Am I eating too much

[RedWolf 11]

DS surgery 12/7/15. Lifting weights or walking almost daily.

Im a bit worried because it seems I can comfortably eat a normal portion of fish before getting any full feeling. In one sitting I had 4oz of salmon and two crab cakes before feeling anything close to full. At another I ate 7 oz of talapia and a 3oz cup of lobster bisque for another meal. With no issues in or out. I ate slow and chewed but Is this volume normal? Im only 3 wks out. As long as its not near meal time, I can drink all I the Water I want without any ill effects and without second thought about pace. Im actually wondering if doc forgot to reduce my stomach or didnt reduce it enough, ha. At one point as a test I actually did 2 forks of pecan pie well chewed. At another i had the lean parts of a bacon slice and about 1/2 ounce of lean part of ham. I havent had a serious bloated feeling since about one week out. I know DS'ers have more stomach Ive certainly reduced my preop intake, and other than the few bites of bacon and ham and pie above have religiously followed nutrition and exercise regiment. But I almost feel like I should slowly explore more to find out what it feels like and how to recognize it coming on and what would cause it. I had two episodes of diarreha but those were while on pure liquid. What gives?

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

First of all why are you even testing yourself by eating pie and bacon!! This is definitely looking for trouble. You should be measuring out your portion that you should be eating, say 3-4 ounces and that's it!! At three weeks out your stomachs nerves are still healing and you can't properly judge your intake you could seriously be damaging yourself. Start following your program that should have been laid out for you and good luck.

[Djmohr 6,965]

I am with @@Threetimesacharm on this one. You should not be testing at this point because the nerves in your stomach have not healed and you really cannot feel how full you are.

You should be following your plan, measuring your food, logging your food so you know exactly what you are putting into your body.

I am sure you have heard this: just because you can eat that much doesn't mean you should.

This is the head part. I would suggest setting up an appointment with your nutritionist and possibly a phycologist to help you through.

Sorry for the tough love but you are on a slippery slope right now and these little tests can put you right back where you started.

By the way, I am not a DS patient but I can eat anything I want. Every time I slip and eat something like pie or chips, I stall out sometimes for weeks at a time. My longest stall was 28 days and I clearly caused it myself.

I will say I never tried to push the envelope until I was 6 months post op and fully healed.

[RedWolf 11]

Ok. I thought we were supposed to feel when we were full. And with the push for Protein, i thought it was ok to eat. As to the few bites of other stuff , I think I was just curious whether Id be sensitive and to see if i would keel over dead. But i appreciate the advice. Ill stay on track.

[RedWolf 11]

I was kind of hoping some DS patients might offer their thoughts. I understand there is a lot of difference between ds and the gastric bypass as to stomach size and digestion.

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

My understanding is that the stomach is the same as a sleeve but the switch part is what makes for the intense weight loss. I had researched this surgery prior to getting the gastric bypass. Maybe check out other DS forums as they may be able to answer your questions.

[goblue9280 481]

Had gastric bypass and I had worries about my pouch size. I've only just now started to recognize a full feeling at almost 3 months out. I was eating fish/chicken by 4 weeks out and not feeling full on a 2.5 ounce portion size. However, I stuck to measuring out my food and never tried to push it. Even today I don't know how much I can eat before getting sick, as I've never made myself sick. I know I can eat 3/4 cup and will start to feel full.

So yeah, with a bigger pouch size for DS, you may never experience an overwhelming full feeling. The key (to echo others) is to stick to your plan... eventually your stomach will heal and your head will get in line and you'll start to recognize new feelings of being satiated.

[DingyDeb 7]

From what i've read when it's a virgin surgery to DS the sleeve is slightly larger than it is when the surgery is for sleeve alone. I had the sleeve in '08 and just had the Sips Dec 18th and they did a scope first to see how my stomach was. He told me it was the right size and no odd shape to it or anything so they wouldn't need to do anything with it. I'm sure it at least stretched some in 7 yrs, which maybe it did but not beyond what it should be for the DS type surgeries.

[CrimsonCarousel 31]

I'm also a DS patient, and my experience has been seemingly similar to yours, in that side effects have been extremely minimal. I've found that I can eat a little more or less depending on the day, but I always stop after I've eaten a few ounces, no matter how full I do or do not feel. For example, I felt stuffed last night after eating 4 small/medium shrimp. Another day I can eat 3 ounces of steak and a couple ounces of steamed broccoli. I'm a little over three months out now, and I follow my plan pretty well, but once in a while I'll slip and take a bite of mashed potatoes, which I'm not supposed to eat until I'm six months out.

Please, please be careful with what you put into your body. Keep in mind that this entire experience is largely mental, and the commitment you've made to your health involves discipline and a mindset that will put you on the path to a lifetime of good, healthy eating habits. It's hard at first to recognize whether you're head hungry or actually hungry. I think that a lot of this is because actual hunger is very rare, and it doesn't seem normal to us to eat so little and still feel ok. It is, though - it's just our new normal.

I wish you the best in getting back on target.

Edited January 7, 2016 by CrimsonCarousel

[toastedink 115]

Hi, DS patient here. If you're feeling hungry my suggestion is drink more Water. Sometimes you aren't hungry, you're dehydrated.