Hi Everyone.

Hope all the gals enjoyed mother's day!

We had a little celebration and I did eat half a chicken schnitzel ( I know you read this Trisha!!LOL) and today I was feeling exceptionally hungry so I ate some broiled chicken breast. Too much of it. I found it hard to breathe afterward. It has settled down now, but it came up on me way too quickly. I'm six weeks post op and chewed really really well, but I'm wondering if I can bust open my staples doing this? Now I'm going to by lying awake all night wondering if I'm leaking all because I ate too quickly to notice the full signal! I'm really struggling getting used to the sleeve - something I thought would be so easy. Feeling so good now that I actually forget I have it and then BANG! YOU'RE FULL - WAY TOO FULL!

This has only happened twice, once with the schnitzel yesterday and again today with the chicken. I feel like a sabotaging fool, but it isn't deliberate. Thanks for your answers!

Not sure about the staples but im 6 weeks post op too and every time I eat chicken, I feel the same way you do and I'm not suffering a leak. So maybe that will help you sleep a little better. Some peoples sleeves just can't tolerate chicken this early out. If you chewed well, it's probably just a tolerance matter. Don't sweat it unless you are having excruciating stomach pain, fever etc.

Don't be too hard on yourself! I'm 3.5 mos out & still eat too fast sometimes & make myself unbearably sick. I usually throw up if I do this, my body can't take the discomfort. Also, chicken is still hard for me, as is beef. I try to stick to fish as much as I can since it seems to be the easiest on my sleeve. I doubt you didany damage - we all have to *learn* our sleeves & unfortunately this is done by trial & error. One thing I'd recommend is measuring everything & actively thinking while you're eating in order to slow it down. That said, it still happens sometimes so give yourself some slack! Make sure you're eating what you've been told & pace yourself! If you get a fever, call your surgeon! Otherwise, don't worry too much!! Good luck!

You girls are peaches. Thanks so much.

I was told that my stomach would have healed over the staples by day 6 post-op - amazing - so leaks very very unlikely! The bariatric nurse also said that if I was to overeat in the early stages and get that horrible stuffed feeling that I was not to worry as I wouldn't damage my sleeve. So as mentioned by my fellow sleevers unless you have other symptoms, don't worry, lesson learned, chicken doesn't sit well with you at the moment:) Sleep well...

:ph34r:

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA you absolutely crack me up you Ninja!

Thanks VSGlass! Hope you're having a nice summer up there in Scotland!

At 4 months, chicken is still difficult sometimes. Just this Saturday, I was so busy that I forgot to eat. 12:00 noon rolled around and my husband brought home one of those roasted chickens from costco. I stuffed down half a wing and half a leg.

BIG mistake.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the next day we BBQed ribeye steaks (my favorite). Now I know when I'm done. I just cut out the bone with some meat on it. I had a few bites of that and a bit of the homemade au gratin potatoes I make and DAMN! I'm full. So I took one more bite or each.

You'd think I'd learn.

I see how I used to be when I watch my mom. I told her about the Trader Joe's dark chocolate and offered her a bit. I just expected her to eat one of two squares. I literally turned back around and the whole bar was gone. I remember not having the control. I could just eat and eat. The idea of eating a portion of a candy bar was just silly.

Most of the time I can control my portions and eat slow. The remaining ties, the sleeve does it's work and stops me by forced restriction.

To the OP: Your tool is working. You will learn when to stop. I know, but sometimes we all still ignore it. The consequences are uncomfortable.

At 4 months, chicken is still difficult sometimes. Just this Saturday, I was so busy that I forgot to eat. 12:00 noon rolled around and my husband brought home one of those roasted chickens from costco. I stuffed down half a wing and half a leg.

BIG mistake.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the next day we BBQed ribeye steaks (my favorite). Now I know when I'm done. I just cut out the bone with some meat on it. I had a few bites of that and a bit of the homemade au gratin potatoes I make and DAMN! I'm full. So I took one more bite or each.

You'd think I'd learn.

I see how I used to be when I watch my mom. I told her about the Trader Joe's dark chocolate and offered her a bit. I just expected her to eat one of two squares. I literally turned back around and the whole bar was gone. I remember not having the control. I could just eat and eat. The idea of eating a portion of a candy bar was just silly.

Most of the time I can control my portions and eat slow. The remaining ties, the sleeve does it's work and stops me by forced restriction.

To the OP: Your tool is working. You will learn when to stop. I know, but sometimes we all still ignore it. The consequences are uncomfortable.

So glad to hear that I'm not the only slow learner around here :-) I still tend to overeat way more than I should (by overeat I mean one or two bites more than I should, but that's already enough to make me miserable for hours and hours) and always ask myself the same thing: Why can't I learn from previous mistakes? Am really trying to work on that - any suggestions, anybody?

So glad to hear that I'm not the only slow learner around here :-) I still tend to overeat way more than I should (by overeat I mean one or two bites more than I should, but that's already enough to make me miserable for hours and hours) and always ask myself the same thing: Why can't I learn from previous mistakes? Am really trying to work on that - any suggestions, anybody?

