Question:
What is Head Hunger?

I've heard this mentioned over and over but I don't know what it is... I hate to post a stupid question, but can anyone shed some light?    — Pat M. (posted on October 22, 2002)

October 22, 2002
There are no stupid questions :) Head hunger is when your stomach is not hungry, you really are not hungry at all, but your head is convincing you that you want a piece a cake or a second helping. Does that help at all?
   — Stephanie B.

October 22, 2002
Pat..."head hunger" is the necessary evil that you will encounter after surgery. Your brain has not in any way caught up to the fact that you just had this surgery. I am almost 4 weeks post-op and am having a serious time dealing with this. I am not going to the grocery store for awhile because when I do I find myself putting things in the cart I KNOW I WON'T EAT!!! I've also made myself things to eat "per my brain" and then when I sit down to eat it I get nauseous and end up throwing it away. I'm being patient and just waiting for this to go away which to some degree I know it will.
   — Traci A.

October 22, 2002
Head Hunger is when you are watching Jeopardy and see 17 commercials for Pizza Hut and KFC and Sara Lee and walk to the kitchen to stand in front of the fridge and look to see what you can eat. I still stand in front of the fridge and look at what there is... but I realize that I dont want anything. Old habits die hard...lol.
   — SusanMaria

October 22, 2002
Head hunger is why I bought a Tivo - so I can fast forward through all of the food commercials! I had an AWFUL time with this during the liquid diet and through stage 3. I BADLY wanted a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese. So far I haven't given in and I think the 2.5 months since surgery is the longest I've gone in my whole life without a trip to the golden arches!
   — mandajuice

October 23, 2002
For me, it was girl scout cookies and Burger King whoppers. At 2 weeks post-op, I was staying with my sister, whose 7 year old daughter just received her delivery of girl scout cookies-I'm talking boxes piled high to the ceiling. Boy, they looked good. Then on tv, almost every commercial had those flying giant sized whoppers over the theater crowd. Remember that one?? Obviously at 2 weeks post-op, you don't really want, nor can eat cookies and whoppers, but the craving for them was definitely head hunger! Luckily it passed.
   — Cindy R.

October 23, 2002
For the most part, I did really well with "head hunger", but my hubby and I were sitting, watching TV and I saw sipping my Carnation Instant Breakfast and the Lea & Perrins commercial that has that luscious hamburger on it came on the screen. I took one look at it, burst into tears and said "I want that one!", knowing there is now way in the world I could eat it. That's head hunger.
   — Cathy S.

October 23, 2002
Head hunger is something I think almost all of us can relate to. The state of thinking you are hungry when you actually aren't at all. I think the main reason is most of us have lived a lifetime of never letting ourselves experience "TRUE HUNGER". I don't think I really knew when I was truly hungry before surgery. I do now. I love the fact that I can now tell the difference. But like most of the previous posts, it is something that we will continue to battle with, despite having the surgery. Good luck! :)
   — Laurel C.

October 23, 2002
Head hunger is a psychological (head) craving for a food your body doesn't really need but wants. It's the reason so many of us overeat pre-op and part of what has to be dealt with post-op. We have to re-learn our thinking about food. It's not easy to eliminate the head-hunger, but doing it will add years to your life.
   — Arlene S.

October 23, 2002
We spend a lot of time in our support group talking about this and basically it is a type of eating disorder/addiction that most of us have (can be described in different terms.) We have starting having a psychologist (Dr) attend our meetings quarterly and she discusses this and then we go into questions on that and anything else that people want to discuss. Last night's took off on 'fears' and 'relationships'. The surgery is one piece of what we call a 4 part approach which is surgery, diet, exercise and attitude. After surgery there is head work to be done in retraining yourself about eating. After 3 years I know my worst hours of the day are 8-11 at night. That when I want to hit the foods. I don't overeat and I am better at my choices but that is when I want something to nibble on. I work hard at it as I like how I look now. It still is a stuggle some days, retraining yourself and doing what we call the head work.
   — Elizabeth K.

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