Question:
Has anyone experienced a change in their brain?
Has anyone experienced a change in their brain for the better toward food after having gastric bypass or any of the other WL surgeries? I have always struggled with wanting foods that are bad for me but taste really good. So I just have to know if that changes at all after surgery? — SheriP. (posted on March 5, 2009)
March 5, 2009
sadly no the struggle to eat well continues. The humger is less and you eat
less at a time but head hunger is still a problem.
— trible
March 5, 2009
The only thing that the surgery is going to do is help with the portion
control. If you are a RNY or VGS patient, then if you eat high fat or
sugar, you will tend to get ill. If you are a band patient, you can still
put bad foods in without getting sick. Be careful. I think some people
make a "change" in their mindset that they see the results of
their weight loss and are getting that positive feedback. Be careful when
it starts to slow that you don't revert to old bad habits...
— Kari_K
March 5, 2009
Sorry, it doesn't change... The only thing that may change is if you eat
something that you are not supposed to and end up sick. This happened to
me with pepperoni. I love it but it is very high in fat a calories. I
have tried to eat it 3 times now and was incredibly sick all 3 times. I
don't eat it anymore becuause it just isn't worth it for something that has
almost no good nutritional value.
— phyllismmay
March 5, 2009
Your brain does not change...no...BUT, for me personally, how I think about
food and my relationship with it did change drastically. It was no longer
an urgent love affair with food, but became more of just a basic need/want
to live. The love affair with food died and became less passionate and
urgent and sneaky like a dirty affair in a cheap motel! LOL (you know the
kind, hiding in the corner shoveling down a bag of cookies when you know no
one is around and then having a huge dinner on top of that)...After a year
and more of eating right and healthy...and making better choices, your
weight comes off and you look and feel younger and healthier than you did
in a very long time...Plus learning that I don't need to eat til I am full
or eat everything I put on my plate! ...That small servings went a long
way and not eating sugar helped with no cravings where you wanted to eat
more more more now and even later. I still have a passion for eating food,
but now it's towards smaller portions of healthy food. I LOVE making my
meals beautiful and colorful with a wide variety of fruits and
veggies...When my food looks beautiful like a gourmet meal, my family oohs
and ahhs and feels pampered and loved...and it's all healthy stuff! It's so
rewarding! ..It's all about choices...The brain you must train
yourself...surgery doesn't do it!
— .Anita R.
March 5, 2009
I have to say that I did experience a change in what I wanted. My taste
buds have changed to the point that I no longer want any carbonated drinks
(I always drank diet, but even those are too sweet). Drinking water would
make me sick before my surgery; now I can't get enough of it. I know that
part of that is my commitment to weight loss, but it's not all just that.
I have experienced a real change in what I want to eat and it's strange . .
. but good.
— Linda J.
March 5, 2009
I have. What Ive noticed is that I will see "good" looking food,
and just keep on looking for something to eat. The thempation is not there
to eat what I know will make me sick, or compromise the new me that I've
worked hard to become. Good luck to you.
Bill
Preop BMI 40
surgery 22 July 08
Now BMI 24.9
— Bill_Nagle52
March 5, 2009
Actually, yes, I used to LOVE hamburgers, in fact the week before surgery,
I cooked burgers for dinner every night and had a Big Mac each day for
lunch. Loved steak, any beef. Now, I prefer chicken and espescially fish
(which I was very picky about before). I now have gone from liking tilapia
to loving many different kinds of fish. I used to cook fish maybe once a
month. Now, we have it a few times a week. Your 'tastes" may change
like mine did, but you will always still have struggles along the way. This
is about finding new favorites that are healthy. Good luck!
— Judy A.
March 5, 2009
It appears you are getting mixed answers. I agree with the people who have
had a change for the better in their thinking and behavior towards food.
