i'm 7 months out now and i feel like my sleeve has stretched!

i'm not eating the amounts i did before surgery, but i'm eating more than i did at 2,3, even 4 months out. i can eat pretty much an entire chicken breast and a few bites of veggies.

i have eaten some sliders and notice that i can eat those and never feel restriction - so i stay away from them for the most part.

i still have weight to lose so i'm hoping that my sleeve didn't stretch!

The physician's assistant I see for follow up visits told me at my 3 months appt we'd eventually be able to eat a CD size amount of food. I am in my 7th month and I can eat a little more than I could at 3-4 months. I doubt your stomach has stretched.

Hi, i'm 1 + year out now and can finish a hormel compleats for lunch and a lean cuisine for dinner, however I do feel alot of restriction when i have about 1 or 2 spoons left of the meals, so my tummy still holds only 6-8oz since each meal is 9 or 10 oz . . . I have 2 eggs in the mornings and can eat 1/2 peeled apple for snack. I can definately eat slider foods without restrictions so like you i try to stay away from them. . . I did however, eat a whole bag (small) of black licorice the other day. . . it was so good, but it's not like i do it every day so this one time in 1 year i'm not going to beat myself over it. . . i truly enjoyed it. . . i've heard that because it's a muscle (our tummy) it's hard to stretch out. . . but hey you never know. . .

i'm sure i'm over thinking it.... i've NEVER vomited from eating to much and i NEVER eat until i'm "stuffed".

It's pretty standard to realize your sleeve has matured, and become 'used' to accepting larger quantities of food. I noticed around the same time as you. I think the key for me is avoiding the sliders, and I also realized that I do not have to chew food to mush anymore so that actually helps me feel restriction. I'm 20 months out and still can not eat an entire chicken breast if I only take 20-30 minutes for my meals. Now, if I purposely stretch my meal out over 45-60 minutes, I can fit more food in.

I've been eating pretty much the same amounts for the last year. My surgeon scoped me when I had my gallbladder out at 8 months post-op, he said my sleeve looked perfect, we talked about capacity, and he agreed that my sleeve was at max capacity. It varies some day, and if I drink warm fluids before my meal, I can have a few more bites.

I don't understand what all this talk is about slider food and drinking pushing it down?????? Confused. Don't know what slider food is.

@Sheila

Some food, like yogurt and pudding - things that are soft and you don't have to chew - can "slide" right through the stomach and not fill you up. If you keep eating these foods your sleeve will never fill up and you will not get full and maybe not be satisfied and therefore eat more and more. Like anyone, if you keep eating (consuming calories) you will HOLD or even GAIN weight. You should therefore choose a precise portion and not eat any more.

Drinking during a meal will carry some of the food that you ate through the stomach and therefore leave more room to eat and consume more calories. If you still get hungry you may eat more to get full. Most NUTs recommend NOT drinking during a meal. Personally I cannot do that and I need a few sips as I get dry.

If you are like me and no longer get hungry you need to select a meal of precise portions and then STOP afterwards and not eat any more till the next meal. If you still feel hunger you definitely need to control your portions to get and feel full and satisfied. Snacking or keep adding "slider" foods will subvert your calorie intake and not allow you to loose weight.

I measured a bowl of oatmeal once and ate to capacity to see where I was at and I think it was about 5 oz. You could try that to see where you are, but you would have to eat fairly quickly before it ran out the tummy.

At about 10 mos or so I began to feel I could eat much more at times, but it really varies. I'm happy with being able to eat a lil more because it is so ridiculous to eat just a couple spoons and feel full. Long-term I would have health issues with that I think. You need enough food in your tummy to hold you full for a while and I'm thankful for the times I can get a whole meal. Usually I eat and 2 hours later I'm hunting something...isn't that just awful? But its true. If I can eat more at a meal that holds me longer, which happens sometimes, I am so happy to go hours without eating. Just doesn't happen every day.

So even if it relaxed a little, I think that is okay. You should expect that. I have 5 oz chicken breasts that shrink to probably 4 oz or less when cooked. I'm SURE I could eat one and a few bites of veggies. But some chicken breasts are huge, so I don't know what you are looking at.

You can buy bags from costco or Sams (it varies) that are restaurant boneless chicken breasts preportioned to 5 oz. That might help. But really what is important is how many slices of pizza can you eat at a sitting. On thin crust usually I can only eat 1 slice (of course, at one sitting). That is a fairly reasonable size piece. So if it is chicken, fish, veggies - whatever I hope I can eat a lot.

