5 months post op -

[lkcnewbeginnings 77]

I am 60 pounds down and have met my first goal. I am a "lightweight" so I only have 10 pounds left. I just increased my calories from 800-900. I do get nervous though when I realize that the amount that I can eat is increasing. I would love to stay with the very small servings, but as I understand it, the goal is to move to small, but normal serving sizes at some point. Correct? Any post op pros out there on how life looks at goal?

[Introversion 1,876]

I am definitely no post-op pro. I am two years and one month out.

Yes, it is normal for your stomach's capacity to increase over time. The tight feeling your sleeve had during the first few post-op months does not last forever. Surgeon Dr. Matthew Weiner explained in one of his YouTube videos that the typical sleever can consume two-thirds of a plate of food by 3 to 5 years out.

I reached goal this past September. I maintain a body weight of 118 pounds (plus or minus a pound or two) on an intake of about 2000 calories a day. Since I like to have freedom with my food choices, I run an average of 30 miles per week to maintain my weight.

I increased my calories incrementally during my journey. During months 1 to 3 I was eating up to 800 calories daily. In months 4 I bumped it up to 1000, and by the sixth month I was up to 1200 calories. By the ninth month I was in the 1400 to 1500 calorie range, and at my one-year anniversary I was up to 1700 calories a day.

Although increasing my caloric intake resulted in slower weight loss, it helped preserve my metabolism. I am bouncing on a cloud about being able to maintain a lower body weight on a normal intake.

As far as the increased capacity is concerned, your restriction is not what will carry you or maintain your weight loss as time passes. It is all about what you choose to put into your mouth. For instance, I am able to eat two small fast food cheeseburgers in one sitting even though I choose not to. I can eat an entire 6-inch sub sandwich or three pieces of chicken (a thigh and 2 drumsticks), but I choose not to.

My appetite returned during the 8th month post-op.