walleyecrazy

Definitely eat slowly, and when you thinking you are eating slow enough then slow down a little more lol. I have concentrated on eating my food slowly since my surgery, and in the 15 months since have yet to throw up from eating. I concentrate on keeping it slow and generally know about how much I can eat now. Shortly after surgery though where you are still learning your new stomach it is a little more difficult. I found for me that I just concentrated on staying slow, and at the first sign of any discomfort I stopped eating. What I found was that the discomfort was generally a small amount of gas trying to work it’s way out of my stomach as the stomach became full. Following this method has worked great, and as I said I have been lucky enough to have not thrown up since my surgery. I read all the horror stories of people constantly throwing up while eating, and that was all it took to make me really concentrate on this part of my recovery and new eating habits.

I can’t speak to your specific situation, but I will tell you what has worked for me as a father of two about 15 months post surgery. I have looked at this surgery as a tool all along. It is something I needed to learn to utilize to get the desired results. What I found post surgery is that I immediately began treating my food the same way. Your food intake post surgery is so low that in order to stay healthy you need to make what enters your mouth count. Since my surgery I have looked at food as a tool. Before I eat anything I am now thinking about what my body needs to fuel it and make sure I stay healthy with my reduced intake. It has been a complete and total mindset change from my pre-surgery thinking, and honestly I was surprised at how easy it was to change my way of thinking. Immediately post surgery I was consumed with hitting my water and protein numbers. This focus on hitting daily targets forced me into this way of thinking and I am thankful for it. Just remember this is a life long commitment. Take the time to stop and think before you eat anything, and think about wether it is really something your body needs or it is just something you are eating because you want it. After some time it becomes habit, and not eating the junk is just routine.

I am 10 months out from surgery and am down 144lbs from my high weight last year. Physically I feel amazing other than having had my gallbladder removed a few days ago. I feel better now than I did 10 years ago. My issue comes in mentally where my mind still hasn’t caught up with my physical state. I am 6’4” and currently sitting at 189lbs so well within the normal BMI range now. The funny thing is though I constantly have family members telling me that I have gotten too skinny and don’t look healthy. Yet with all of that said, in my head I still see the same person I was a year ago before I began this journey. That constant mental battle to see myself in my true current state is a good thing in a way though because it has kept me focused on my journey. It really seems to help me stay in line when it comes to my eating and exercise.

That is one of the biggest adjustments we all have to learn post op. It is really surprising just how slow you really do need to eat in order to not overeat and make yourself sick.