I'm a bandster, had surgery 12/15/08 and it's great to not feel hungry all
the time, like I used too (whether it was my head or my belly, I was
hungry.) I still love chocolate, and a few other foods. I have my favorites
if I really want, but most of the time I WANT to eat healthy, live healthy
and feel healthy. For me the surgery is a missing tool I've needed. I have
a long history of being faithful to an eating plan, and or exercise plan
for weight loss. Only to reach a point where I was so starving and
depressed I couldn't stand it any longer and I would binge eat and gain all
the weight back. Now, I can't binge even if I wanted too!! I thought
feeling ready for surgery, wanting it and jumping through all the hoopes to
get the surgery was half the battle. For me it's probably only 20%. The
other 80% is controlled by my thinking and behavior. My (3)co-morbidies,
I've collected over the years from loving food, remind me of the
"bigger picture" I'm painting of a healthy lifestyle. Best
regards, Lindy
— nurselpt
March 5, 2009
I agree with some of the posters...I have changed my thoughts on food. It
came from me tho, not the surgery. I want to be successful and took the
"no appetite" time to really re-evaluate how I think and respond
to food. I eat to live, not live to eat, now. I eat for fuel not pleasure.
I do enjoy some things, but its a choice now, not a craving.This is a tool
to help us re-wire how we feel about and deal with food in our lives. Take
advantage of the tool and learn all you can about the foods you put into
your body. It isn't always easy, but what in life is. Good luck and God
bless,
— gpcmist
March 6, 2009
That is a tricky question. I had VSG and, have thought over and over that
if I had always been able to make the choices I make now, then I never
would have needed WL surgery. Why? I don't know. I just know that I don't
crave the foods I did before and I prefer to make better choices. I think
that once we go through the pre-op diet and the first few weeks of HAVING
to eat certain foods our bodies are no longer craving the bad things, like
sugar and carbs. I don't think my "brain" changed, but my way of
thinking did.
— corky1057
March 6, 2009
Hi Sheri, I, too, was very concerned about old, bad eating habits
resurfacing. I had a binge/bulemia problem in the past. The bulemia
stopped with medication, but there was a constant struggle with the
binging. The first two weeks after surgery, I did struggle with emotional
hunger. That's coming from the brain too. Malls, (smells), &
commercials were the biggest problem. But since then, it has been amazing;
the emotional hunger has dissipated. I know I'm physically full because I
can feel it. And it's true, for a person that has a true addiction to
processed carbs, once cleared out of your system, the craving can
completely go away. That is until you introduce that food into your diet
again. So be very careful. Remember why you choose to have this surgery,
how far you will come, and use that 'tool' for the rest of your life. FYI,
most of those tasty foods we loved before surgery can make you physically
ill, (stomache pain, nausea, diarrhea). I even got sick eating scrambled
egg. Also, always plan ahead, especially if you have to eat outside your
own home. Best of luck to you.
— cvalent1
March 6, 2009
On a positive note... Your desire to succeed will be the motivation to eat
better foods. The poor choices we have made has contributed significantly
to why most of us wanted the help of gastric bypass in the first place.
Some of us could not do it on our own. Your desire to eat healthy
eventually will outweight the guilty feeling you will have after you have
eaten a food that makes you sick or makes you feel better temporarily. If
you have had the surgery, you worked too hard for failure. If you are
planning to have the surgery, well you need to decide if this the right
thing for you. It's not a I want it today and tomorrow I want the dr. to
put me back sugery. Either way it goes, the choice you make will either
set you back or help you feel better about moving forward. Hope I was able
to help.
— Shades.Of.Me
March 6, 2009
I am still pre-op but I attend OA (Overeaters Anonymous) 2-3 x's/wk... I
know even with the surgery, my brain will still be wired differently than
others' and the unhealthy relationship with food, and my being powerless
over food will not change. The only thing that will change is the amount
and the types of food I can eat. My doc and my nut are happy that I'm in
OA and say that it will go far in helping me to keep the weight off once
there is not as much restriction. You may want to check out an OA meeting
or other support group for help... good luck to you!!
— Clumsybarbie
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