I had noticed several posts on this subject the last month or two. I was lucky to have a very good NUT advising me in the early months of this process so it was drilled into me to keep portions small, so I didn't always relate to this problem/issue.

I was on a week long business trip last week. I was in workshop/meetings 4 of the days and of course had 5 hour flight to and from as well - and all the food related challenges that come with airports and flying.

What was hard is that I couldn't do my usual mini meals. Food was basically offered 3 times a day and the content of it was not within my control. I did carry Protein bars.

So, what I experienced was interesting, and may be useful to others as well. Because I went so long between meals, I was really pretty hungry by the time I ate. I felt that I ate way more then usual at meal times. I was eating off fullsize plates, not my mini plates I use at home. It was one of those "surprised how much I COULD eat"

I noticed an increase in bathroom issues, I noticed a little bit of an upset stomach, I noticed symptoms that I have seen people post about that I don't normally experience. hmmmm. I also noticed that my hunger increased.

So, what I did a good job of was staying low carb. The day they had pizza and salad - I had salad and Protein Bar. I ate from a Breakfast buffet, and had basically meat and cheese or a greek yogurt. The day they served sandwiches, I only ate some of the bread, but basically ate the insides - that sort of thing.

What I did poorly was eating too many peanuts and high calorie Snacks when traveling. I ate too big of meals, and didn't eat often enough on the workshop days. I only worked out 2 of the days, but that is because the work committments ran into the evenings and I was pretty tired.

Lesson for me, to apply to my day to day life? Portion sizes and eating frequently are very very important. Going back to my home routine immediately resolved my stomach upset/acidy feeling - it was from too big of portions I think! Luckily, I didn't let myself get on the carb craving cycle (that has happened to me before) so transitioning home has gone pretty well.

Anyway, for those of you experiencing this feeling of eating too much, perhaps consider going to the eating 4-6 mini meals a day and do the tricks about eating from a teaplate, using appetizer utinsils etc and see if it doesn't help you get back to the more petite portions. My own approach is to use a very small plate, and to make sure the food doesn't touch even on the small plate. This, combined with eating more frequently, keeps me from overeating . I would be curious to hear if other find that they just feel better too - the larger portions didn't hurt, but, I think were mildly uncomfortable which i experienced as an acidy kind of feeling.

I had a small loss, but more importantly, I was able to not gain even after eating so weird and hopefully learned something that will help me when I move to maintenance.

This was not my first business trip post sleeve, but I think it was the first one where I really learned about my eating needs in these situations. Oh, and the amazing part, I didn't crave the pizza like I would have in the past, it didn't even smell good to me... it really helps to keep the carb monster somewhat contained - really reduces or eliminates cravings.

I love your learning process. This is an on going lesson for me.....Now I just remind myself that I really don't need that food anymore and choose proteins. If I get a biscuit, sausage and egg in the morning from Carl's Junior I throw out 85% of the biscuit and now eat 1/2 of the protein. Sometimes I can eat almost all of it, but my stomach doesn't like it too much. CONGRATS! This is a huge accomplishment......

I had a small loss, but more importantly, I was able to not gain even after eating so weird and hopefully learned something that will help me when I move to maintenance.

Funny you say that, I experienced the same thing on vacation amonth ago. I thought I was eating a ton, and eating poorly, basically because there was so much BAD food available in the vacation house, but when I returned, I had actually lost a pound or two over the week.

I just posted about this earlier today, when I find myself eating more, I think I am actually getting the right amount of calories because I can actually increase my weight loss with the right foods despite the added intake. As you mentioned, smaller and more frequent meals through the day.... I think we all may be a little guilty of, at first, not eating enough to continue weight loss effectively. I know I am guilty of just getting about 900 calories a day which slows my losses. But I ramp up to about 1200 calories a day, which feels like I am pigging out because I am constantly eating something (healthy), I begin to lose more weight.

newly sleeved. thank you so much for the insight, well written lol. <3 now my office says they want us eating 3 meals a day thats it. no snacking. im guessing the water fluids in between meals are sufficient to keep us full until solid food is due again. hoping

Thanks for sharing. I am going to approach my 12 hour shifts differently this week and try to do 4 small meals and see if that helps my stomach discomfort. I'm an ICU nurse and find that with all the physical activity pretty consistent through the shift causes an acidy type feeling. Maybe this approach will help. I'm 7 weeks out and still learning what my sleeve likes. Can you give some examples of your mini meals?

