i do now,,i would probably blow up if i did,i appreciate the helpful tips on not cheating and getting on track once u have messed up,,,,i hope my taste buds change when i get it done,,as for the head hunger ---- i will have a fight with that,,,,thanks again i need one of those smileys on the fridge!!!