Hey everyone! I love this app so much, it's really helped me and educated me beyond any research! One thing I haven't stumbled upon yet are "signs that tell you when you're full". I'm about to start my 2 week liquid diet and I was just curious some signs POST OP people have experienced - their body telling them they're full. I would appreciate everyone's feedback!

I'm still on protein shakes and clear liquids post surgery. I get a gurgling and bubbling up my throat when I need to stop drinking for a few minutes to let it go through. Very weird and noisy!

I've started puree and I'm almost 4 weeks post op. I am finding I feel discomfort/pressure after swallowing when I am *full* and using this as the benchmark to stop.

Your sign should be that you had your measured/weighed portion. You can't really depend on your body to tell you. Once your body signals you, you aren't full you have over ate.

There are a lot of threads about this if you use search, but...

It varies by person. Some people get a running nose, some hiccups, burping.

Early on the nerves are not reconnected (your Dr should talk to you about this but a lot of them aren't that good and don't), so you can't depend on feelings from your stomach. Also like I said before, by the time you get the signal to your brain you have over eaten.

You do not want to depend on feeling full long term.

It is a recipe for overeating and regain. You need to learn to eat proper measured/weighed portions and being satisfied with those, so long term when you can eat more, you don't.

Example I can eat 6 ounces of steak before I get stuffed, but a proper portion is 3-4 ounces (not just for sleevers but for everyone, people are not eating proper portions). 3-4 ounces will satisfy me for hours, and provides enough protein. If I just relied on my feeling of fullness I could over eat a proper portion at every meal.

Creating good habits in the very beginning makes it easier to follow them later on. Right after surgery your tool is working the hardest to support your good choices. As time goes on and you heal and have more capacity and less fear of food, you will have less support from your tool, and will have to depend on the good habits that you have built over time.

Edited March 7, 20179 yr by OutsideMatchInside

Eat to content. Feels like you COULD take another bite or two but you don't.

Like @OutsideMatchInside says, "by the time you get the signal to your brain you've overeaten". <-----this is those few bites after contentment.

People who are food addicts, don't know what contentment is when it comes to eating. That is why they need to eat measured portions only.

People who are fresh from surgery without reconnected nerves (the nerves are severed in surgery) will not know contentment.

Long term, capacity and contentment will change.

Measured portions only for long term success. Guessing or going on feeling is a recipe for failure.

22 minutes ago, OutsideMatchInside said:

People who are food addicts, don't know what contentment is when it comes to eating. That is why they need to eat measured portions only.

People who are fresh from surgery without reconnected nerves (the nerves are severed in surgery) will not know contentment.

Long term, capacity and contentment will change.

Measured portions only for long term success. Guessing or going on feeling is a recipe for failure.

You are absolutely right. I didn't think of food addictions. I have never had an addiction so I can't speak from experience like that. But I'm glad you brought that up.

Measured portions are the way to go, especially the first several months. You are not able to really feel when you are full. I am around 7 months out, and my nose starts to run when I am satisfied. But, that doesn't happen 100% of the time, so I still measure my portions.

I'm probably the outlier here because I pretty much listen to my body. I measure out my food regardless but never can handle the same amount all the time (if that makes sense). So I get a kind of lump feeling in my chest and that's when I know that's the last bite.

My program emphasizes learning to listen to your body rather than weighing and measuring. So far it's worked for me.

Some days I'm super hungry and others I'm not. Some days I can eat an entire quart of salad for lunch and other days only half that.

When Ive eaten too much, I know because my stomach hurts. Usually this happens when I eat too fast. Used to be able to shovel the food in but not any More!

I'm only 4 weeks post op, on soft/purée foods, and I have no hunger. I also have no full indicator until it's too late and I feel bubbling and gurgling in my throat like cic described. Because of this I rely on measuring most of the time. At home I have tiny bowls and I use them exclusively when I eat. My tummy can hold about 5 ounces most meals. This habit is training me for times I don't have my little bowls like eating out. I haven't eaten out yet but I'm preparing by learning the right portions visually.

Take care

Do people realize that chronically over eating gets acid in your esophagus and long term will lead to complications? Over eating. which is waiting until your body tells you that you are full, is a long term recipe for issues.

Salad is a slider, at least it is for me. I can eat endless amounts of baby spinach. So salad is a bad example. I am also fully healed and over a year and a half out from surgery. I know my limits.

People still learning need to rely on measuring. Actually you should rely on weighing, which is more accurate than measuring.

@janedoe92 How much we can eat varies a lot on the moisture content of the food. Like if you prepare something fresh you will be able to eat more it than something you have reheated in the microwave, because the microwave removes moisture. The density and the fat content matter too. If you surgery date is accurate, you less than 2 months post op and not fully healed, so everything varies right now. Plus I know people with the DS have a sleeve shape, but I'm not sure what the similarities are after than since long term DS people consume a lot more calories than Sleevers because of their malabsoprtion.

Do people realize that chronically over eating gets acid in your esophagus and long term will lead to complications? Over eating. which is waiting until your body tells you that you are full, is a long term recipe for issues.
[mention=298096]janedoe92[/mention] How much we can eat varies a lot on the moisture content of the food. Like if you prepare something fresh you will be able to eat more it than something you have reheated in the microwave, because the microwave removes moisture. The density and the fat content matter too. If you surgery date is accurate, you less than 2 months post op and not fully healed, so everything varies right now. Plus I know people with the DS have a sleeve shape, but I'm not sure what the similarities are after than since long term DS people consume a lot more calories than Sleevers because of their malabsoprtion.

What is DS? Sorry I am new here

@marycordero it is a more radical surgery, with the stomach shape of the sleeve and an intestinal bypass. Duodenal switch. Google it.

It used to be reserved for really extreme cases but lately I have seen people that are not very large at all having it done.

Measuring food early on is so important however you still need to learn how to read your body and stop eating before you are 'full'. Remember to be sated rather than full.

I don't measure food anymore as I am maintaining but I DO know when to stop.

Yeah........ I'm not saying I'm DEPENDING on when my body tells me when I'm full. I just see a lot of talk with people saying "their body lets them know they're full when......" I plan on measuring my food out, since this will be new to me and I have to learn as I go.