Worried About How Little I Can Eat 4 Months Out.

[TMyers1471 87]

I was sleeved on May 21st. I'm off all food restrictions. However, I am NEVER hungry. I have to force myself to eat. And when I do eat, I can literally eat only an ounce of food..maybe two on a good day. I am not complaining about that, except that I worry I am not getting hardly any nutrition. I don't want to live on Protein Shakes to supplement what I can't eat.

Does your tolerance for food increase with time? If so, when is that going to happen?

[Katie713 423]

I am also 4 months out...and I can eat about 4 oz at a sitting and I do have hunger, but it is nothing like it used to be and I am easily satisfied.

I would talk to my nutritionist and see what they think about your intake and can you expect to be able to tolerate more as time moves forward? How many calories are you consuming daily?

Are you losing alot of hair? I have been for awhile, but I see a whole new undergrowth of hair coming in so hopefully it will level out soon.

[Wheetsin 714]

I'm about 5 mos out. I can eat more than an ounce or two of some foods, but not all. I average 550 - 600 calories a day.

[ThisTimeIsIt 71]

I was sleeved on 4/13 and can eat between 2.5 to 3.5 oz depending on what it is. Met with the doctor Friday who said flucuation in amounts depends on ToM and I don't have a stricture.

[barrbdoll 287]

I was sleeved April 16th and am lucky to get down 1/2 of a lean cuisine..... I'm not counting carbs, calories, etc... but I still try to eat Protein rich foods. I don't weigh my food but from my guessing I can eat about 3/4-1 cup of food in one setting. The more protein the less I eat.... Also... I am rarely hungry.... but I eat 4-5 times a day just to make sure I am getting my nutrients and keeping my metabolism in gear!

[MegInNOLA 531]

It's okay--I know it's strange, but some bodies just don't "do" the same volume as others for lots of reasons. I wasn't able to eat much at that point, either, max of 1/4 cup of food--I stayed at that same volume until almost a year out from surgery!

The trick is to maximize your nutrition and see if a schedule of mini-meals helps you keep your energy up and your metabolism running high. From around 3 months to around a year out, I typically ate 5 or 6 "mini-meals" through the day. A mini-meal might be part of a container of yogurt or 2 tablespoons of almonds/cranberries or some cheese or 1/2 a Protein bar... there's lots of options. I will say that even today, my most typical eating pattern is that of probably 5 mini-meals over the course of the day... today, for instance, I ate 1/2 a Breakfast cookie and some iced coffee for one mini-meal, then about 1/8 c. of fresh mango and some roasted asparagus for another; now, I'm about to go have a few small slices of cheese with a couple of crackers. That's what I mean by "mini-meals." This method of eating helps me get in enough nutrition IF I'm smart with my food choices and keeps my blood sugar steady and keeps my energy high.

[PdxMan 4,292]

I was in the same boat. For me, this was one of the challenges of the sleeve and why this is NOT the "easy way out" of dieting. It is a challenge. Everything you put in your mouth HAS to be nutritionally relevant. You just can't afford frivolous eating. With the restriction I had then, and the amount of exercise I was doing, I had to basically eat all the time. I was never hungry (and for the most part, still never am) but I just kept on the same schedule. I didn't eat to the point of being uncomfortable, but I always had something in arm's reach.

4 months out, I was hitting about 800-900 calories doing this.

[Wheetsin 714]

A few more things to keep in mind. The density of the food absolutely matters. Your body size matters. I thought restriction with my sleeve would be consistent - but it's not really. So things like day, time of day, etc. really matter. I've pretty much given up dinner. It's just not comfortable for me to eat at night and I don't want to risk the reflux by pushing it (that's part of why I'm still not up to a realiable 600 cals/day even at 5 months out). Size of your stomach matters. They remove the fundus/greater curvature, but some stomachs are longer than others.

Volume-wise - probably under 1/4C for me most of the time. There have been a few exceptions. I also do not count my intake as "what I can eat in 20 minutes". I count it as "however long it takes, until I'm satisfied or think I just need to stop."

It can matter if you're a revision, too. And the location of your scar tissue.

[Wheetsin 714]

BTW, I truly feel like I eat all the time. Between Breakfast (which I eat around 7:30) and lunch (varies, usually sometime between 11 and 1) I normally have at least one small snack. Maybe two. I'm not hungry, but I need more calories. A snack may be a handful of almonds, or 1/2 - 1 Protein bar, or a piece or two of Jerky, or some turkey pepperoni chips, or whatever. Then lunch, and between lunch and dinner (IF I eat, which is rare, dinner is around 7:30) I normally have another snack or two. I probably eat 6 - 8 times a day, and STILL linger under 600 calories a day, most days.

It's HARD to eat enough. And I can't just count on my capacity increasing (I've been told more than once that due to the severity of my revisional scar tissue, I will likely hit my peak capacity 4 - 6 months out). But I already feel like I'm eating all the time. This is a balancing act I'm still trying to learn.

