Can't tell if I'm hungry or full - 2 wks mushy foods

[ella37 455]

So, I'm really enjoying my soft food stage but I'm having an issue with knowing how much to eat. The soft foods are good and bad because they go down so easily that I can eat more than I thought I'd be able to (about 2oz) but it's hard to know exactly when to stop. I kept feeling hungry all day today and ate more than I probably needed to. About 45 minutes ago I felt very hungry again and took 1 oz of ricotta. After about 1/2 of it I started hiccuping and then got a nasty mouth full of spit. I'm just not sure how to figure out what the sensations in my stomach mean. Any advice?

Thanks

[fit2fabvsg 13]

My dr say only eat 3-4oz a meal...I just started puree foods tho...and so far I'm full after a few bites..I would just full up on liquids in between meals just so I would over do it if I was u...hopes it all works out for the best

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[PorkChopExpress 826]

When I started on mushy foods (two weeks post-op, they advanced me past pureed), I was only eating around 1oz of meat (a meatball) and roughly 1 TBSP or so of mashed potatoes...and that filled me up. It was roughly 1/4 cup of food, I would guess. Don't mistake what is going on in your head for hunger. And also, be aware that you're only a few weeks out from surgery, your stomach is still healing and you will have some soreness associated with digestion, and rumbling associated with both gas and acid. It's easy to mistake that for hunger, especially when you combine it with the "head hunger," but that's not what it is. Those physical symptoms go away over time, as you heal. You have to deal with the mental hunger in other ways. I'm on week 5 now and rarely feel them. Stomach doesn't rumble around the way it used to and the acid has reduced a lot, as have the healing pains.

The thing is, the only real way for you to identify the feelings in your stomach right now is to go VERY SLOWLY when you eat. Make a conscious effort to stretch your meal out to at least like 25 minutes. DO NOT DRINK with or after your meal (you'll flush things through too quickly, before they digest). Give yourself at least 30-40 minutes after you eat, before you drink anything. But most importantly, just be really mindful when you eat. Sit in a quiet spot without a bunch of distractions. Chew the food thoroughly and swallow, feel it go down and how it feels in the stomach. You will start to feel it when you're getting full and be really aware of it, because only one or two more bites will cause you to feel pain, or possibly throw up. You got the "nasty mouthful of spit" because your stomach wasn't ready for more. How long before that had you already eaten?

This is part of the learning process with your sleeve, you have to totally re-learn what it will hold, how much is enough, how slowly you have to eat, the whole nine yards. Consider it like having hit a reset button back to when you were a baby. You have to learn how to regulate now. Eventually, you'll just know how much the stomach holds comfortably and you'll know visually how that portion looks, and can measure it out appropriately. I'm now at 1.5oz of meat and about a 1/4 cup of carbs after almost five weeks down...but I'm a guy so my volume is going to be more. But I just weigh and portion out my 1.5oz of meat and I use my ziplock 1/2 cup containers to portion out the carbs, and that's how I eat. Works perfectly every time.

Edited October 27, 2016 by PorkChopExpress