Do you find you avoid breads? I kind of do now, really don't eat many sandwiches and so forth. I think that helps.

Suddenly in the past two weeks I have felt like I have a bottomless sleeve, I'm 6 1/2 months out. A 4 oz chicken breast used to take me to the brink and now just slides right down. I ate about 7 ounces worth of food for dinner last night before I felt the uneasy restricted feeling that used to come after only 2 1/2-3 ounces. I see now that my ability to control myself around food is less than I thought, and I need to have no food avaiable to me at night beyond the measured portion of my dinner.

I get scared I have stretched my pouch sometimes. There are days when I eat way more food than I thought possible. Usually I can eat about 5oz of meat and some veggies (and I am stuffed).

I tend to get scared about stretching when I am eating things I shouldnt eat.... bread.... sliders... etc. I freak myself out about how much I can eat... but then when I go back to Protein I tend to get my restriction back.

Also... I find a lot of variation day to day.

I was under the impression that we wern't going to stretch much.... I hope thats true.

yes of course we stretch. We go from only being able to eat a few bites right after surgery to about 4 oz of dense protein. It's different for the type of protein you are eating. We can't eat as much steak or chicken as we can mushie foods like 8 oz of yogurt. It is stretched all that it's going to stretch though at that point.

this is when i find myself thinking it's streched. but when i'm eating my steak, chicken, etc, i am still surprised at how fast i feel full. i still love my sleeve.

i just have mini freak-out episodes from time to time - LOL

I get scared I have stretched my pouch sometimes. There are days when I eat way more food than I thought possible. Usually I can eat about 5oz of meat and some veggies (and I am stuffed).

I tend to get scared about stretching when I am eating things I shouldnt eat.... bread.... sliders... etc. I freak myself out about how much I can eat... but then when I go back to Protein I tend to get my restriction back.

Also... I find a lot of variation day to day.

I was under the impression that we wern't going to stretch much.... I hope thats true.

I am just 7mths out and I can eat, depending on density, 5-7oz of Protein... I am not worried about this, infact I am glad that I can eat this and enjoy what is on my plate. I can't eat a lot of bread, when I do have bread it is wholemeal and I can eat about 1 1/2 slices.

I think long term I need this volume get all the goodness out of decent food in on a daily basis!

Mommytoethan, I am sure you are fine! =]

I was under the impression minor stretching over time is normal?

thanks! i'm sure i'm fine too.... i just sometime get worried....eating with the sleeve is so different from eating with the band. since i had so many issues with my band, i tend to worry about those same issues with the sleeve, when in fact, i've had ZERO issues!

I am just 7mths out and I can eat, depending on density, 5-7oz of Protein... I am not worried about this, infact I am glad that I can eat this and enjoy what is on my plate. I can't eat a lot of bread, when I do have bread it is wholemeal and I can eat about 1 1/2 slices.

I think long term I need this volume get all the goodness out of decent food in on a daily basis!

Mommytoethan, I am sure you are fine! =]

I really don't think our new tummies stretch much; if they will/do - we'd have to work at it and for me, it would be really uncomfortable. I DO know where you're coming from though. I too obsess over this and other things like waking up one day and my hunger has returned, but in the back of my mind, I'm pretty sure I'm worrying for no reason!

At the seminar we were told that it would 'stretch' 10% - 15% from just after post-op...but you have to remember how little it is when we get out of surgery! My doctor left me with a 3 oz stomach!! So after it relaxes, heals and reaches it's full capcity, that really isn't much. The first couple of weeks post-op, I could only eat an eighth of a cup of broth, some times less, and then mushies I did good to eat an eighth of a cup that second week. Now at eight months out, I can eat a half cup of cottage cheese or spaghetti or a half an English muffin with a slice of American cheese. Those are examples. I can almost eat two eggs but I can eat 1 egg with a piece of toast. This seems like a TON of food to me when I think back to what I was eating!! I will STILL ask my husband, "did I eat a lot? " He thinks I'm nuts, I'm sure of it!! LOL You are not alone....I've been at goal since the last week of Nov and I could lose MORE weight. I still worry!!!

this is when i find myself thinking it's streched. but when i'm eating my steak, chicken, etc, i am still surprised at how fast i feel full. i still love my sleeve.

i just have mini freak-out episodes from time to time - LOL