I was a heavy soda pop drinker before the surgery. It seems a few positives exist. Like not drinking soda anymore. Drinking water and tea. Staying away from sugary drinks. But it seems the positives just aren't enough due to my extreme appetite. And easy caloric intake. I know the pouch is a tool. But so is a saw. And if the saw ain't sharp it doesn't cut the wood. My pouch just isn't cutting it.

I think y'all need to measure and journal your intake and find out if you're actually over eating. Maybe you just think you are. Also, remember.. It's a tool and we have to make it work. Including reminding ourselves what and when to eat. We can't over eat if we're eating the right foods. Just from from that chnge alone our calorie intake is drastically cut.

If you find you can eat more than the recommended MEASURED portions of food then maybe you do have an issue. If your not measuring your portions it's impossible to know if you're actually, in fact, over eating

I was a heavy soda pop drinker before the surgery. It seems a few positives exist. Like not drinking soda anymore. Drinking Water and tea. Staying away from sugary drinks. But it seems the positives just aren't enough due to my extreme appetite. And easy caloric intake. I know the pouch is a tool. But so is a saw. And if the saw ain't sharp it doesn't cut the wood. My pouch just isn't cutting it.

I believe this is flawed thinking. Does the saw do the cutting or does the person holding the saw?

It seems your expectation of the sleeve was to change you from being a mindless eating machine into a thoughtful consumer of all things good. Your surgery was on your stomach, not your head. It does require some involvement from you. The saw is sharp, but you still have to work it.

I measured and know I'm eating over a cup You are right I expected more from my pouch. Guess I needed brain surgery.

BTW, I can eat around my sleeve, no problem. I could do everything you are talking about. I could easily gain 10 pounds this April. I could drink with my meals, have caramel-latte-Starbucks-a-Grande whatever everyday. I could eat a large size DQ blizzard and suck down a strawberry lemonade with lunch and dinner. 2,000 calories ... HAH! I could eat that for Breakfast ... literally.

But, I don't.

I do the guidelines exactly as they were laid out for me and have been iterated on this site dozens of times. I have listened to what other successful sleevers have done and repeated.

Was it easy?

HELL NO!

But I knew I had to change my fundamental relationship with food and I needed a tool to help me with this journey. For me, the sleeve has been that tool. Just like a saw or hammer, it is worthless just sitting there on it's own. I have to hold it and work it the right way in order for me to get the desired results.

This is no different. It is hard, but there are lots of people here who can help guide you. We all want you to be successful. If we're going to make a change, then let's make a change.

Pdx man. What is your hunger level. Just curious are you very hungry or do you not feel strong hunger.

God, I know this is going to come across as harsh in written text, but please know it is not meant to be. I truly want you to be successful ...

Dealing with family tragedies is just a part of life. I know I would always find reasons to abuse food. Family, work, stress ... whatever. Myself, I have had 3 surgeries since being sleeved. 2 on my back which has forced me to basically end any and all exercise until just recently. I have been out of state for funerals and many other massive life events I will not go into here, but I, too, have my reasons which make it difficult to follow the guidelines. But I am not going to let them get in the way of my resolve to follow these guidelines to be successful with the sleeve.

Abusing food was an old pastime of mine. It was killing me. I had to make a change and wasn't going to let anything stand in my way. It isn't always easy, but I keep trying.

Well I don't eat out at all. No fast food. No soda. No candy no pastries no bread. I just overeat period. Too much of anything isn't good for me. But that dang blasted hunger feeling is so strong I can fight it but than I would just eat more later. My doctor told me I would not feel this way after surgery and I do. That's why I have questions.

I can't imagine a doc telling me that I would never be hungry once I was sleeved. That alone would be worrisome. I was never told that and I am glad. Did you go through any classes and evaluations?

Pdx man. What is your hunger level. Just curious are you very hungry or do you not feel strong hunger.

I don't get hungry in the conventional sense, like I did pre-sleeve. I used to be a huge snacker eating anything and everything. I loved the feeling of being full ... and still do. That hasn't changed. But before, it was a giant gorilla jumping on my back screaming in my ear to EAT!!

Now, it is more like the friendly nudge. But I attribute that to eating well balance meals throughout the day.

Here is what my daily food intake looks like:

8:00 AM: Yogurt

9:30: banana

12:00: Soup - Chix veggie, Turkey Chili, Ham and Bean - Each well balanced with Protein and good carbs. Jelly jar size, 8 oz. Takes me about 30 minutes to eat it all.

2:00: Orange

4:30: Couple of crackers with cheese

6:00: dinner is usually a lean protein and veggies. Friday, I had BBQ ribs/Asparagus/Grilled pineapple. Saturday was Spinach salad with egg and veggies and 1 bite of chix quesadilla. Last night I had French Onion Soup and mixed green salad with lots of veggies.

8:00: Some cheating snack Crackers with cheese, maybe some ice cream.

Somewhere in the day I may have a Protein Bar or shake if I get that *nudge*.

Try getting rid of the pre packaged meals. Keep your meals simple protein and veggies. Track for a week or two to get amounts and how often.

I know if I sneak any pre packaged foods in. A cycle of wanting to eat more always starts!

Eat simple whole foods for two weeks track record and after that take a look and show it to your doctor to see what he thinks about your hunger level...

BTW, early on, I mourned food. Not being able to use food as a comfort like I was able to prior. My normal reaction was to turn to food and I was no longer getting the kind of satisfaction I had received before, so I would push it. Eating more than I should and would end up with some pain. I'm wondering if you may be experiencing some of this. If you are eating and drinking, the smaller stomach may not be digesting the food enough in the stomach. The liquid would allow it to pass through the pyloric valve early and into the intestines. This could be the cause of your discomfort, but I am not a Dr, nor do I play one on T.V.

Again, I go back to the question, how well are you following the guidelines? If you are breaking the guidelines, then I am not surprised the sleeve isn't working for you.

This has been very helpful. Most of you have had hunger reduced. And don't have the same feeling afterwards. I know what you are saying and it all makes sense. But the part of my sleeve that's broken I feel is my hunger level. My doctor said the starving feeling would be gone and I'd have little to no hunger. That's what sold me. As I'm finding out more and more I feel that the doc did not remove the part of my stomach that produces the hunger hormone. Rendering my sleeve utterly useless. Because my hunger is so strong and constant I feel cheated. And why is my volume quadruple what most sleeves have capacity to hold. Especially 5 weeks out. My doctor is hours away. Is there anyway I can get a simple x ray of my stomach locally?

I do follow the instructions my doctor gave me.

I must say one more thing here... There are a lot of people who think their hunger will be taken away..I'm sure someone will come along soon and say "I never feel any hunger" But there are also a lot of us that this is not necessarily true for! I get real hunger. I was never promised it would go away.. But stronger than that I still deal with head hunger (which by the way feels like real hungry) we have to still work through these issues and learn a different way of living and eating.

Just to confirm ... you do NOT drink 15 minutes prior to eating, while you're eating or for half an hour AFTER you eat?

When you eat, you start with LEAN Protein first. And again, not processed out of a box kind of thing with breading or any other junk?

You are chewing well and wait in between bites evaluating how you feel, putting your utensil down after each bite?

NOT eating chips and all the other gunk we used to eat?