That I have stretched my sleeve. I am guilty of not always eating slowly and having that stuffed feeling come on quickly. I know its terrible. Lately it seems like I don't get full. Example;cheese. I used to feel completely full and satisfied with 1 individual 3/4 individually wrapped piece. Now I can eat two plus a few saltines with no problem. I am 20 weeks out. I have also had major thyroid problems. I was hyperactive thyroid. Seems like it would of helped me lose faster lol. I had the right half of my thyroid removed a week ago. Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels they have stretched their sleeve. But do you think I have? Any suggestions? I have only lost 45 lbs since august 26, and I'm afraid of not losing anymore:(

I doubt you've stretched your sleeve. Have you tried doing either the 5 day pouch test or Diva's Boot Camp? Both are good ways to reset your hunger feelings and will help you realize again that you do have a very small tummy.

Good luck!!

I can't speak to whether you've stretched your sleeve, as I'm only a couple of weeks out myself. But as someone who had a complete thyroidectomy earlier in the year, and has had several periods of time where I was hyperthyroid while they try to get my synthroid straightened out, I can promise you that not everyone who is hyperthyroid loses weight. In fact, each time I was hyperthyroid, I gained a lot of weight (7-10 lbs) within a few days. Totally unfair, considering that losing weight is the ONLY benefit of being hyperthyroid, right? I know of others who've had weight gain as a result of being hyperthyroid as well, and it certainly makes you crazy hungry (mentally, not so much physiclally. I'd bet once you get that under control, all will return to normal.

I agree with Lissa. Try the 5 day pouch test and lilMissDiva's basic boot camp. It will give you a jump start. If you did stretch your stomach, it's very minimal. Use it to your best advantage.

I'm worried that because I can eat more now that I have stretched my sleeve.. It's 4 weeks and a few days. I thought being able to eat more of the right foods would be ok.. Am I wrong?

I have had my surgery on Dec 11, 2011 and I attended another seminar today on weight loss surgery. I learned some very interesting and new things.

1. It is very, very important to follow your postop diet for the first month to the letter. This is due to the fact that most of the healing of the staples occurs in this first month and you put yourself at a risk for a failure of the sleeve if you overeat or start eating things that you should not. If can take up to a full 2 years for your new stomach to completely heal.

2. To prevent hairloss which most of the time is temporary you need to make sure that you are getting the required amount of Protein, Vitamin a and your Multivitamin. I know lately that I have seen a lot of posts about hair loss.

3. Just because you have WLS does not mean that you will be successful at losing the weight you want. COMMITTMENT is the most important thing in determining if you are successful or not. After your surgery you must be committed to making a change in your eating habits, stay on the diet as given to you, exercise to help with the weight loss and to embrace the life style change that you are undergoing.

4. Also have seen a lot of posts about the preop diet. It is very important that you stay on the preop diet for the 2 weeks before surgery as when you are eating regular foods this causes your liver to swell and if your liver is swollen at the time of your surgery it is more difficult to perform the surgery safely and it can put you at risk for problems after the surgery.

I found all of this information to be very helpful and useful to me even though I have already had my surgery.

It's actually very unlikely that you stretched your sleeve. Your surgeon removed the stretchy part of your tummy, and left behind the more rigid, fibrous part. The only way you can really stretch it out is if you happen to have a stretchier cartilage and fibrous tissue.

LGoz, You probably have NOT stretched your sleeve out. As our tummies heal we can eat more than we could initially. As the tummy heals, the swelling inside goes down, which allows us to eat more volume of food.

I can eat around six ounces of food now, whereas just after surgery I struggled to get in 2 ounces. That's 3 times the amount of food, but it's nothing compared to what I could eat before surgery. I try to make most of that six ounces Protein and, this is important, if I do eat that much food, I'm uncomfortable and not hungry for hours on end. I've moved my biggest meal of the day to lunch, and I've made a commitment to undereat my sleeve.

You are probably healing and able to eat more, which is natural. Just don't stuff yourself and get your protein in first. Good luck!!

Hi,

Being able to eat more is a natural part of the healing process. It's important to follow your plan. Yes, an occasional treat won't kill you but relying on restriction only and not good eating habits is a sure way to see weight loss grind to a halt and even reverse as our tummies heal.

Here's what's worked for me: Stick with Protein first and get the Water in. Eat three meals with a max of two little Snacks. Eat protein as snacks. Limit the treats. Exercise. I want to get to goal ASAP so I am limiting calories to under 1.000 per day. I have great energy with that amount of calories. It means sticking to low fat or fat free protein options and using Splenda instead of sugar to sweeten things. I also stick to whole grains for bread and crackers unless its a treat.

Lynda

I find that some days I can eat more than others. I can usually eat WAY more in the evening than I can in the morning. I can eat more soft foods than tougher solid foods. Some days I'm hungry and some days I'm not. Some days I feel like a bottomless pit and graze all day, and others it's a struggle to get in three meals. I haven't found any rhyme or reason to any of this, either. So, don't stress! If you're worried about it, only dish up 4oz at a time. After 4oz, stop. Even if you're not completely full, it'll get you through to your next meal/snack.