I pack my lunch for work. I have a bento box and everything is portioned out by volume (I measure my food. I do not weigh it). Anyway, at work I eat slowly throughout the day. I just have to remember to do that at home. I have to make it habit: Measure and eat slowly.

I also find that food is more satisfying when I eat it really slowly. I don't just mean chewing it slowly. I mean taking a bite of steak and then 3 minutes later a bite of cheese and then 5 minutes later another bite of steak and so on. I tend to choose foods that can be eaten cold or at room temperature. Soup has to be hot, but I do not reheat meat. Reheating destroys the flavor for me. I trim all the fat so cold meats are just fine. I cut lunch into bite sized pieces (meats, cheese, fruit) and grab a bit every now and then.

My stomach loves this. The only draw back and I really do not see it so is that since it takes me about 5 hours to eat my combination Breakfast and lunch bento box, I end up sort of drinking with my meals - so to speak. My meals and Snacks just tend to run together.

It hasn't seemed to hurt me any.

I pack my lunch for work. I have a bento box and everything is portioned out by volume (I measure my food. I do not weigh it). Anyway, at work I eat slowly throughout the day. I just have to remember to do that at home. I have to make it habit: Measure and eat slowly.

I also find that food is more satisfying when I eat it really slowly. I don't just mean chewing it slowly. I mean taking a bite of steak and then 3 minutes later a bite of cheese and then 5 minutes later another bite of steak and so on. I tend to choose foods that can be eaten cold or at room temperature. Soup has to be hot, but I do not reheat meat. Reheating destroys the flavor for me. I trim all the fat so cold meats are just fine. I cut lunch into bite sized pieces (meats, cheese, fruit) and grab a bit every now and then.

My stomach loves this. The only draw back and I really do not see it so is that since it takes me about 5 hours to eat my combination breakfast and lunch bento box, I end up sort of drinking with my meals - so to speak. My meals and Snacks just tend to run together.

It hasn't seemed to hurt me any.

Sounds like that works well for you, but I definitely don't want to get into the habit of eating and drinking together (among other things, I find that having to separate the two has reduced my grazing to almost zero). I also pack by volume - and I pack VERY little. The problem is that my sleeve capacity can change from one meal to the next (my NUT assured me that this was normal) so I can't necessarily eat one day what I ate the day before. That's part of what gets me into trouble with overeating - I'm so sure I should be able to eat this teeny tiny piece, but sometimes I just can't, regardless of what I can eat at other times. For example, on Friday I cooked myself an egg and made egg salad. (I'm not in the mushy phase but I love egg salad, so why not?) I was able to eat literally about 1/6 (if that much) of that single egg salad. When I showed what was left to my family, they couldn't believe I'd even begun to eat it, and they've seen how little I can eat. The next day, I easily polished off the rest of the salad in one sitting. (Truth to tell I was long overdue for a meal so my sleeve was emptier than usual, but still... those extremes make it really hard to always plan for exact volume.)

I will be six weeks out tomorrow and can sympathize with everything said here. I always eat too fast and I always start with way too much. It makes me feel like such a slow learner that I keep making the same mistakes over and over. One of these days my brain will catch on that I can only eat a couple bites of anything.

I seem to graze VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLY then.

Here's what I packed today for breakfast snack and lunch:

4 oz of ribeye steak (all visible fat trimmed).

6 oz of Greek Yogurt (blueberry Chobani)

1 baby bell cheese

Handful of grape tomatoes

6 raisin rosemary crisps from Trader Joes (these are so freaking good!)

1 chicken noodle Cup a Soup

Calories: 541, Fat 15.5 g, Carbs 41.8, Protein 57.4

I just eat what I want when I feel like it. What I don't eat, I will eat later for dinner or something. I'm usually spot on though. I guess I'm trying to train myself to eat until satisfied and not full. I DO NOT like the feeling of a full stomach anymore so this is why I probably eat this way - the slow grazing.

Dinner will be lean meat and a veggie and still have me under 800 calories and 65-70 grams of protein.

Great answers Cherry, Cat and Miriam. Thanks. Good to know we're not alone.

I seem to graze VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLY then.

Here's what I packed today for breakfast snack and lunch:

4 oz of ribeye steak (all visible fat trimmed).

6 oz of Greek Yogurt (blueberry Chobani)

1 baby bell cheese

Handful of grape tomatoes

6 raisin rosemary crisps from Trader Joes (these are so freaking good!)

1 chicken noodle Cup a Soup

Calories: 541, Fat 15.5 g, Carbs 41.8, Protein 57.4

I just eat what I want when I feel like it. What I don't eat, I will eat later for dinner or something. I'm usually spot on though. I guess I'm trying to train myself to eat until satisfied and not full. I DO NOT like the feeling of a full stomach anymore so this is why I probably eat this way - the slow grazing.

Dinner will be lean meat and a veggie and still have me under 800 calories and 65-70 grams of protein.

I don't know if I could eat that much even with slow grazing - my sleeve just doesn't have the capacity at the moment. Oh, and I really don't have that much patience :-) But I know that eventually I will be able to get more in and I do NOT want to get back into the habit of grazing for when that happens. If it works for you, though, that's great.