Hunger before and after surgery??

I've maybe felt hungry one or two times since surgery in the same familiar way that I used to feel hungry...but not has bad.  Usually when I get hungry now I start to feel a little bit of a discomfort in my upper abdomen.  It took me awhile to realize that this meant I was hungry and should eat.  It doesn't happen often...sometimes on the weekends when my sleep schedule is off  and I'm eating differently and not on the same schedule as during the week.

 Thanks to everyone for all your great responses. For all of us still waiting for surgery and struggling with controlling our hunger/appetite this is (I'm sure I speak for many of us) very encouraging. For those who have not responded yet please keep posting. The more people we hear from the more it encourages us and gives us hope. 

I am rarely hungry, but that doesn't mean that when the women in the back office are heating up their tv dinners (an hour before my lunch time) that the smell isn't enticing....LOL

I usually eat a protein bar at 11:00 which 5 hours after breakfast and 2 hours before lunch I also have 35g of protein in my morning coffee/drink....so by 1:00 p.m. I have consumed at last 50 grams of protein

Yes it is very encouraging to read this. I am soooooo looking forward to not feeling hunger. I cant wait till im not ravenous all the time. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

With time, for most of us, the hunger *does* come back and can be quite as powerful as before.  That's why I tell everyone  - really work that powerful stage of "I don't need to eat that" to get all the pounds off as quick as you can. Eventually it's not as easy.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn for the reality check. All the more reason to take advantage of the early stages. I find that a bit scary that the hunger comes as powerful as before. I guess thats why you hear about people gaining their weight back. Why do you think this happens? Is there anything that you do that helps with this? Do you think then that permanent weightloss with WLS is a bit of a myth??

Physical hunger, head hunger and emotional eating come back.  Those who binged before will find that they may, in time binge. There are so many aspects to this surgery and yes, it is not easy after a few years out.  I see many, many struggle and then they cannot get past the failure of actual weight GAIN, so they cycle downwards and give up once again. The thing is to keep up the fight, to keep working on the battle of weight loss and to not give up. We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, give ourselves some grace and battle our demons every day.

It can be a struggle every day.

Dawn

I hear you girl...I hear you

I am 7 weeks post-op and I haven't felt any hunger since the day of the surgery and I am so grateful for that. I do occasionaly get a kind of empty feeling when I haven't eaten in awhile so I usually just eat something and the feeling goes away. Now if I can just get my head to catch up with my stomach.