I think I am able to eat more than I should. I am 3 weeks out and now on soft foods. Tonight for dinner I was able to eat 4ozs of talapia, 2 slices of avocado, 1 tbsp of refried and 1 small soft cooked mushroom. Does this seem like a lot to anyone else. I didn't even really feel full. With the exception of scrambled eggs I have not found any food that bothers my stomach at all. Everyone else has so many problems with food upsetting there stomach. In fact it seems to be the norm that most people can only hold 3/4-1 cup of food. My new tummy holds more than that. And I rarely get that full feeling. I think my surgeon left my tummy to big. Bougie size 36 is what I was told. As for the scale well it is on the move but upward. I was at 191 from 212 (start weight) then back up to 194 then down to 192 then back up to 194. Geeessss. any suggestion/ advice?

Yeah, actually that does sound like a LOT for three weeks out. A 36 bougie should give you tons of restriction. At this point you should still be measuring what you eat (by volume, not by weight)... with severed nerve endings still healing in there, you might not be getting the feeling of being full even when you're stretching your healing stomach to capacity. Last thing you want do do now is bust open the staple line!

It's not necessarily about feeling full...

We have all become accustome to this feeling

Do you feel hungry at all? or do you just have the urge to eat?

It took me a while to separate my head from my stomach, if you're not hungry then only worry about eating what you are required to eat

70 grams of Protein with limited carbs (under 40) for the first three months is the norm

you should check with your doctor for sure or follow the plan that was given to you if you have one

I've said it before and it's part of my old school thinking I said I don't feel full and I was dissapointed for a while when I wouldn't get this feeling because I was so used to it.

You have to change your perspective to think wow i'm really not hungry... I just ate 3 or 4 ounces of tilapia and i'm not hungry at all

Hope this helps

Congratulations on your weight loss so far!!!

I have read from a lot of people who do not feel much restriction that they are drinking during their meal. Could this be a possibility? I am also 3 weeks out, and I can get all my fluids and Protein in but still mostly through liquids. When it comes to soft foods, I'm only able to get in about 2 teaspoons and I'm done. I follow the guidelines of not drinking 5 min before and 30 minutes after very closely, but i have sipped if I needed to get something down. I wouldn't worry too much about the two pound bounce on the scale. It could be a number of things from your body retaining some Water, to weighing yourself at different times of the day.

I would just stick to the guidelines that your surgeon gave you, measure out all your food and keep track of it, try not to eat until you are full, just the amount you are allowed which is about 1/2 to 3/4 cup from my nutritionist. If you keep a log, you will be able to review it with your Dr and they may be able to help you out further.

Let us know how you continue to progress.

Yes I do feel hungry. My stomach growls and I want to eat. What should a typical meal be for soft food stage?

It's not necessarily about feeling full...

We have all become accustome to this feeling

Do you feel hungry at all? or do you just have the urge to eat?

It took me a while to separate my head from my stomach, if you're not hungry then only worry about eating what you are required to eat

70 grams of Protein with limited carbs (under 40) for the first three months is the norm

you should check with your doctor for sure or follow the plan that was given to you if you have one

I've said it before and it's part of my old school thinking I said I don't feel full and I was dissapointed for a while when I wouldn't get this feeling because I was so used to it.

You have to change your perspective to think wow i'm really not hungry... I just ate 3 or 4 ounces of tilapia and i'm not hungry at all

Hope this helps

Congratulations on your weight loss so far!!!

You really might not be having a full signal, and that's a lot of soft foods especially for 3 weeks out. The key to not overeating is to measure your portions and stop eating.

It goes along my post on "Tips to Success". Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It took me months to get a real full signal.

Your stomach has been stapled off, and removed from your body. Your nerves have been damaged, traumatized, and need time to heal.Your swelling may have gone down faster than some others. So measuring is essential for you to be successful. Follow the surgeon's guidelines, and if you aren't on an acid reducer ask your surgeon about going on one. Overproduction of acid can cause false hunger also.

Thanks tiffykins. When you say measure do you mean fill up a cup or go by the lable on the food. Example a 4 oz piece of fish per the lable or measure it out in a measuring cup.

You really might not be having a full signal, and that's a lot of soft foods especially for 3 weeks out. The key to not overeating is to measure your portions and stop eating.

It goes along my post on "Tips to Success". Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It took me months to get a real full signal.

Your stomach has been stapled off, and removed from your body. Your nerves have been damaged, traumatized, and need time to heal.Your swelling may have gone down faster than some others. So measuring is essential for you to be successful. Follow the surgeon's guidelines, and if you aren't on an acid reducer ask your surgeon about going on one. Overproduction of acid can cause false hunger also.

