hey everybody...long time no post. :001_tongue: i am doing good overall. i have a question, though. i am three months out from the surgery and i have noticed that my ability to eat / appetite seems to have increased. i am able to eat more than i have been. is this normal? i am soo scared of stretching out my stomach! i fear that i am eating too much. is it to be expected that i will be able to eat more than previously without feeling the crazy full feeling like i did before? i was able to eat a pita sandwich over the weekend---the WHOLE THING! that is a first for me since the surgery. am i being paranoid about this? any advice or words would be greatly appreciated!

I understand...... going through the same issue here.

I only have 20 lbs to go......and I seem to be sabotageing myself. I decided that I HAVE TO CONTROL THIS! ANd I am going too! I am also trying not to kick myself in the but to much! Cause if I am eating good food...... then at least it is a lot of good food....like broccoli and celery.

I know my biggest problem with the sleeve (that I did not have with the band....is I can eat bread & Cereal.......the carbs kill me...... even if good whole wheat or oat or other dark one)

SO here is my new plan......

1) more liquids...... 3-5 glasses Water & crysal light..... even my skim milk (at least two or three) and 1 rtd Isopure or hgih Protein shake......to make sure I get all the protein I need!

2) I am spreading my pills out through the day.....some of them make me nausious and "fill me up" so instead of taking the Vitamins, at the same time as my two others..... I am trying one about an hour before each meal...... I eat less and

3) I am writing all that i eat in an iphone app..... I have it with me at all times.....and I check in a nuerotic sort of way,,,,,, use it to make food choices (sometimes better)

4) and trying not to kick myself to hard....... but I want to take this off and be successful for me and my family!

The scale started moving again....though the clothes were always getting smaller.... but I had been more hungry and grumpy!

(****I am still breast feeding......so I also need to eat and drink a lot more than some of you.....same with needing Calcium and Iron supplements too)

I'm 2.5 months out & I've found that I get hungrier more often than before. I still can't eat more than I think I should be able to eat, though. And the hunger is not like pre-op (ravenous, shaky & "gotta eat right now")...it's controllable & easily satisfied with a small amount of food.

I know that doesn't help you much. Sorry.

Oh I forgot with lunch......I remembered this...... it seems weird

but if I chew like I did banded ....25-35 times each bite...... I get full faster......if I big bite (and I got back in the habit of this since I had my wisdom teeth done.....cause it still hurts 1 month later....hell vsg was easier!!!!!!!!) I can eat more....... this seems the opposite of what I expected..... but it is true.

I think it is because of the time it takes me to eat.

Graxing is the thing that kills me..... but I really like the portable calorie thing and of course there is more exercise..... though I also gain weight (muscle) for a while till I start to loose......

but like I said I have been in a long stall...... but the sizes of clothes and inches are disappearing...... so I try not to panic!

I don't trust myself w/starches like bread. I do now eat a few tablespoons of corn and chopped red potatoes w/my dinner. It is very satisfying. And, for lunch, I sometimes chop up a little bit of apple to put in my cottage cheese or tuna. That way, I don't feel totally deprived. Mashed potatoes are too hard for me to control, they go down way too easy. Those slider foods are dangerous for me.

Bread is a slippery slope for me, but I have eaten Wasa light crisps, on occasion, but never buy them. I am also at the 2 mo mark today. So, really, I can eat anything I choose. If I visit family, I have been know to throw out Cookies and chips and replace them with whole unsalted almonds and nobody has complained yet. I think they get the message.

When I super-duper crave choc, I go for the choc Protein bar. But, I have to becareful, because they are trigger foods just like candy bars.

I usually keep that stuff way up in the cupboard where I would need a step stool to get to it or in the trunk of my car. Well, we do what we have to.

What if you just don't buy pita or any processed starches? Try whole food starches, in tiny amounts, maybe that is all you need to get back on track.

Edited September 22, 200916 yr by Steph_123

The starch and the bread and the cookie thing...... was exactly one of the reasons the band worked so well for me....... with the vsg it is really really hard cause I can eat them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I went 2 years w/o any bread white or wheat or any kind!

I find the vsg much harder.....or I guess at this moment more difficult....than the band. BUT I know it will be easier to maintain my weight if I get down cause I am doing great on the 1200 to 1400 calories an full and want no more about 100% of the time even with carbs...............

I just feel that there are days I am " more open" / days I wish it was smaller and days I wish it was mroe open!

I would shake if I stayed around the 800 calories....... and in relationship to things that I hated with the band / love with the sleeve...... I can eat vegetables (the good ones,,,,, like brocolli or cauliflower or carrots or celerery).....today I ate asparagus.... a whole serving not just like one tip.... before sliming and pain (like with the band).... I can eat a salad......

So at times my issue is making better choices and by actually spending the money on food for me (cause I only have one kid that eats raw vegies at this point) and justifying the expense...... I know.....

but I really feel that this is a lot like with the band..... some days more / some days less..... who knows why...... I just have to get in all the Protein, liquid and chew and I will be fine!

