Restriction and eating

[RXG 46]

When you eat (puréed for me right now) and you feel the restriction, do you stop eating OR do you wait a while and continue. I am never hungry so I'm trying to understand if my goal is to finish my 1/4 cup or stop when the restriction kicks in. Thanks.

[slvrsax 301]

I'd be interested in the answer. I'm 18 days out, on pureed and don't feel hunger either. I'm more or less "eating" by the clock. When I say eating I mean less than 1/4 cup of pureed turkey chili or cottage cheese and the like. I'm still relying on Protein shakes for my Protein. I eat about once a day and have a Protein shake in the morning, that is all I seem to desire. Do I push for three times a day?

[Stacy_wls 135]

I would not eat passed satisfaction, but ensure you are meeting your Protein goals. For me this means one yo two Protein Shakes a day.

[Bufflehead 6,358]

My plan says eat until satisfied/you feel the restriction kick in. We are not supposed to wait a while and start eating again later - the dieticians say this leads to building up a "grazing" habit which will be detrimental to weight loss or maintenance later. So, we have three defined meal times and stick to them.

[Mrs.RRn 2,111]

I never could stop at restriction. If so, I'd never eat more than 2 bites of anything (that's ok in the beginning, but at 7 months out , it's not). Not that I'd advise others to do this, but I pretty much "force feed" myself 2-3 oz. just to clarify, I'm never in pain, I just feel full after a bite or two.

[California Kelly 22]

Glad this was posted, I'm wondering about this too. I'm 8 days out and have a hard time distinguishing what the feelings are. It takes me 5 bites of a liquid/purée before I feel a tight sensation and then feel repulsed by what I'm eating. Not to be gross, but the first number two I took after surgery was even a new experience. I just felt funny, went to the bathroom and the business happened! Lol I feel like I should not trust a fart at all. Ahhh, the learning curve...

[gomekast 559]

You should stop for sure. What buffelhead said is the same as my program guidelines.

For me, once I hiccup I'm done. If I have any more bite past this warning, I barf.

I am going into week 11 post op and still can't have much in one sitting. 2 oz of any deli meat, 2 oz Greek plain yogurt, half ounce of a soy burger, 1 oz dark chicken and other meats.

Edited January 4, 2014 by gomekast

[staceyp 29]

Timely post, although my concern is opposite. While I am not hungry or starving considering my limited foods and quantities, I do feel occasional hunger and I do crave foods even though I am following plan perfectly.

When I am eating my measured portioned food, I finish it. Not sure I have an obvious full feeling to guide me.

I am nervous that as my food selection increases, I won't get that signal. I have read that some ppl didn't get that quickly full feeling under 1-2 months out due to nerves affected by surgery and overall healing.

Anyone have any insight on that?

[lark60 431]

Even though I am farther out than most who have replied, I figured I would chime in as well. Initially I could not get in any more than 3 oz (even the Protein shakes were a problem so I concentrated them into a 20 gm Protein pudding of 3 oz 3 times a day) I am now 7 months out (31 weeks to be exact) and have been able to drink an 8 oz protein shake (takes about an hour to get down) and 1/2 "food" for lunch (20-25 gm protein usually meat and a veggy). I still get that full feeling after 2-3 bites of solid food. Then I wait a few minutes and am able to eat a few more bites. If I haven't finished the "meal" in 45 minutes or my stomach starts to give me that feeling like I just finished aThanksgiving meal, I stop eating.

I have had to add an afternoon snack just to get the calorie count over 800 cal. I usually will have a 1 oz cheese stick or a 2 oz cottage cheese/greek yogurt snack. My weight loss has been very slow for the past 3 months but I am still loosing about 1.5 lbs a week so I am sticking with this routine.

[gomekast 559]

Timely post, although my concern is opposite. While I am not hungry or starving considering my limited foods and quantities, I do feel occasional hunger and I do crave foods even though I am following plan perfectly.

When I am eating my measured portioned food, I finish it. Not sure I have an obvious full feeling to guide me.

I am nervous that as my food selection increases, I won't get that signal. I have read that some ppl didn't get that quickly full feeling under 1-2 months out due to nerves affected by surgery and overall healing.

Anyone have any insight on that?

I felt mine in stages. Initially at just a few weeks things started not going down well..like Water.

Then again around week 6ish it changed yet again.

It's just the nerves coming back to life, like you said.

[SueRN 50]

I'm 3 weeks out and worried to, even told my surgeon I think he made my pouch too big. He just laughed, and said I should be happy my recovery is so easy. I can finish 24 oz of Water in less than 30 minutes, 8 oz Protein Shake in 15 minutes and have no trouble eating my 1/2 cup of yogurt. Was told to try soft meats so had 4oz of tilapia and 1/4 cup of mashed cauliflower and no full feeling. Not ever hungry but when I'm supposed to eat I do and have no trouble doing it. Not sure if it's because I have carefully measured and not put more on my plate than instructed. Time will tell but so far down 30 lbs including 2 week preop so hopefully the nerves in my new stomach will wake up and provide that stop switch I never had before. Also going to try that slow eating ap, cuz I eat fast and still can do that with the sleeve

[BiddyBody 11]

Sue, I am the same as you except 4 weeks out! I can eat, but keep myself to the plan. To scared that I will go back to old habits.

[mikey856 11]

Same thing is happening to me at three weeks. When I first started eating soft foods, I tried to eat until I was full, but quickly realized I was eating too much. I have since started measuring out what I'm going to eat. Hopefully my nerves will wake up soon as we'll.

[ddnow61 0]

I am so glad you both posted! I am 16 days post- op and can eat anything without feeling ill. I don't know what to do! At 7 days post-op I started eating soft foods & ever since I crave food. Does anyone know a simple daily eating plan? I easily drink my Protein Shakes in minutes. That kind of Protein doesn't seem to keep me full. I just never expected the beginning to be this difficult. I keep thinking the Doctor didn't really give me the sleeve.

[DirtyHarriett 94]

7 weeks out and can eat most meals and drinks w/o restriction. Kind of scary. I too weigh and measure everything and follow to a "T" and I am losing slowly. At least clothes are baggy so something is happening. Lol.

I envy you quick losers!