I too started my soft food stage a few days early this afternoon. I had 2 scrambled eggs and 1 1/4 pieces of toast and thought it was a lot!! I do think I ate too much because later I felt a smidge too full.

Tomorrow I am going to begin my journaling and measuring to keep close tabs on what I eat. I just thought that was a lot for my first soft food meal. Does anyone have any sample menus with portion sizes (Tiff)?

Also, skinnyagain and I have the same doc and both of us had the 36 bougie. But I really think the size difference from a 32 to a 36 couldn't be that big of a difference, right? Very interesting. I had read some where that the bougie is measured in french measurements so I'm not sure what that compares too...size wise. Anyone have a clue? Doc said is was such a small difference, but I have no clue how the sizes compare.

I too started my soft food stage a few days early this afternoon. I had 2 scrambled eggs and 1 1/4 pieces of toast and thought it was a lot!! I do think I ate too much because later I felt a smidge too full.

Two eggs and 1/4 a piece of toast, or 1 AND 1/4 pieceS of toast? That seems like rather a lot to me. I can eat 1-1.5 small (are your eggs small or large?) eggs and almost 1/2 a piece of toast -- for dinner, when my stomach is most able to hold food. (I am just over five weeks out and have been on full foods since five days post-op.)

Re: skinnyagain's meal -- I don't really know how much 4 oz of fish is, I'm very bad with that sort of thing, plus my scale works in grams. But I could eat a small portion of some soft fish, like salmon, plus the avocado (probably one slice only) and the mushroom, but probably not the Beans too.

So yeah, both of those seem like a little bit much to me (coming from someone with a sleeve of steel [touch wood], who hasn't had any problems eating or keeping foods of all kinds down).

Weighing/measuring are a good idea -- not because you have to act like you're on some severely limited strict diet, but because it really IS hard to tell how much food you can and SHOULD put in your wee sleeve. Since you don't get any normal full feeling, it could be really easy to overstuff your sleeve. I go by both packet measurements, as well as using small dishes that I know hold, eg, 1/2 cup of food.

I just wanted to add that, I for sure don't get "that full feeling" like I totally got pre-op. Especially early out, I think I was sometimes eating too much b/c I couldn't tell when I had had enough, and I wasn't getting sick from it like many people do. My tummy also gets sort of rumbly/hungry feeling (moreso early out than now) when I'm not actually hungry, but I take a Gaviscon and that sorts it.

Finally, I notice my hunger getting less, not more, as time goes by. Some people's goes away instantly, but mine seems to be slowly fading.

Good luck!!

I am 7 weeks out and still cannot get that amount of food at once. 1 egg makes me full. 3 ounces of soft fish with nothing else. I need to eat every 3 hrs though...

Thanks tiffykins. When you say measure do you mean fill up a cup or go by the lable on the food. Example a 4 oz piece of fish per the lable or measure it out in a measuring cup.

Put it in a measuring cup. Most meats are labeled for weight, and that is how Protein is actually counted, by the weight of the item. Unfortunately, our stomachs do not recognize weight. The sleeve is only going to hold so much by volume.

A good visual to use for 3oz of food is a deck of cards. Some foods have the close to the same volume as they do measured weights in grams or ounces.

I had just started mushies at 3 weeks. Even now, I can barely get in 3 ounces. When I overdo, it is usually because I don't "think" I've eaten enough. It has taken a lot of "rethinking" to be able to adjust to the tiny portion sizes. But, I'd definitely check with your doc, because I know that incision line can be a problem at this point!

I know when I am on soft foods I could only eat 3 ounces of tuna. I usually will put my food on my plate eating less than I can and wait about 20 to 30 minutes to make sure that i am really still hungry. usually i am pretty content and don't eat anymore. The signal of your stomach getting full verses your brain saying your full is kinda little wacky. You will get full long before your head says hey you can stop eating now your full. I would measure out my food and put less on my plate and wait a few minutes and you might be surprised at how little you can eat..

