Does Feeling Of Fullness Get Better After Puree Food Stage?

[stangslayerws6 1]

I was wondering about feeling of fullness after the soft/puree diet stage. I am 3 weeks (tomorrow) post op and am on the puree/soft foods stage of my diet. I am not sure if it is because of the incredible amount of restriction I used to have from my lap band (I lost almost 200 pounds before complications started) but I feel like I can eat too much right now. My current daily diet is (2) Atkins Protein Shakes. 1 pack of "Weight Control" Quaker oatmeal, approx 8oz of soft broiled fish or imitation crab meat and 2-3 tablespoons of Omega 3 Peanut Butter. I will also have 2-3 tablespoons of pimento cheese daily. I have only felt really full (actually overly full) 2 times since my revision surgery. My question is this: Does the feeling of fullness get better once I can start eating solid foods? Any comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I think that there are a couple of things going on. First the liquid and soft phases often do leave you hungrier as it just doesn't stick. When I started switching to firmer food, I really had a hard time eating at all for awhile. Second, if you are not being treated for acid, you should consider getting on a PPI. The stomach still produces enough acid for 100% size and it is 15% size... it takes awhile for the acid production to reduce on it's own. Acidy tummy feels like hunger. 3, nerves were cut and it takes some time for you to really "feel". It is easy to overeat and not realize it.

My advice is that the first say 6 weeks or so, eat by the measuring cup and clock - your body is not yet properly recognizing hunger signals.

I had the lapband for 10 years and been sleeved for 2. I think the key thing to success with sleeve is rather then thinking how much you "can" eat, thing in terms of how little you need to eat to feel the absence of hunger. You won't get that pain feeling, I never get that saliviating or other awful signals i got from the band. With the band, i often went from, hungry to vomiting with almost no warning. For me, with the sleeve, it is more like having a petite tummy - none of the weirdness. It takes time to get there though and I highly recommend developing the habit to eat as little as it takes to remove your hunger and to eat 4-6 meals a day while in the weight loss phase. (or 3 mini meals and a very small snack or two).

Good luck! I love my sleeve and hope you have tremendous success!

[Band07 374]

It didn't get better for me. I'm 10 weeks out and feel like I can eat way too much compared to everyone else I've read about. I honestly feel like Iv never had surgery, sure I eat less than someone who has never had surgery but it's very comparable to what I ate with the band. I lost 17 lbs the first month and have been stalled for about 5 weeks now. I'm pretty worried long term and hoping I didn't make a huge mistake, I was very successful with the band.

[stangslayerws6 1]

I'm sorry to hear about your stall. What are you typically able to eat daily? Are you having carbs yet? Do you snack between meals? I'm worried too since I did so well with my band

[Band07 374]

I'm not on any restrictions as far as diet goes. I was trying really hard in the beginning to watch my Protein but I was hungry all the time and starting to obsess. I started on Prilosec (for the extra acid) and that did help some but I still get hungry often and I never did with the band. I did great with the band eating whatever I wanted just very little of it so I started to try that the last couple of weeks but that's not really working either. I'm pretty much to the point of accepting this is on me now. With the band it was 80% band 10% me and I lost all my weight and kept it off for six years. With the sleeve I feel it's 80% me. I am very jealous of those who say they never feel hunger or think about food or get full on 6 bites. I had that before and was hoping it would be the same with the sleeve just less getting stuck. Iv never thrown up since my surgery but I do at times get very very nauseous and I can't figure out what causes it yet. Good luck to you, hope your experiences are better than mine have been.

[stangslayerws6 1]

I have not vomited since my sleeve revision either, however, those (2) times that I ate too much I felt VERY nauseous. I have only ate things that are not on my diet (1) time and that was yesterday while me and my wife were out of town shopping. I had a bowl of Lobster bisque for dinner and a half piece of gourmet white chocolate as a snack for lunch. (I didn't eat any lunch because we had dinner reservations at 5pm). I did not beat myself up over eating it because I have been on a liquid/puree diet for over a month now. What seems weird to me is that even if I don't feel full after I eat my 4oz of Protein, as soon as I have Water (30 minutes after eating) its like I feel overly full (nauseous). Very different from the band. I personally do not have any scales at my house so I don't weigh myself very often. However, all my clothes are getting looser so I pray that I am indeed losing weight. I know I should be keeping a food diary but have not started one yet. I may have to after that lobster bisque and chocolate yesterday lol . I DO KNOW that I can not eat the same things as I did with my band or I will definitely start gaining weight. With the band, I could only eat horrible food choices because healthy food simply would not to through my band. Many times even Water or any other liquid would not go through the band. When I had my band I always bragged like I was on a Jenny Craig commercial. "I lost 194 pounds eating Reese Cups" lol I hope this all works out for both of us.