When meeting with my dietician at discharge she held up two small medicine dose cups and put them together. She said the 2 oz pouch was my new stomach. Obviously as I healed I was able to increase my intake from that small 2 oz cup to almost my pre-band portions. After my first adjustment that was significantly reduced and now it is a little more.

At this time, my first adjustment, I have some good restriction but I know more would be better.

My largest meal is lunch and is from 7-10 oz. by weight. dinner is about 7 oz. and Breakfast between 2-3 oz. since my band seems tighter in the morning. Most meals are fairly solid because I like how long the solid food sits in the band versus Soup or mushies like mashed potatos. I vary my calorie intake and range between 800-1300, shooting at about 1000 average at suggestion of my surgeon.

All of these are far larger than the 2 oz. the dietician said I would be living with.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I looking at this incorrectly? Can the stomach really stretch that much to accomodate 10 oz. from its little 2 oz. size? Do you think women have the same capacity as my female bandster friend eats significantly less than me.

Your pouch is not expanding to accommodate the excess food. You don't have tight restriction yet so most of it is dropping right through.

I am not sure about the women's stomach question but my guess would be that they have the same size organs as men. Well, most organs. :bored:

Sorry...I know that this is posted in the Men's Room but I also had a lot of questions about this topic too.

I was also told prior to surgery that I will only be able to eat about 1/2-cup of food per meal, and that my new pouch wouldn't accept anymore than that amount. They stressed that you should eat slowly until you feel 'full' and then stop.

I have had two fills since surgery and I am able to eat as much as I could preband if I chew it all well....not that I allow myself to do that. I have yet to feel that 'full' feeling no matter how much, or what, I eat. I have not come across a specific food that I can't consume.

I asked my surgeon during my last fill if I am doing damage to my pouch if I am able to eat more than the 1/2-cup recommended. My surgeon looked at my pouch and band under flouro and said that everything is just fine. He explained that since I have not yet reached restriction the well chewed food is just passing through the band and not staying up in the pouch.....actually a 'pouch' doesn't really exist until you reach restriction.

It is comforting to know that I will SOMEDAY be restricted and feel that 'full' feeling. I can't wait to be able to eat a 1/2-cup meal and actually feel satisfied. Hunger is my constant companion!

Thank you both for sharing.

Jackslapband, I think that of course, depending on your height, that your stomach is bigger than a woman's. Feet, hands, noses, heads all come in different sizes--stomachs must too--it only makes sense. IMO, nutritionists who show you those little cups are just trying to get you to think smaller when it comes to portions. My nutritionist said that my meals should be no more than 1/2 cup of food (4oz) because that's all my pouch could hold. I looked at her and said that 1/2 cup of food on my plate was not the same thing as 1/2 cup of well-chewed food. She agreed with me. Measuring or even eyeballing my food doesn't help me. I start out with small portions and then try really hard to listen for the "full" signal. I'm finding out that what I can actually eat is about 1/2 of what I think I can eat! I think you're probably fine, but start thinking smaller (sounds like you already are) when it comes to portions. Good luck.

I wouldn't stress out about it that much. I was told that 1/2 cup of food per meal is ideal but without full restriction your stomach can take more. I have felt some restriction from the start and have never had a fill. I can eat more that what is recommended but stop myself when I'm satisfied. If you stick to 1000 calories a day and exercise you will drop weight. If you think about it losing weight is a simple formula. Burn more than you take in and the weight will come off. Good luck with everything!

Way to go Jack ! I enjoy reading your posts !

re: "then try really hard to listen for the "full" signal."

there are lots of ways we all find useful.

I find the "full" signal to be worthless, as I spent most of my life as Morbidly Obese trying to GET "full"....which is impossible.

Success for me was learning to hear the "satiety" signal...as in...."you're NOT hungry".....which is totally a different trigger in my own experience.

I spent my entire life training with the "eat till FULL" theory...which never happened, I could always tamp it down with my eating shovel and stuff in a little more.

And I developed somewhere along the way the "if you're not FULL you must EAT till you are".

Of course that's madness.

Personally postOp I also learned much of my overeating was triggered not by hunger or appetite, but by FEAR of BECOMING 'hungry'...so I'd eat...then over eat...since there was no difference as 'satiety' was a concept I had to actually LEARN....

In the postOp mushies-phase, yes a few oz. of anything would make me 'full'.

And for a snack sometimes I would take a single saltine and nibble for perhaps 30 minutes , luxuriating in a 'dessert'.

Even now my calorie intake remains around 1600/day rarely 1800 and only very rarely (once in 6 months perhaps) as much as 2000.

Some days I'm in the 1200 range.

Still I remain "40# plateau from goal".

Yet my A1c hovers around 7.1, all other blood points are within range, and I'm not on insulin shots after 15 years. Life is good.

Mostly I revel in the discovery there is a LOT of other stuff I like to do between meals---beside eat!

I would caution against maintaining a 1000 calorie a day diet. For an adult male with any level of exercise, that is simply not enough to keep your metabolism from shutting down.

Depending on your lever of physical activity, you should be somewhere between 1500 - 1800 calories a day.

If your metabolism slows down due to a lack of sufficient intake, you will struggle to loose even at 1000 calories. Plus you will feel like crap. :thumbup: