Over a year out: How much can you eat?

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I know this question has been asked a million times, but I wanted to hear from fellow vets. Unfortunately for me, I can consume more than I wish I could. I still spot check my food quantity and weight, and count calories to ensure I'm on track. If I just "listened to my body" I'd be 300 pounds, I fear. I have let myself eat as much as I wanted a couple of times, and while I wasn't measuring it then, I was shocked that I could eat at least 1.5 cups. Typically, I stay between 1/2 and 1 cup. I can easily eat 5-6 ounces of lean Protein. My surgeon said that's pretty typical, and that some people develop an area of ballooning in a portion of their stomach. He said there is no evidence to suggest that it's harmful, or that there is increased success in removing it. He didn't suggest doing any tests to find out, and neither did I, since I'm fine. It's just that I wish I had more restriction than I do. I've never had restriction like so many people report, but obviously, it was enough to lose a significant amount of weight. I keep my calories around 1100/day, some days a little more. I do experience hunger, but it's most certainly manageable.

1. What is your capacity in measurement (cups)?

2. What is your capacity in weight (ounces, grams)?

3. How many calories do you consume?

4. How's your hunger?

[Bufflehead 6,358]

1. What is your capacity in measurement (cups)?

I never measure my food in cups, other than liquids, so honestly I have no idea. Sorry!

2. What is your capacity in weight (ounces, grams)?

About 4-5 ounces total, usually 2.5 ounces lean meat + 1.5 ounce green veggies is enough to satisfy. I can't eat more than about 3.5 ounces of lean meat, that completely fills me up and I have no room for veggies after that.

3. How many calories do you consume?

Usually between 950-1150. I am still losing.

4. How's your hunger?

As long as I stick to a low-ish carb diet, my hunger is there but easily manageable. It's when I go off plan and start eating crap that I just get more and more cravings. When I am eating right and get hungry before I am supposed to eat again (I maintain a rigid schedule), I remind myself of the lessons I have learned: hunger is unpleasant but it is not an emergency. I can live with being hungry until I get to eat again. I am not actually going to die of starvation if I wait another couple of hours, and I can find something else to do in the meantime. It is okay to be hungry.

[Miss Mac 6,262]

At 15 months, I can drink a cup of liquid in about 20 minutes. A satisfying meal is aroud 3/4 cup of food, more if it is a salad because everything gets mushed up pretty good and the veggies are mostly Water (cukes, Tomato, greens).

[Kindle 8,667]

I am 15 months out and don't measure or weigh my food and I don't count calories, so I figured I couldn't really answer your questions. But I thought I'd pay attention to what I was eating for a few days and think about some of my typical meals so I could give you some input. Here's examples of what I can eat in one sitting....

Container of Greek yogurt usually with Kashi Go lean Cereal mixed in

4 oz of fish with tartar sauce. But I usually have to spread this out. I can eat about 2/3 then take a little break before finishing.

2/3 cup of a thick Soup (I had homemade cheddar bacon vegetable Soup yesterday that's thick like a chowder or stew)

1 cup of a thinner soup like Amy's Thai curry

1 cup of Bob's Red Mill hot Cereal with Protein powder added (only if I eat really slow and I usually end up reheating it at the end)

Maybe 2-3 oz of dense Protein like chicken or steak

1/2-3/4 cup veggies

Quest bar (which doesn't fill me up)

One egg omelet with cheese and veggies or cheese and ham/bacon. I could probably eat a 2 egg omelet, but have never tried it.

One small pancake and 1 small piece of turkey sausage. Actually, I can't quite finish this.

1/4 large apple or 1/2 small one

3-4 pieces of sushi (hand roll)

3-4 small BBQ ribs

The smallest Chinese takeout container lasts me 3 meals.

On the other hand, I could drink Protein shakes non/stop and probably inhale an entire jar of Peanut Butter. chips, cake, Cookies, cheesecake, ice cream, etc could go down very easily in mass quantities! As for calories, I counted for a couple days back in December (before the Christmas feeding frenzy started) and I was getting 1400-1600 calories/day. Probably still about the same.

As for hunger, I could easily eat every 2 hours but I try to push it to 3. I'm definitely hungrier in the afternoon and early evening, but not so much in the morning or later evening. If I eat sweets I definitely start craving sweets. But that's not really hunger.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Kindle

[sharonintx 1,275]

2 years out, can eat maybe 3/4 cup per meal,about 6 oz. at a time, can drink 20 ounces in 2 hours or so, and I've been tracing calorie intake for a few weeks now and it's usually between 900-1100 calories a day with an occasional 1300. There's no way I could eat 1300 calories everyday. I just can't hold it. In fact I think my sleeve has gotten smaller and I've wondered if anyone else has experienced it.

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Thanks everyone for your answers, they were all very insightful. Even though I don't, I think I could easily eat double what most of you can eat. :/

I wish I had more restriction than I do. I'm thankful that I can tolerate anything, but that is really a double edged sword. I always have to force myself to stop eating before I am full. My allotment of calories and food really is not very satisfying. But being thin is, so I guess this is my life.

[Momonanomo 534]

I find that it depends on what I eat. I could eat a ton of junk it seems (and junk food always makes me want MORE junk food). But if I eat Protein and good fats, I get full on a smaller quantity and don't get hungry as quickly.

I don't have measurements for you, but I could eat half a dozen chips ahoy Cookies in a couple of minutes with no restriction. However, if I eat 3 ounces of steak I'm full. Funny -- I don't feel like crap after the steak, but the Cookies make me feel pretty lethargic.

So I try to stick to good amounts of good food, and only eat the crap every once in a while.

Bottom line: good quality food gives me restriction, bad quality food, not so much.