Thanks so much for sharing, I feel better now, I was feeling the same!

Every surgeon is different - but what they are doing is trying to keep you from "grazing" which is the downside of eating frequently. It is a delicate balance as you can overeat by grazing. At some point, I settled on 4 meals a day, 5 if I was pretty active, but then as time went on my needs changed again and I settled on 5 as my default.

I say follow your surgeons instructions, but if you start having issues with stomach discomfort or feeling like you need to eat more then the tiny portions, consider changing the frequency.

newly sleeved. thank you so much for the insight, well written lol. <3 now my office says they want us eating 3 meals a day thats it. no snacking. im guessing the Water fluids in between meals are sufficient to keep us full until solid food is due again. hoping

Well, I am 11 months out so my quantities are likely going to be bigger then the newly sleeved. My sleeve as 38 bougie, so definately not one of the smaller ones.

A small meal is something like:

-5 oz of Greek yogurt or

-4 oz of trim cottage cheese with a few pineapple chunks or

-1 slice of cheese and 2 thin slices of ham (mine are 25 calories per slice for reference) or

-an ounce of beef or turkey Jerky or

-Quest Protein bar

For breakfast I frequently make an eggbeaters omelette, split it into two meals (breakfast and mid morning snack). So, the total is as follows, but I split between two meals:

About 1/2 cup of sauteed green peppers and onions (I use frozen from trader joes), sautee in 1-2 slices of my thin ham chopped, then cover with 1/2 cup egg beaters and either make an omelette or scramble. I top with a little bit of cheese and salsa.

Overall, I use a teaplate to eat from for all meals. If I have chicken and a side dish I make sure that they aren't piled high and they don't touch each other. I am not measuring, but that ensures reasonable portions due to the small plate and my "rules"

It is my opinion that an active job like yours requires frequent fueling to keep your energy up. Also, take a PPI if your stomach acid is bothering you, but I definately noticed it was irritating to eat larger portions - like i said no pain, but not comfortable either.

Thanks for sharing. I am going to approach my 12 hour shifts differently this week and try to do 4 small meals and see if that helps my stomach discomfort. I'm an ICU nurse and find that with all the physical activity pretty consistent through the shift causes an acidy type feeling. Maybe this approach will help. I'm 7 weeks out and still learning what my sleeve likes. Can you give some examples of your mini meals?

You are so right. I think my hunger is more then it was (started returning at about 7 months post op) but I feel like my relationship with food continues to improve. It is like I can finally accept, without a feeling of loss or even disbelief, that I don't need that much food, I don't need alot of bread and other carbs... I am content and happier even by eating carefully.

It no longer drives my day - food is just sustenance it doesn't need to be anything else really.

I sure hope that feeling stays because maintenance scares the heck out of me and this gives me hope....

I am not ready for maintenance, but sometime in 2013 I will be and it worries me!

I love your learning process. This is an on going lesson for me.....Now I just remind myself that I really don't need that food anymore and choose Proteins. If I get a biscuit, sausage and egg in the morning from Carl's Junior I throw out 85% of the biscuit and now eat 1/2 of the Protein. Sometimes I can eat almost all of it, but my stomach doesn't like it too much. CONGRATS! This is a huge accomplishment......

Thanks Cowgirl. Just beginning to see a change in my thinking about food and that one meal a day is not a great idea. I am still taking a PPI and only notice that ucky feeling when I don't eat properly. I had my sleeve in Mexico so no NUT but there many bariatric programs in my area so I think I should invest in a NUT consult. Kinda enjoying the self discovery this process has started. Would have probably not asked for help before---dang stubbornness!