Yes, it's normal to be able to eat more as time passes. For most people it seems to stablize at around 6-12 months out. The ghrelin will be produced more too -- I've read and seen all different timeframes from anywhere from 6 months to 18 to never. But it's not supposed to be like it was pre-op and, for me, it hasn't been. In fact, I'm not convinced I am producing more ghrelin yet.

Hunger used to scare me, but now I welcome it. I'm experimenting with eating to my hunger to see if my hunger is in tune with my body. I really want to be one of those people who knows when she's full and only eats when my body needs fuel. :knocking wood: So far so good.

Jane, I think that they can also do the DS after the VG, if you really need that extra control. I know that eventually my demons will come back, but right now, I am feel under pressure to lose as much wt as possible before the 6 mos mark. My fear is that after I get to my goal wt, that I will start back on that slippery slope of eating refined carbs. I think the rest of our lives, we will need to monitor our protein intake and H20, right? If I eat my required protein, I don't have room for anything else. It's grazing on refined carbs that is the problem. I can easily eat Hershey's kisses w/o difficulty, between meals, but that only makes me crave more and a vicious cycle starts. I guess that some of us (me) will always just be in remission. Even the RnY folks can gain the wt back once their digestive system starts to absorb w/o dumping refined carbs. And, then you are stuck with malabsorbtion of vitamins and have to take supplements the rest of your life. This is just a tool, I am learning. But, my hunger is 90% controlled. For me, it is head hunger. The wanting to taste and eat good food. It isn't about hunger at this point. But, it is so much easier to keep calories down now. You can lose wt still if you want to just take in refined carbs, right? But then you get muscle wasting. Some people don't care, they just want to lose the wt. So, who am I judge them? It's a choice we make.

Counting calories is no fun, but it works. Some of us got heavy in the first place because we had slow metabloic rates. Others because they ate and drank things loaded with calories. If we really want to lose the weight and keep it off, we need to be either counting calories or approximating our calories every day. Also, the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn. I am one of those with a slow metabolic rate. At a BMI of 25, I will only burn 1294 calories. Therefore, I already know I will need to limit my calories.

The sleeve should help with portion size. But lets face it, if someone is going to load up on high calorie foods, they are either not going to lose weight or not going to keep it off. The sleeve isn't going to do everything for us. It is only going to help us.

In addition to watching the calorie content of our food, maybe we need to limit the portion size as well. Everyone is different, but I think a little fear can be a good thing.

My doctor said "Weight is gained 50 calories at a time." I think this is really an important fact to remember.

Best wishes,

Oh, I like that quote;

My doctor said "Weight is gained 50 calories at a time." That is so true.

In terms of diet... there are people who eat a lot of carbs, even refined ones, and don't gain weight. I think, on some level, it really is calories in vs. calories out and the type of calories only matter if (a) you have something metabolic going on like insulin resistance or (:svengo: certain types of food make you lose control or lead you down a slippery slope. Now, this is on maintenance. When losing, it's very important to get Protein because otherwise we lose lean muscle tissue instead of fat. But on maintenance, everyone has to work out for themselves what will and won't work and the answer will be different for everyone.

The scary part of maintenance, for me, has been figuring this all out. When on a diet, I just followed my program's plan the best I could. But maintenance was wide open. There were times in the beginning, and even a bit now, where I felt out of control with my eating even though I might not be gaining weight or gaining much. I have to learn what causes that and how to prevent it. It's complicated by the fact that I am an endurance athlete and a certain amount of carbs are necessary for peak performance. So figuring out my carb ceiling has been interesting.

Another complication is acid reflux. It makes me think I'm hungry when I'm not. So I've had to balance wanting to be off the PPI vs. dealing with this fake hunger. I tried stopping the prilosec and only taking Pepcid AC when I had acid. I didn't want to be taking a pill every day if I didn't have acid every day. But I found the Pepcid didn't control things very well and I was taking it 5-7 days a week anyway. So I'm back on the prilosec and I've decided that I will stay on it, maybe for life, if that's what it takes.

Wow, Mac that's really interesting about the acid reflux making you more hungry. Remind me again in a year when I'm thinner and think I can go off of nexium.

Most people can go off their PPIs eventually. I don't know why I've been having trouble. I was actually okay for two weeks when I went off the prilosec but then it came back. Sigh.

Most people can go off their PPIs eventually. I don't know why I've been having trouble. I was actually okay for two weeks when I went off the prilosec but then it came back. Sigh.

I'm only 11 days out, on clear liquids and for the first time ever I think I know what it is to really be hungry. I am so unbelievably hungry it hurts. I don't think I'm taking in more than 500 calories a day if even. So I feel that these pangs must be justified since it is such a drastic change for me. My doctor has me on chewable pepsid ac 2x per day. He said I must take them every day. Will the over-the-counter chewable pepsid be enough ya think??

The pepcid gets rid of acid after it's formed. I think a PPI is much better. It stops the acid from forming.

I have a prescription for Pepcid too but it didn't work as well as the OTC prilosec for me. So now I keep it for when the prilosec also isn't enough.

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll get myself some OTC Prilosec as well.