Okay so I know that stretching with the sleeve is supposed to be minimal, but today for the first time I was able to eat most of a small wendy's chili in just about 10 minutes. I DO NOT want to screw this up. What is going on???

Wish I could talk you down, but honestly, I'm scared by how easily and quickly I can eat. It never takes me very long to eat, and I am able to eat a lot more than I had hoped I would be able to eat this soon after my surgery. I'm grateful to be losing--but I worry about the future. I spent a lot of money for this surgery because I want this weight loss to be permanent, and I'm afraid that I will be able to eat increasing amounts over time and begin to regain weight.

Wendy's Chili has been a slider type of food for me and has been this way since I started mushies. The beans and liquid in it allow it to move pretty quickly through the sleeve almost like drinking with a meal does. One small wendy's chili won't ruin your diet though--I still think its the best choice on that menu and I love that I can eat it in a rush when I only have minutes for lunch.

The dryer and denser the food, the more restriction I feel. Some foods still seem to require extreme chewing and I can barely eat any of it. So if you need to test that restriction see how fast you can eat a steak

Edited August 8, 201016 yr by Swiftflow

I find that I can eat faster and more than I expected, especially with those slider foods or if I had something to drink too soon before (or during or after... shame on me.) However, I know that it's my fault for not eating slower, eating too much and drinking too near mealtimes.

I've been trying hard to recognize when I'm not taking care of my sleeve; still getting used to it. I'm sure your chili wolfing was more about the circumstances than you having a stretched sleeve.

If you're worried about it, you can always do the 5-day pouch test thing and you'll be feeling the tightness by day 3 or 4... I did it a few weeks ago after a fluke infection landed me in the hospital for a week and I got all out of whack on awful hospital food. It worked really well, I was surprised!

lotusflwr? what is the 5 day pouch test? please explain how that works..as for eating. I have always been able to eat fast. Unless I am eating a hard meat protein, everything else seems to go down so easily. It has always been that way for me. I am 10 weeks post op. Honestly, after having the issues with the band for 2 yrs. I was glad to see less complications with eating with the sleeve. How would one stretch the sleeve anyway?

The 5 Day Pouch Test is a 5-day eating plan that gets you back on track if you feel like your stomach is letting you down (or you are letting it down.) It's basically like your post-op diet but crammed into 5 days. The link to the site that explains it is Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

Basically it's 2 days of liquids (Protein drinks, Soup, etc.), then a day of mushies (tuna salad, chicken salad, eggs, fish), then a day of firm protein (seafood, ground meat) then a day of solid protein (chicken, steak, pork, lamb.) The guidelines are pretty simple and laid out on the site.

It really helped get my blood sugar back in order after 6 days of IV medicines and carb'y hospital food pumped me full of sugars. It also helped me restart weight loss, although losing weight isn't really the goal -- feeling the tightness of your stomach pouch is the goal.

Bevanne, If someone wanted to try and truly stretch their sleeve they would eat allot of dense foods and push to the point beyond the full sensation. To the point of pain. Many people confuse the sleeve healing process with stretching as they start out with allot of restriction because of the drastic change to the stomach. Swelling and the healing process early out gives much more restriction in the first couple of months.

In a normal stomach the Fundus is very stretchy and can expand rather easily to allow more stomach capacity. Ideally, most sleeve surgeons try to remove the fundus leaving us with the vertical sleeve which is much less pliable or expandable. It is very common in RnY patients to have a pouch that stretches when they overeat because the fundus is not removed in most bypass operations. Combine that with no pyloric valve, and that is why gastric bypass patients can get back to eating amounts they did before surgery. With the vertical sleeve done properly (fundus mostly removed), the stomach will have very little stretchability and it will always provide more restriction than it did pre-op.

We also must be careful with slider foods--slider foods are softer, easily broken down and move quickly on through the pyloric valve into the intestines leaving the stomach with space to take in more foods. Someone could graze on these types of foods all day with a sleeve and still gain wieght.

5 day pouch test Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test

Edited August 8, 201016 yr by Swiftflow

I am right there with ya. Two months out and I can eat a whole Wendy's small chili in about 10 minutes. I never have felt super restriction. I just focus on only eating a certain amount of food (volume, not weight) and primarily protein.

Thanxs so much for info. on the pouch test. Would be interesting going on it for 5 days. Im sure I will try it at some point. So far I am doing ok. Im wondering what the average weight loss is in a Months time? Im sure it also has something to do with the amount one needs to lose, etc. Just thinking out loud.