[alwaysonadiet 47]

I am 13 months out and I cannot hardly eat anything. I have sooo much restriction it's crazy. I don't know if my surgeon made my sleeve too small or what, but it absolutely painfully hurts if I eat too much, I just simply can't. I'm constantly thirsty and Water is difficult to get down. However I was able to reach my goal and even exceed it in very little time. Eating is just not enjoyable at all anymore, it's very disheartening! I eat about 1/4 cup of cottage cheese for lunch and can only get down a half a bowl of Soup for dinner. If I'm hungry between I just snack on chips, they go down easily and I don't feel hungry. I am under 500 calories a day, I can really eat anything I want because I'm restricted to just a few bites, but am maintaining my weight since November. I did lose most of my hair, which is slowly growing back. It's been a hard and winding road!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I am 13 months out and I cannot hardly eat anything. I have sooo much restriction it's crazy. I don't know if my surgeon made my sleeve too small or what, but it absolutely painfully hurts if I eat too much, I just simply can't. I'm constantly thirsty and Water is difficult to get down. However I was able to reach my goal and even exceed it in very little time. Eating is just not enjoyable at all anymore, it's very disheartening! I eat about 1/4 cup of cottage cheese for lunch and can only get down a half a bowl of Soup for dinner. If I'm hungry between I just snack on chips, they go down easily and I don't feel hungry. I am under 500 calories a day, I can really eat anything I want because I'm restricted to just a few bites, but am maintaining my weight since November. I did lose most of my hair, which is slowly growing back. It's been a hard and winding road!

That's the opposite side of the coin. It's got to be really rough to have such a severe restriction at this point that keeps you at 500 calories. Would be great if we could meet up in the middle, wouldn't it?

Regarding the hair - I also lost a lot of hair, and that was one of the reasons I increased my calories from 700-800 to around 1100. I lost hair for at least 8-10 months or longer, and it didn't start growing back until I was about 14-15 months. It took about 6 months to come back, so in other words, a super slow process. I don't think it's all back, yet, but looks decent. It was thin to begin with, but at least you can't see my scalp all over any more. It is a hard road!!!

[Zane's Mom 184]

Thank you vets for the responses. I wanted to ask the same question and I feel the same way too about being able to eat the sweets in larger quantities.

I am at 9 months and at goal but sometimes I'm just miserable. My sleeve is just more cranky than I am with the foods it wants and it makes every day a challenge.

I really want to know if I will ever feel normal every day when I eat. I keep saying that it's still me: I eat too fast or too big of a bite or too much and I'm too full. I would have to say that every single day since my sleeve has been a constant work in progress to get myself together. Right now it's more like 65% uncomfortable and35% ok.

I want to know why some vets do regain the weight? Please don't beat me up answering. Can they really eat more volume?? And therefore eat more calories or is it eating poor calories/fats but in the smaller volume???

The reason I ask is that I heard and read that most sleeve sizes are the same. And from what I've read here, we are eating about the same. So ... Where is the falling off part? I guess that even if I eat crappy all day I get so full so fast I'm miserable and if I truly pushed it, I would throw up. So I don't know if I actually could consume that.

Please be gentle with my feelings. I've never had to ask questions about regaining weight. It's always been about losing.

And even though it's not great, at least I know there are others out there that do not feel Peachy and roses every day with their sleeve. Mine is mean a lot and I think we just need to play nice.

Thanks vets. I'll be joining you soon.

[joatsaint 2,814]

Here's a typical day's food for me. I've been eating pretty much this amount everyday since my 1 year surgerversary. :-)

[SeriouslyChange 319]

I'm about 2.5 years out

I can't eat a full serving that includes starchy carbs in one sitting. I can pick at it throughout the day and eat it for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

I've always hated sweets, so it's not a problem for me

I'm still a huge lightweight when it comes to drinking, which is a good/bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I can easily eat 3-7oz of Protein

I can eat 2-3 slices of toast

2 slices of pizza

1 whole bagel with cream cheese

3/4 of a super burrito no rice

Depending on how I'm eating, I can stretch my sleeve out to whole bagel size or shrink it down to 1.5 hard boiled eggs. It's fairly simple to do.

My highest weight was 330, surgery weight 305 lowest weight 148 current weight 165. My goal weight at 5'4 was 175 so I'm feeling great about myself. I would like to lose a little more but I'm happy as is.

[alwaysonadiet 47]

Now I'm 17 months out, and I can eat a lot more than I could at Just 2 months ago, I don't know what happened over the last few months but it's a lot easier to eat, now I can NEVER finish any meal I can't even finish a half of sandwich, but I Can eat it all throughout the day. I do eat whatever I want and I never measure or count calories or carbs I just go by what the scale says. I have been holding at 118 lbs for almost a year now, but in the last few weeks the scale has been moving up. Just this morning the scale said 123 lbs. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. What I can't stand is the burping and gurgling my stomach makes after eating or drinking anything. Does anyone know if that will stop? It seems it's getting worse but maybe because I've been eating more.

[lucky1gg33 107]

I am "lucky" I suppose bc I can tolerate anything. I have restriction but it's not too severe. The downside is that I am losing slower than my roommate (same surgery date)...she eats next to nothing, Water makes her sick and she lives off of pedialyte. I am happy with my slow loss (although maybe jealous of her appearance). I was a revision so I am probably destined to lose slower and from what I have read, may not lose as much.

[brittu 42]

I'm 5 years out. 4-6 ounces of meat is my limit. Although I'm not as miserable if I overeat as I was for the first 18 months, I don't like the feeling and try to stop before the one bite too many. My problems come if I graze, snack, take too long to eat or eat carb or slider foods. Funny how it all comes back to Protein first. If I do that I don't eat much. I don't have hunger. The lactose intolerance and dumping I had the first couple years is gone. I've regained in the last year and am working w my doctor on relosing.