hungry or not hungry

I am over 5 years post. I never get hungry. Since eating is not regulated by my body but my mind - this can cause me to eat when I don't need too. My question is - Do you get hungry? If you don't get hungry - do you consider it a blessing or a curse. I know when I first had my WLS I made a comment that I never got hungry and if I didnt loose a pound ever it would have been worth having this surgery just for that. NOW I kinda of think of it as a curse. But then wonder if it would be worst if I was hungry. I can go days without eating if I wanted (I don't but did once - lasted 10 days and I only ate then because of head commericals not because I was physically hungry. ) so what is the norm?

Morning Star I do get hungry..I too am just about at the 5 year mark..and after about 2 years, my hunger was what i'd say at a normal level? I feel normal hunger pangs, breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner..though I do make myself eat supper..I must keep my blood sugar levels in check. There are days that I am ravenous, and do the go to the fridge, go to the cabinet thing..but I always make a good choice..I dont have a taste for junk food anymore..I love fruit, grapes, oranges, apples etc..so I always keep some handy. Of course there are periods where I have NO hunger..and that can go on for quite awhile..it just seems to cycle. I get through it though..Even after all this time i've never had any major regain..just the usual 5 pound fluctuation from water retention. I dont know what the norm would be..sinice we all have different ..dare I say it..diets? or dietary needs..or exercise routines..just seems to be different from one person to the next..I dont think that not being hungry is terribly abnormal though, I know lots of people who experience that. I do sometime..but I wish I would more! lol

I find that if I keep busy then I don't get that need-to-eat-feeling. I DO get hungry, sometimes, but it is usually when I am hungry - imagine that!! I still fight the head hunger and am learning what "TRUE HUNGER" is. I never let myself feel that when I was pre-op. I just ate and ate and ate. I NEVER knew what it meant to be really hungry for NUTRITION. I just loved food. Now I do get that light-headed-foggy-brained feeling and realize "Wow, it's been awhile since I ate, I must be hungry!" Life is funny, things that should come naturally get skewed when you have an addiction - especially to food. Linda -208

I do feel physical hunger -- but since I am really struggling with the emotional head hunger these days, I don't usually feel hunger because I have already eaten something. I can see the curse factor of both - but to feel physical hunger and be afraid to eat for fear of weight gain I think would be worse -- but that's probably because I haven't felt what you are going through. I had lap band surgery and am completely unfilled right now because of an upcoming surgery. I am full of anxiety and fear of hunger, because without any fill my stomach is like it was pre-surgery, and that scares me more than I can explain. Not eating would be worse for your body though, starving it, rather than eating without your body wanting food. Take care of yourself - set a timer if you need to so you can nourish your body. Kristin

I'm not as far out as all of you, but I do get hungry if I go too long between meals. I'm a very scheduled person, so I try to eat at the same times every day and never get that super hungry feeling~if I wait that long then I will grab for the quick fix that usually isn't the best choice. That being said, I have hungry days sometimes and then other days where I could care less about eating and never get hungry~I just try to follow what my body is telling me for that day~within reason of course, LOL! Tracy B 328/161 5'9"

I'm about 2-1/2 years out, and I do experience hunger, but not in the same way as pre-op. The only way I can describe the feeling is that it is much "smaller" of a feeling than when pre-op. I had a huge appetite as a pre-op and could eat a lot of food. When I felt hunger, it was an enormous, ravenous type of feeling. I don't have that anymore, just a gentle "gnawing" type of feeling that tells me it's time to eat. Of course, I still have to deal with head hunger and wanting things to eat when I know I'm not really hungry, just want the taste of something. For the most part, I think the post-ops that I know personally all experience hunger in one form or another, and it's worse at some times than at others. For instance, right before my period and for a day or so after it starts, I sometimes feel as though I never had surgery. All I want to do is eat then, and usually it's cravings for all the "bad" stuff we shouldn't have.

the first 9 months post op I was not hungry. Then It returned. I try to eat on a schedule as much as possible, otherwise if I go too long with out eating I get ravenously hungry. I call it my starving wolf mode. I could eat anything. Sometimes I feel so hungry I could bite a chunk off another human. I wish I didn't get hungry and could go back to the complete lack of hunger and just eat by the schedule, or skip it if necessary. smoe of it amy be emotional stuff, but when my belly hurts and I feel lightheaded I know it is physical.

I don't get hungry, either. Since surgery I've spent so much time concentrating on making sure that I was getting in enough food that I was eating often. Now I can eat more at one setting, don't need to eat so often, but it has become a habit to have something dumped in my mouth every couple of hours. So this has become a big struggle for me. I've often wondered how many days I could go before feeling something that I could associate to hunger, but I've not tested out the theory like you have. Sue O.