Question:
I eat to comfort myself and I constantly feel hungry.

Will this surgery help my constant hunger? Since old issues remain, I have a counselor who can help me with my eating issues after surgery. I plan to work hard to gain all the knowledge I can find to help fight my head hunger. Those of you that have had surgery, do you still fight hunger? Thanks, Merriam    — Merriam B. (posted on June 12, 2001)

June 11, 2001
Merriam, I had surgery on 3/26/01, and also ate pre-op due to head hunger and boredom. If watching a ballgame, well of course I had to coordinate with a meal or snack. If the clock said so, it was time to eat. Get together with friends? Grab a bite. Now, they ask ME if they can stop for something because they're hungry! I say, sure, but I'm good and can wait until I get home. To be free from hunger is the most liberating feeling! Once in a while I skip meals, but mostly eat 3 meals daily in order to get proper nutrition (fuel) I know it's the honeymoon phase, unsure how long it will last, but I love it and will use this opportunity to make lasting good choices. Sugar cravings all but disappeared, which was my biggest problem. Have today lost 54.5 lbs.
   — danirat

June 11, 2001
Merriam, I would think that the vast majority of morbidly obese individuals fall into the categories of compulsive or emotional eaters. Food was my first and best answer to joy, anger, frustration, sadness, boredom and just having a good time with one or more other people. I had my lap RNY in March of 2000, and my daughter had her surgery in January, 2000. We have lost 140 and 200 pounds respectively, and still marvel that we are never hungry and have to watch the clock to remind ourselves to eat. There are many "miracles" associated with WLS...regained health, unbelievable energy and functional ability, renewed self-esteem and self-confidence....but equally miraculous is the freedom from the control that food had over our lives. The surgery IS a tool, NOT a quick-fix....it is a "bargain" that you make with your heart and your head to follow a particular regimen of diet and exercise for the remainder of your life....but if you hold up your end of the bargain, the surgery will give you an entirely new life and appropriate outlet for your emotions. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

June 12, 2001
Merriam, I'm 9.5 months post-op. Before surgery, I was the biggest eater you'd ever seen, almost always out of stress. I've always eaten Breakfast Cereal a box at a time. I've always eaten Eggs a dozen at a time. I've always eaten Ice Cream a half-gallon at a time. A typical meal for me at McDonald's cost over $20.00. So, I was VERY CONCERNED about how I would be able to change my binge-eaing mentality. And for me, this was the way I ate every day - every meal. Here is how I feel post-op: I do get hungry. It never occurred to me that I might never be hungry again. When I get hungry, I eat. This surgery is not about "fasting" in the post-op world - it's about eating sensibly. What this surgery has allowed me to do is to eat (and be satisfied) with less food than my wife eats. I can't tell you how many times I have purchased a meal that I thought was reasonable for me, and only been able to finish half. So, this surgery WILL GREATLY LIMIT the quantity of food you can eat. But, it'll be up to YOU to decide the quality of foods you eat. I wish you the best of luck... Kevin
   — meilankev

June 12, 2001
At 13 months post-op, I rarely have actual hunger pangs, and didn't for the first 10-11 months. However, in the past 2-3 months, head hunger and comfort eating has been hell. Back to the counselor...it's helping and is a MUST to control this issue.
   — [Deactivated Member]

June 12, 2001
I should probably keep my big mouth shut on this one as I anticipate many of the readers will want to argue...but, unfortunately, I can't. We who have struggled with weight believe, probably because we have been told for years, that obese people overeat as a means of dealing with (or not dealing with) emotional issues. We've read "Feeding The Hungry Heart" and buy into the concept that we "stuff" our feelings with food. After trying everything else (several times) I even joined a group counseling session called "The Solution", which teaches getting in touch with your feelings is the solution to overeating. By baring your soul about your most personal emotional issues with a therapist in front of a group of strangers, you are supposed to release yourself from the desire to overeat. I actually paid a great deal of money to participate in this "latest weight loss cure" twice...because, like so many of you I was completely desperate and would try anything to lose weight. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that "The Solution" WAS NOT the solution to over eating or run away appetite. In fact, in all of the research I have been able to find on the internet, science still doesn't know what causes appetite, or why some have big appetites and others have none. It could (probably)have nothing at all to do with emotions and it seems even doubtful that the appetite center is located in the brain or is connected with thought. There are all kinds of trials being done on different theories about appetite. Some scientists think it has something to do with leptin amounts or little neuron transmitters that are located no one knows where...perhaps in the stomach? And maybe that's why the appetite is greatly diminished after surgery? My point is...science still doesn't know even the basics about why obese people have bigger appetites than non-obese people, and I am just so tired of being told that it is because we are not in touch with, or don't deal effectively with our emotions, when there is not a smidegon of scientific evidence that bears that out. I think that it is just another way for society to discriminate against us, like saying, "You are fat and emotionally you are all screwed up too"! It ticks me off.
   — Anne G.

June 12, 2001
Thank you Ann for speaking up for science over fads. I was told very recently that I had put on layers of fat to "shield" me from my psychic energy. Give me a break. Want to know what causes binge and compulsive eating? Diets. Want to know why you feel it's a reward to be fed? Because when you're obese, you're supposed to feel guilty for not being hungry. I don't mean to minimize true eating disorders, but I'm with Anne. Let's be reasonable with ourselves here. What about all the screwed up skinny people who eat like pigs? Oh yea, you know em, they probably give you diet advice. How many "cures" have I been sold in an effor to "get me healthy" which was all code for lose weight. Well, no matter how much they try to treat food like a drug, it isn't and the things that cure addiction do not cure obesity. They may cure compulsive eating, but not obesity.
   — kcanges