Okay, well that chili must have been a slider food OR as I've read many times restriction can vary from day to day. Today I ate much more slowly and had to pay attention to my signals and indeed I still have loads of restriction. Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

Hey Anna,

So, welcome to being a Sleeve Vet!! Yep, many, many things AND quantities get easier and easier to eat. It's time for us to start being even more careful. You're doing fine, chili is definitely a slider but it's not bad for you. My source of frustration with this type of meal is not how quickly it goes down but how quickly it goes through me... I am one of the ones that still gets hungry at odd times, like not long after eating (yes, still on a ppi), more so if I eat "easy" foods like chili. Nice thing is, post-sleeve, I can easily ignore it and it goes away or, if I know it's more of an acid thing, pop a couple of Gaviscon. Problem solved.

I too notice different levels of restriction at different times of the day and from one day to the next. No big thing, the tummy has a mind of her own now and I am thankful for it every day, as cranky as she can be sometimes.

FWIW, I'm eating about 1200 calories per day now and have been for awhile. I have recently upped the carbs just slightly from 30 max to 50 max because of exercise. I'm also cutting down on the fat which I never cared about before... The weight loss has slowed DRAMATICALLY but I know I'll get there. Tweaking the diet a bit has helped get things moving again but I think my body is settling to where it wants to be.

You're doing great, keep up the good work!

C

ps, thanks for your sweet comments on my BMI post! You rock, sister!

Geeze Anna.... you look fabulous. You must feel great!!!! You've really made this work for you. And Swiftflow... your over half way... Good job guys.

I am finding more and more that I can eat quite a bit. I had 4oz of salmon for lunch no problem. That would have made me very ill only one month ago. I'm getting a little scared too. The main reason I got the surgery was to help cure my head from the obsessive dieting and subsequent binges after a period of restriction. Its been great... I have been kiet free for three months.... eating healthy lean meets.. fruits and veggies with a little dairy thrown in. Its been so good for me psychologically.... to really let go of that cycle has been amazing for my frame of mind.

Now I'm scared I have to go on a "diet" to loose the last of it (I've been stalled for 2 weeks). I have seriously been on a diet since I was 14... It always leads to feelings of deprevation and binging.

I know with the sleeve a "diet" would be super easy to follow... Its just so easy to slip back into old thinking patterns. Yikes. I'm certainly not willing to pay all this money only to achieve 1/2 my goal.

Any advice guys?

thanks

stacey

Stacey,

My advice: no diet. You said that dieting and bingeing was a cycle for you. In my experience, it is impossible to engage one side of the cycle without the other side being activated as well. I think the stall will pass though maybe not as quickly as you wish.

Weighing myself less often has helped me break my obsession with micromanaging my weight loss. I'm happier and I just trust that if I'm following the guidelines, the weight will come off.

Stacey,

My advice: no diet. You said that dieting and bingeing was a cycle for you. In my experience, it is impossible to engage one side of the cycle without the other side being activated as well. I think the stall will pass though maybe not as quickly as you wish.

Weighing myself less often has helped me break my obsession with micromanaging my weight loss. I'm happier and I just trust that if I'm following the guidelines, the weight will come off.

Your so right... thats why dieting scares me. I know what it leads to. I keep reminding myself that had this surgery as much for my mind as for my body. I just need to be where I am and learn the lessons available to me. Easier said than done :thumbup:

thanks

stacey

There are days that I can work myself into a tizzy about all this stuff - should I eat this or that, is this "bad" ... we are all at a new point in our journey.

Our bodies have healed and we are learning new eating patterns to last us a lifetime. We need to give ourselves a break and realize that we are learning. If we mess up one day - who cares? We have tomorrow. Thanks to our new tummies, we have a tool that won't allow us to go back to binging and "throwing" out the diet plan. Just because I failed a quiz in school didn't mean that I had to fail the whole class. Right?

(OK - now remind me of this post when I have one of my freak-out days! :thumbup:)

Our bodies have healed and we are learning new eating patterns to last us a lifetime. We need to give ourselves a break and realize that we are learning. If we mess up one day - who cares? We have tomorrow. Thanks to our new tummies, we have a tool that won't allow us to go back to binging and "throwing" out the diet plan. Just because I failed a quiz in school didn't mean that I had to fail the whole class. Right?

QUOTE]

These are the gems that keep me focused. Thanks Minime