Hunger and Ghrelin

Hi: I'm a diabetic, so I have to eat something every 3 to 4 hrs, so that's not going to be a problem for me, when I get my WLS. If the surgery takes away some of the hunger I'll be a happy camper.
Sometimes I wish we had a little switch we could turn off when the hunger monster wants to attack. 
Less is more for you now, keep -up the good work. 
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I think you got some pretty good answers.  In the beginning, my hunger was completely gone, after about 6-8 months, I noticed that I started to feel hunger again.  It has never been as intense as before surgery, but it is there and the cravings come back too.  Again, it is never as strong as before surgery, but the first 6-8 months were a blessing.  I loved not having any hunger and I used that time to maximize my loss.  I hope everybody does that.

Hi:  Hoping I can accomplish the same results in the first six to eight months, in order to control the hunger Monster. You guys always come through for me with really good answers, thanks.
Now all I have to do is say no to the cookie monster.
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I get hungry and my stomach growls.  (Okay, it's not a growl anymore, maybe a whimpy whine.)  I have to eat more often than before, but the amount is so small it's easy to have eyes bigger than my stomach.  I still think about off limit foods and want to lick the salt and seasoning off of a bag of Doritos! 

Yours in Whey and Protein,
L.

Hi: To eat less I use portion control plates, which I got from my diabetes doctor. But it's still up to the person to have that control and not over eat. Lets face it, we can all over-ride any system that is set-up for us.
I'll not into chips, but hide the cookies and cakes, that's my weakness.
PS: Stay away from the Doritos, just think Whey & Protein.
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 Thanks for your post, I'm about 10 days post-op and I promise you I've had real hunger, stomach empty, burning, growling hunger.  And I was beginning to think I was crazy. My dr has a very conservative eating plan so I'm on liquids for several more weeks. It's nice to hear mushy and solid foods will help!

I wonder if when some people are posting about being hungry they are mistaking their true hunger for head hunger as well. I think this can be a difficult distinction to make for someone who is a new op...

I'm a new op and I always have to remember to eat but I have a good grasp on my head hunger. I hear some other new ops who are struggling not to eat and they admit it is head hunger and use the word "hungry." So I just think the word "hunger" is not a universal term as some can be using it in terms of true hunger and others are battling with their food addiction.

I think it can be very hard to distinguish true hunger from head hunger if you're right out of surgery.  But I do think I experienced real physical hunger after I started eating food again (I was never hungry on liquids).  It isn't anything as intense as before surgery, and it is satisfied by very little food.  But I'm pretty convinced I am one of those people that still gets hungry, just not anything like it was before.

Hunger isn't caused by just one thing, even though ghrelin gets a lot of press.  I'm also sure there is some individual differences in how it is experienced.  I guess it would be great to never be hungry again, but how it is now is just fine.