Nik Manifesto: About Hunger

I guess you can call this another of my manifestos. But I’m not angry about anything so…not sure if that fits.

People ask me about hunger a lot. It confuses them. And it is confusing in general. What is hunger? And especially, what is hunger after weight loss surgery?

These are good questions (which I’m not even going to try to answer here…well sorta).

People commonly conceive hunger in a certain way. There is that vacant feeling in the stomach, the low blood sugar and, of course, the growling of the stomach. In reality, all that is just the finale to a plot your body has carried out to try to get you to eat. The first assaults are more subtle. You smell something good and think of food. Or your mind just randomly wanders to it. Usually that’s enough to make you want to go get something to eat. When your body has to pull out the big guns (physical cues), it means business!

But after weight-loss surgery? Not so much. Instead, the “organ-formerly-known-as-the-stomach” is pissed with you. And in some cases it’s been rewired. So maybe it feels empty or maybe it always feels full. Maybe it hurts. Maybe it’s queasy or maybe, depending on the type of day you are having, you forget it’s in there at all.

OR maybe you don’t. Many Foodies have told me they felt hunger immediately after surgery. In general this was met with some measure of horror and fear of regain.

So here’s a few things I know:

•  Hunger, in general, refers to whatever your body needs to do to get you to eat to support your activity with nutrition
•  But collectively, hunger can also represent cravings for things we don’t necessarily need to support our activity with nutrition

Having said all that, how should YOU handle, hunger (or lack thereof). That’s a good question…for your nutritionist! Seriously, I’m no guru, but I will share the following pieces of common sense wisdom.

•  Unless it is painful or makes you physically ill to do so, you should try to take in nutrition every few hours. You’d be surprised how many post-ops I experience who don’t eat simply because they are not hungry. This seems like it makes sense right? Wrong! You stop eating and eventually your body is going to start reacting as if you are starving. And the results are rarely pretty.
•  Eating does NOT = solid food. If solid food turns you off, try a protein shake. If cold shakes turn you off, try a hot drink. But yeah…your body does need calories.
• Usually overwhelming cravings mean something.They DON’T necessarily mean to eat the thing you are craving. Consider this: the same deficiency (calcium) that could make you crave ice cream can also be remedied with broccoli. My point here is that cravings exist in the human body for a purpose. We’ve become so whacked out about food that we can’t decipher that purpose. But when you take appetite (the desire to eat food) out of the equation (or at least lessen it), it is my OPINION that cravings get increased credibility. So what should you do? If you have an intense craving, I’d give a ring to your nutritionist. Talk to them about it and see if there is a nutrient connection and if there is a healthier way to remedy it than what you are craving!
• Thirst is also a factor. Yep. Sometimes you’re just thirsty. If you experience hunger, try drinking a glass of water first. That may solve the whole problem. But in the ever-growing list of WLS wonkiness it can also make it worse. In a post-WLS pouch, that water is likely to clear out residual food and then you may legitimately get hungry. I often get hungry within an hour of drinking a lot of fluids.
• Even if your stomach no longer growls, your body has hunger signals. You just have to learn them. Maybe your blood sugar dips and you feel dizzy or shaky. Maybe you get a headache. Or maybe you start to think about food obsessively. The human body is nothing if not adaptive. It will devise ways to let you know you need food. But you need to listen!
• Hunger and eating capacity are two different things. As are eating capacity and satiety (feeling satisfied). On any given day, the Wonder Pouch™ is capable of eating much more than what it takes to meet my nutritional needs AND I’m capable of eating when no hunger is present. Both of which could cause regain. I just thought I’d point that out especially for pre-ops and newbies. There may be a time when you are capable of mindless eating. We can only hope by then you’ve built a good support system to prevent it!

So there you have it. My thoughts on hunger. Not anything complex or controversial. But I would like to close with this thought. It’s normal and natural to be afraid of hunger. It’s a part of the process. This is why I don’t knock people for being hunger-phobes, carbophobes or any other kind of “phobe.” Heck the evolution of this blog has gone through all my phobias!

But just remember that even though your goal is to lose weight, it’s also to be HEALTHY. Don’t do anything that sacrifices your health for the sake of a number on a scale. Remember why you did this. And then, as my fave radio comedia Rickey Smiley (as Bernice Jenkins) says, “Govern yourselves ACCORDINGLY!”

And if you'v fallen off track and need help, I got your back! See my "Back on Track Toolkit" for a good plan to get back on the road to right!