[TMyers1471 87]

A few more things to keep in mind. The density of the food absolutely matters. Your body size matters. I thought restriction with my sleeve would be consistent - but it's not really. So things like day, time of day, etc. really matter. I've pretty much given up dinner. It's just not comfortable for me to eat at night and I don't want to risk the reflux by pushing it (that's part of why I'm still not up to a realiable 600 cals/day even at 5 months out). Size of your stomach matters. They remove the fundus/greater curvature, but some stomachs are longer than others.

Volume-wise - probably under 1/4C for me most of the time. There have been a few exceptions. I also do not count my intake as "what I can eat in 20 minutes". I count it as "however long it takes, until I'm satisfied or think I just need to stop."

It can matter if you're a revision, too. And the location of your scar tissue.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has given up dinner. But then I have to cook something for my two kids, and that is a challenge when I just can't eat.

[PdxMan 4,292]

Also, wanted to add ...

Now at 13 months out, I can eat about double what I ate at 4 months out, but in comparison, it is still a tiny amount.

My wife, who is like 130 pounds, can eat more than double what I can at dinner, so I still have to be conscience of what I eat, but I do allow myself some frivolous eating now.

[Wheetsin 714]

Yeah, I feel you. I still cook for DD and DH. I may nibble, but usually even the nibbles hang around longer than I want them to. It's a a rare evening that I can comfortably eat. Maybe along the magnitude of 1x per month or so. Dang it! They always want me to sit at the table with them too. Ok, let me sit here... *whistle* I want to cook for them - that part of it doesn't bother me. And it's not that I mind not eating. I have no problems going out and just getting a drink. It's just that when I feel that way, I don't want to see/smell food.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has given up dinner. But then I have to cook something for my two kids, and that is a challenge when I just can't eat.

[MegInNOLA 531]

Now at 13 months out, I can eat about double what I ate at 4 months out, but in comparison, it is still a tiny amount.

Yep. I'm at 16 months out now and can eat more than I used to, but still pretty small amounts. I loved your phrase "nutritionally relevant." AMEN. That, I think, is the secret, more than anything else. Make sure everything that goes into your body is nutritionally relevant. That eliminates every form of junk, "empty" carbs, extra fat, and food that will ultimately not help anyone reach goal weight. I might even say to aim for nutritionally OPTIMUM, which for me means deliberately choosing high-nutrient foods (veggies, fruits, low-fat Protein sources) to fill vitamin/mineral requirements IN ADDITION TO the supplements we take. There are a gazillion helpful substances in veggies and fruit that cannot be duplicated in a lab--choosing optimal food is especially important when our volume capacity is so low and our energy requirements so high! You wouldn't put low-grade fuel into a top-notch engine; it's worth it to treat our bodies like the Ferraris they are!!

[TMyers1471 87]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and helpful advice everyone. Eating out is the WORST! For instance, today I went to a restaurant and ordered a cup of french onion Soup. The waitress says, "is that all you want?" I said yes. Then I could only eat a few spoonfuls. She comes back and asks me if something was wrong with the soup because I said I was done. Ugh! Then I have my boyfriend telling me how bad he feels about eating his bacon cheeseburger in front of me. I eat healthy and have not felt a single urge to eat any fatty and high sugar foods. Sometimes I feel like I have a disease the way people treat me about my new eating habits.

[Miriam 50]

I'm in the same boat as you - six months out but still not usually eating more than I was eating two or three months ago, which is maybe 1/4 cup of food at a time, never more than 4 times a day (if I try to get in more, I get very, very sick and miserable). I don't have a problem eating supper, but my Breakfast is usually super-small. As PdxMan said, this IS a challenge - for me it's probably the biggest challenge as I'm still having a hard time mentally coping with these amounts - I have always been a volume eater, naturally blessed with a big appetite and also having that increased by meds, but most of all just enjoying the taste of food. So now, having just a few bites and feeling full, I always feel like "but I didn't have a chance to enjoy it at all," not to mention that I always have to be super-alert to that full feeling (because as I said, I get very sick very quickly) which also takes away from the enjoyment. But I'm slowly getting there.

On the one hand, I keep telling myself that I should be happy because this super-restriction is surely part of the reason why I'm losing weight so quickly. On the other hand, I really long for the day that I can just have double the capacity that I do now. K also worry about nutrition, as you do. And a teeny-tiny part of me (very teeny, because despite all the weight I lost, I still can't picture myself at goal) worries - and simultaneously hopes - that I'll hit goal and keep losing because the way I am now, there is no way I can up my calories to the number needed for maintenance. If this sounds all messed up, well, hey, it is, but I'd venture to say that most of us have had to cope or are still coping with all kinds of issues related to food and weight loss. Just my two cents worth...