Hi all.

I am considering having a VSG. I thought I would seek advice regarding this. I have a very large appetite, largely emotional eating, I am sure, but I am able to consume large portions of food, and tend to get hungry fairly easily. Result has been many years of yo-yo dieting. my BMI is now in the mid 30's.

does anyone know if the post-op portion of food is affected much by sleeve size? Ie, I believe it is common to take 75-85% of the stomach.... has anyone ever had say a 45-55% reduction to remove ghrelin cells, but a larger stomach size remains? I would still like to be at least able to enjoy family meals once in a while. thank you all kindly for any advice.

That would be pointless. That still leave most of the stretchy part of the stomach.

You can still enjoy family meals. You can only eat small amounts for a short time.

I'm a year and a half out. I eat with people and no one can tell I had surgery. No I am not downing a 12 ounce steak but I can make a decent dent in my plate. Also as time goes on you learn what you can eat more of.

The amount of time you can only eat a few ounces of food is just a few months. You can eat more at 3, 6, 9, 12, and onward.

13 minutes ago, OutsideMatchInside said:

That would be pointless. That still leave most of the stretchy part of the stomach.

You can still enjoy family meals. You can only eat small amounts for a short time.

I'm a year and a half out. I eat with people and no one can tell I had surgery. No I am not downing a 12 ounce steak but I can make a decent dent in my plate. Also as time goes on you learn what you can eat more of.

The amount of time you can only eat a few ounces of food is just a few months. You can eat more at 3, 6, 9, 12, and onward.

thank you so kindly for your input. it is great to hear from someone who had this experience.

Would it not help by removing the ghrelin producing cells of the stomach though, therefore reducing hunger ?

I agree that taking only part of the stomach would be pointless. You are basically asking for the surgeon to leave you the ability to continue to same negative behaviors that made you fat in the first place. The removal of ghrelin helps in the early stages, but hunger comes back. If you can still back away a pound or more of food when that happens you will quickly regain everything you have lost.

I still can eat most of the foods I could eat before. I just eat a few bites, to enjoy the flavor, rather than mindlessly eat until it's gone or I can't fit anymore in.

They remove the Gherlin by removing most of the stomach, that is what the surgery is. And the Gherlin part only lasts for so long, your levels go back up eventually, not to what they were pre-op but they go up.

By not having the full procedure, you are basically handicapping yourself. It is like buying 3 tires for a car. It is pointless. A well formed sleeve, once you heal has more capacity, eventually for some people up to 2 cups. If you have even less removed than other people you are going to end up with almost a full sized stomach in the end. You will just stretch the stretchy part out with over eating. With a sleeve you don't have that stretchy part left at all, that is how the restriction works.

If your biggest concern is being able to eat large meals post-op, then surgery isn't a good option for you. You aren't in the right mental place for it. You should be more concerned about your health than if you can eat a lot on family holidays. Think about what really matters to you long term.

Edited February 24, 20179 yr by OutsideMatchInside

1. Trust me you can eat everything you want in a while. I am struggling over three years out, because I keep gaining. My husband and I are a no carb family due to diabetes and love of carbs, we don't eat out, yet I am not that far from where I started. My surgeon has a life coach in his office, I also work with her.

If you remove 75 to 85% of your stomach you will never eat more than a cup of food for the rest of your life. That's a fact. You can eat most things. But you will feel awkward eating out and at family gatherings. You may also have food aversions. Bread, Pasta and rice may cause issues

Your stomach won't stretch and its permanent. I can't imagine a surgeon will agree to only removin 40 to 50% .

Ultimately, whether you can eat one or two cups of food doesn't matter. You are now eating one to two quarts, so there will be a drastic reduction.

The bigger question is why it matters whether you put 3 ounces of steak on your plate, or 12. Either way, you are there, enjoying the atmosphere and conversation. Does it really matter the size of your plate?

There is a lot of variation in the size of sleeves depending on the size of bougie that is used. Typically a larger bougie is associated with less complications. The upper part of the new sleeve/stomach can dilate considerably after time which is probably where people are seeing their increase in volume capabilities.

I agree with the others, if you are worried about the size of your meal weight loss surgery might not be for you.

I too had concerns, I wanted to be able to eat 1 cup of food in a sitting eventually. I think that piece was one of many reasons why I chose sleeve over rny.

thank you all for your feedback everyone.... I hope it makes sense, I am not worried about my typical meal size, I WANT to eat less, MUCH less, I realize my battle with food is putting me down a dangerous path....

....I am just SO self conscious about others knowing, people thinking I am weird, or weak, or "took the easy way out". I do not intent to tell any family members besides my spouse.

Your posts have been so very helpful.

13 minutes ago, bariboy said:

thank you all for your feedback everyone.... I hope it makes sense, I am not worried about my typical meal size, I WANT to eat less, MUCH less, I realize my battle with food is putting me down a dangerous path....

....I am just SO self conscious about others knowing, people thinking I am weird, or weak, or "took the easy way out". I do not intent to tell any family members besides my spouse.

Your posts have been so very helpful.

I recommend you take time before you make this decision. Ppl will notice because you won't be able to eat more than a cup of food several months or year down the road. Early on it will be only a few table spoons. It will feel so awful if your very worried about being self consicous. I am pretty self aware as well and I simply avoid eating out now, I don't like all the questions.

Just now, AnneElliot said:

I recommend you take time before you make this decision. Ppl will notice because you won't be able to eat more than a cup of food several months or year down the road. Early on it will be only a few table spoons. It will feel so awful if your very worried about being self consicous. I am pretty self aware as well and I simply avoid eating out now, I don't like all the questions.

I am too, Anne.... I think you basically capture essentially what I am worries about.

I found this image from this forum, I guess if it makes sense, what I'm thinking of is wondering it it possible to have "B" instead of "A".

That's a great question for your surgeon. I know most stomachs are cut to bougie sizes from 32 to 60 fr. But most surgeons do them around 36/40.

Print the photo and ask during a consultantion.

Another alternative for you is a Gastric Ballon, coupled with a strict keto diet. You wont eat much as you lose weight and its temporary

Boogie size is baloney. I can eat as much as I did before surgery.

21 minutes ago, Pescador said:

Boogie size is baloney. I can eat as much as I did before surgery.

Seriously? That's pretty odd. Can you give us an example?

What did you eat before that you can eat now? How long does it take you to eat said meal?

Time eating is irrelevant. We eat no bread, carbs, sWeets. We are both 70. Husband maintains perfectly. I had a low BMI. I work with a life coach at the surgeon's office. No matter what, I struggle terribly, I eat less than my husband. I follow rules. I backtrack to shakes. I try the re-set the pouch.