I'm glad to hear someone feeling similar to me! I am 4 weeks postop tomorrow. I have been on soft foods 1 week now. My first meal of about 1/8c scrambled eggs and about 1/4 peice of toast filled me up so much!!! Now this am the same amount didnt seem the same, yet I can FEEL fairly satisfied and I DONT feel that ravensously hungry feeling like before surgery when I ate a small amount.......Wow. you did eat ALOT for dinner! I am wondering if you need to slow down while you eat. That is what I learned in the preop class. Here is my thought, and what I would do; cut that fish portion down to 2 oz, and only 1 slice of avocado. or keep the fish the same and ditch the avo altogether. Also switch your veggies to something high fiber(but soft cooked) remember high Fiber and high Protein satiate faster!! What I do when I finish this little dab of food on my little tiny plate, I just SIT THERE. I also try to take very small bites and go slow but that is hard! But I SIT there and wait and just FEEL my food settling. I am like you; at this point nothing is bothering my stomach. In the first two weeks, I could not eat tomato Soup because it seemed to burn! As far as the weight.......I too am at a plateau now since the 27th. I lost 15lb from 3/7 to 3/27 now I'm stuck on 200lbs!! My cal intake is prob 500-600'ish and I cant seem to get it up there with out eating something bad or feeling like I am eating all the time! I am working on increasing my exercise. I have been reading that there is a plateau at this point. As well as I realized last night that "mother nature" is around the corner, and that ALWAYS affects me! I hope this helps, and I am right there with you!!

Deb

I think I am able to eat more than I should. I am 3 weeks out and now on soft foods. Tonight for dinner I was able to eat 4ozs of talapia, 2 slices of avocado, 1 tbsp of refried and 1 small soft cooked mushroom. Does this seem like a lot to anyone else. I didn't even really feel full. With the exception of scrambled eggs I have not found any food that bothers my stomach at all. Everyone else has so many problems with food upsetting there stomach. In fact it seems to be the norm that most people can only hold 3/4-1 cup of food. My new tummy holds more than that. And I rarely get that full feeling. I think my surgeon left my tummy to big. Bougie size 36 is what I was told. As for the scale well it is on the move but upward. I was at 191 from 212 (start weight) then back up to 194 then down to 192 then back up to 194. Geeessss. any suggestion/ advice?

I'm 4.5 months out and usually can't finish two eggs, and that's fried (which for me are easier than scrambled). Let' along with a whole piece of toast...and that's a lot more than I was able to eat at 3 weeks. It seems that you two are going to need to be more vigilant about stopping early. The restriction is more like a stick that hits you (and sometimes quite hard) if you over do it. And restriction comes most from Proteins that are harder to process (rather than tortilla chips, etc. that "slide" down in). But the surgery is not just restrictive, so use all the tools, and perhaps supplement will power for what is apparently less restriction than most of us.

BTW, I'm not sure that these bougie sizes are necessarily as standardized as we'd like. The bougie, as I understand, is like a template or a mold, but I imagine that there is a lot of play in the surgeons' hands that is involved. It's not like the bougie stays inside you.

I too started my soft food stage a few days early this afternoon. I had 2 scrambled eggs and 1 1/4 pieces of toast and thought it was a lot!! I do think I ate too much because later I felt a smidge too full.

Tomorrow I am going to begin my journaling and measuring to keep close tabs on what I eat. I just thought that was a lot for my first soft food meal. Does anyone have any sample menus with portion sizes (Tiff)?

Also, skinnyagain and I have the same doc and both of us had the 36 bougie. But I really think the size difference from a 32 to a 36 couldn't be that big of a difference, right? Very interesting. I had read some where that the bougie is measured in french measurements so I'm not sure what that compares too...size wise. Anyone have a clue? Doc said is was such a small difference, but I have no clue how the sizes compare.

I'm 4.5 months out and usually can't finish two eggs, and that's fried (which for me are easier than scrambled). Let' along with a whole piece of toast...and that's a lot more than I was able to eat at 3 weeks. It seems that you two are going to need to be more vigilant about stopping early. The restriction is more like a stick that hits you (and sometimes quite hard) if you over do it. And restriction comes most from Proteins that are harder to process (rather than tortilla chips, etc. that "slide" down in). But the surgery is not just restrictive, so use all the tools, and perhaps supplement will power for what is apparently less restriction than most of us.

BTW, I'm not sure that these bougie sizes are necessarily as standardized as we'd like. The bougie, as I understand, is like a template or a mold, but I imagine that there is a lot of play in the surgeons' hands that is involved. It's not like the bougie stays inside you.

You hit the nail on the head with the bolded statement. Every surgeon's technique is different, every patient's stomach length is different, Some surgeons give me room at the pyloric valve than others. There is not a standardized technique for the sleeve. There's differing opinions, and experiences. The bougie is just a tool they slide down our throats to guide the stapler. It still falls on the surgeon to measure out the proper amount of stomach tissue to remove. The difference between a 32fr and a 40fr bougie is a mere 2.3mm so that is not going to make a hill of Beans when it comes to how much food we can fit in. Surgical technique and patient's own anatomy plays a much larger role in final stomach capacity over bougie size.

At the end of the day, it really boils down to making the best food choice, eating measured portions, and doing your best with what your stomach capacity allows. Staying within the prescribed dietary guideline is key to long term success. The sleeve will only do so much, just like the RNY pouch, or band.