193.4; Disconnected Brain

One of my co-workers had the Roux-N-Y surgery 4 weeks ago.  This is what people traditionally know as gastric bypass surgery.  They take your stomach out, create a pouch the size of your thumb and attach it to your small intestines.  He chose this for various reasons that I won't get into, because it's his story and he's not here to tell it. 

He returned to work yesterday about 36 pounds lost in 4 weeks.  He looks great and aside from trying to relearn how to eat, he feels great.  His learning to eat is vastly different from mine.  Yet we still share some common issues.  For instance there are times that I have to make myself drink water later in the day.  I feel so full from eating for so long, that I don't have the urge to drink.  He has the same issue.

(hold on while I take a huge gulp of my water)

We were talking yesterday about how the brain is so disconnected from the body.  He had a period of time where he was so tired of the soup that made up his whole diet that he didn't 'eat' for 2 days.  Our other co-worker was shocked that he didn't eat and asked him if he was hungry?

Now let me explain that this is an honest question.  It seems logical, right?  But in reality hunger is mostly gone for me and all gone for him.  His body does not signal him to eat, he has to remind himself to eat at times.  I can do the same.  There are weekends when I'll be busy with errands and groceries and other things and realize at dinner time that I haven't eaten anything. 

However, both his brain and my brain continually tell us to indulge.  It tells you to eat.  So snack.  To get that pizza.  To gorge on the chocolate.  But your body does not want it.  It's painfully obvious to me now, how disconnected by body is from my brain.  It wasn't just that my body wasn't signalling correctly, it's that my brain had no intention of reading my body's signals.

My brain & body have been so disconnected for so long, that there was no hope of them coming together without outside help.  This is powerful stuff.  This realization.  Even now I struggle with that brain disconnect telling me to eat.  I don't need it and don't want it but my brain, it's a superpower of the body and it makes it plainly clear that it has a goal. 

So while the band is a tool, it's my brain that I need to retrain. I need to learn to ignore my brain for now and listen to my body.  It's my body that I need to be accountable to, not the brain. 

Is your body connected to your brain well when it comes to food?