Takes too long to feel full.....

lmtorb · August 17, 2003

Does anyone have this same problem:

It sometimes takes me an HOUR to feel full. Supposedly it should take 20 minutes, plus or minus a few. But I can eat and never really feel full or satiated until about an hour later. It's difficult for me to tell when to stop because of this. If I stick to the 1/2 cup, it usually isn't enough, but I'm never sure how much more to eat without overfilling. I've always been this way, which is probably part of the reason I always overate. I could sit and eat a HUGE amount of food and not feel too full.......until it hit later, then I was miserable! I just had my first fill and I am NOT drinking during a meal. Any suggestions or anyone else experience this either pre or post banding??

Kiera · August 18, 2003

Larry,

Try drinking a LOT of Water about 15-20 minutes before you eat your meal. This is sometimes referred to as Water loading. It will help to fill up the larger section of your stomach so that when you eat your meal you feel fuller.

Have you had a fill yet? I am prefill due to a flipped port and I know that I am able to eat more than I should because of the lack of restriction.

Remember that "suposed to" is a killer word(s) - don't beat yourself up with it. You may not feel full on half a cup of food, that is hardly unusual - esp if you are pre-fill. I would suggest trying to NOT think about fullness at all. Just eat your scheduled food and try to simply stop and go do something else to distract yourself from food. Depending on where you are in your postop diet you might try to eat more filling food - chicken breast for example. I find that concentrating on Protein makes me feel fuller much much faster than if I just munch veggies or something.

If you are experiencing "the hungries" in general check to make sure you are getting enough Protein each day. I forget how many grams you need each day but there are tons of sites out on the internet where you can find that info. There are a couple of sites where you can track your food intake and they will tell you all the levels of calories, protein, Vitamins, carbs, etc.

Hope that helps! Hang in there! ;-)

sprtsmom · August 19, 2003

I had my first fill today, and the MD told me something I thought was very interesting. He said it doesn't really matter how much you eat at a sitting (of course don't gorge) but what really matters is how long you feel full for AFTER you've eaten.

I told him I can eat a cup and a half of food easily, sometimes 2 cups. It didn't matter...as long as there were at least 4 hours in between meals. Now of course pre fill I could go about 90 minutes before I was hungry again. I have always been a volume eater...but I tend to eat healthy things..just too much of them. The goal is to eat a reasonable portion and then not get hungry easily thereafter.

Lori

bjkgriffith · August 28, 2003

Lori, Thanks for the tips. I live in an area where there are practically no bandsters, and a support group is unheard of, so any tip that I can get from my online groups helps.

Thanks,

Barb