Hi All,

I had my sleeve done in Feb and am super happy with the results. I have lost 80 pounds and feel wonderful physically. The emotional side has been another story. My brain is still the food-addicted emotional eater. I have constant food cravings that I know are for comfort food and the fact that I cannot eat as much as I want anymore makes me really sad like I have to face life without my trusty coping mechanism. I am NOT complaining or longing to return to the bad old days--I just want these food cravings to go away. They really wear me down emotionally.
I go to a wonderful therapist and we have made a lot of progress. It is just that overeating was how I got through life for 30+ years and it is still an innate response.
Anyone else deal with this?

Well, I can't help you as I haven't had the surgery, but I certainly hope the head hunger goes away. I can't take it much longer!

Wanting to eat, especially when I am upset troubles me as well. I had to have my sleeve to realise how food was so closely linked to my mood. Now I try to keep myself occupied when feeling sad or frustrated. I try to express myself through writing, singing and painting. I also returned back to meditation, because it helps me relax and empty my head of all thoughts.

To be honest I thinjk emotional hunger never really leaves us. It is just that we have to learn to project that desire on something else. I even go window shopping or clothe browsing when I want to eat because looking at clothes keeps me motivated to lose weight and not eat.

I wish I could answer that... I'm still struggling every day with head hunger

Nope.
Sorry to say. I battle with it every day.

I can confidently say that YES head hunger goes away. I actually have trouble getting in enough calories now because I don't ever feel hungry anymore. I'll be hungry for about one meal per day, and then I have to remind myself to get in enough calories for rest of the day to stay healthy. It gets kind of annoying when I have to count my calories at the end of the day and realize that I haven't gotten enough calories in...AGAIN. lol but that's just me. I've lost a lot and my weight loss has slowed down now, but I'm glad the surgery did it's job.

I got lap band in March 2009 and since then (it's been a little more than a year) I've lost about 130 pounds. I feel really good, but to lose the last bit I've started exercising, and it's working pretty well for me.

That would be a NO from me. I have head hunger every day. Last night on the way home from work, I was contemplating what I could eat when I got home that was no calories, healthy, and blah blah blah. I wasn't even hungry!!!! I'm like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, "If I only had a brain!"
Well, a brain that worked right!!!!!!! LOL!

I can confidently say that YES head hunger goes away.

You will find that most of us are on "autopilot" the first year or two and this does not come into play....but many years down the line, it's a different story.. I hope you are exception to the rules, but most of us will struggle at some point again with the head hunger.

I would have said the same thing at a year and a half out!