Will I still feel hungry

[bonnie1702]

One of my biggest problems right now is over eating because I always seem to feel hungry. After I have my surgery done will I still feel so hungry? I know that physically I won't be able to over eat but will that hunger pain still be there? Will I have to remind myself to eat because it'll be so easy or what?

[luke]

The only good answer there is "it depends, everyone is different." What it WILL do is make it so your body sends you a very clear signal when it is FULL. It's not magical though, you have to be careful, eat very slowly and listen to your body for the signs and then stop eating. It's true that many people feel less hungry after surgery, but you also have to learn the difference between hunger of the head and hunger of the body. It take practice and effort.

The sleeve doesn't make it easier, it gives you clear signals on what you should do. It let's you hear your body's messages more clearly and sooner.

You'l do great, just take it slow and understand that you will have to change a bit. There is work here.

[Grace]

The short answer is yes. You'll still feel hunger. I think it might be dangerous not to. You'll feel hunger at appropriate times, like...when you haven't eaten in hours. Then, if you follow plan, you'll eat protein first, slowly, for about 15 min and about say 5 min later, you won't be hungry anymore. Note this doesn't work as well if you drink your protein unless you have a really good thick shake. To enable your hunger stopping hormones you need to very slightly stretch your stomach. I mean slightly. Just enough for the stomach walls to know there is food in there. Remember you will feel more full 10 min after eating than you feel while eating, so eating by measure is your best bet for a long while. By eating protein first, say it's canned chicken with some lf mayo, you get the chicken down there and as long as you don't drink more than a sip it will sit there digesting for literally over an hour. If you drink, you wash it through, and boom, no signal to your head that you are full...then you're hungry again. Even nearly 3 yrs out I still don't drink after eating, though I am now using the mature sleeve trick of drinking 15 min before eating to help fill up.
The best way I can put this to make it easy to remember is this. Your body gets truly physically hungry when it hasn't gotten real food for a while. You could eat ice cream practically all day (please dont) and still be really hungry. That's because your brain is pretty smart and is still yelling for some good protein/fats/vitamins/nutrients to feed it. Give it some chili, stew, etc, and it shuts up for a while.

[niamh]

It differs greatly between individuals. Some people describe not feeling hungry after the sleeve and having to consciously remind themselves to eat. Other people (like me) experience some degree of hunger, but in my case nothing like it was prior to the sleeve.

One of the aspects of sleeve surgery versus other WLS is that part or all of a part of the stomach called the fundus is removed with the surgery when the majority of the stomach is taken, and the fundus is where the majority of the body's ghrelin is produced - the hormone responsible for triggering hunger (amongst a few other proposed functions). Research trials show very clearly that ghrelin levels are very significantly reduced post surgery. Interestingly I believe that ghrelin is also produced to a much lesser degree in other sites in the body, and also the fundus is a general area in the upper part of the stomach next to where the staple line is, so it may be that some people still have some of these cells left behind.

Anyway, I do still feel hungry regularly - and some of it may well be head hunger - but it's completely different than before in terms of intensity. Also, the feeling of fullness remains with me for a lot longer after eating so it takes much much longer after I've eaten to feel hungry again.

Hope this helps.

[Kindle]

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[JessG]

Hi there Bonnie!! Like so many have said it's different for everyone. However if you do feel hunger, the portion that you will eat to satisfy your hunger will be so much smaller than now. It's such an amazing tool. I'm so glad that my hubby and I took the plunge together almost 7 months ago. We both have our health back and we feel so amazing!! Good luck on your journey. The only negative I could find, was that we should have done it sooner, but it's been an awesome ride!!

[Big Jon]

I can only answer for myself. I had surgery on 7/31/2013. The morning of surgery I had been fasting from the night before. This is the last time I have felt hungry.

THE SLEEVE is AWESOME!!

[Skibabe]

I do get hungry, and I'm 3 weeks post op tomorrow. But it's not like crippling hunger, I'm not ravenous or anything. It's more like, hmm, I want to eat fairly soon. I have small kids and feed them first, which can make it hard but it's good training for waiting :-) the hardest time for me is feeding them dinner - I'm hungry and their dinner smells soooo good!

But, you really will feel differently after the sleeve. Because the weight comes off quickly and easily to start with, you find that you just don't want to jeopardise your weight loss, so you stick to the foods you're allowed, and you keep losing weight. I'm even exercising hard out (and feeling satisfied when I've done it!), which is unheard of for me! So best of luck and don't worry. Your sleeve will guide you, listen to your body and remember that one day you can eat whatever you like, but you'll probably only want just a taste of your old foods, if that. It's life-changing!

[kitticat27]

This hunger is completely different than a craving where you think "I feel like eating.... (Fill in the blank). When I have those thoughts I know It's just head hunger and ignore it.

I never thought of it that way! Talk about a "aha" moment lol. That is going to help me so much, thank you!

[bikrchk]

I do, but its not the same as it was before. I can't over eat. Period. It HURTS so I avoid it. They take out most of the part of the stomach that secretes the hunger hormone Grehlin when they do the sleeve. That said, at 7 months out, I do get hungry, but satiety comes easier and faster. On days I am really busy, I tend to under-eat. I don't "forget to eat" as some will say, I just don't snack when I'm running around and end up with less than 1000 calories for the day. My goal while I'm losing is 1200. I work out hard 5 days per week and am still losing, (about 1/2 to 3/4 pound per week) on the 1200. May have to up that some to maintain soon. 8 pounds to go!