Year after surgery, stomach stretched too much??

[swall22 2]

Hi all, I am new to forums. I started though because I have a serious concern and question.

I believe I have stretched my new stomach, a good bit, more than normal. I am just at a year after my sleeve. I find myself to be able to eat a good bit. Like two slices of pizza. I've eaten half of a normal sandwich with chips. I really think its because I've been pushing it and also drinking carbonated drinks. I understand changes need to be made! I am mostly concerned with getting back to a normal size stomach. Is it possible to go back? I haven't done irreparable damage, right?

All help is appreciated!!

Again, I know its my fault that my stomach could be too stretched. Just trying to get advice to make a change!

[Introversion 1,876]

Nope. A sleeved stomach is expected to relax and stretch somewhat. For a more detailed explanation, watch some of Dr. Matthew Weiner's YouTube videos. That tight postsurgical restriction does not last forever.

He states that, by three to five years out, a typical sleever is able to eat two-thirds of a plate of food. Compare that to the three to five bites of food we were eating at a couple of months post-op.

At two years out I can eat volumes of food that had been impossible during the first couple of months. I can eat two slices of pizza, although I choose not to. I can eat an entire 6-inch sub sandwich, although I choose not to. I can eat two small fast food cheeseburgers, although I choose not to.

The further out you get from surgery, the more critical your food choices are. People regain weight from slider foods such as pizza and chips, not from dense Proteins such as chicken breast and turkey. Even if your stomach has stretched to a 16-ounce capacity, a resleeve will not help if you eat crap.

The size of the stomach does not matter nearly as much as what you put into it.

[Deactivatedfatgal 377]

I just read that during first 6 months stomach can hold 1-2ounces, 6 months it can hold 4-6 and at 1 year and beyond it can hold 6-8 ounces. If we were to only eat a few bites of food long term it would be catastrophic to our health and we would be malnourished, the early restriction is great for rapid weight loss in he beginning.

Like commenter above me, size doesn't matter as much as what we put in our mouth. Hope this helps.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@Introversion is exactly right. Nope that is normal. Your sleeve isn't stretched. You are making choices of things that are making it easy for you to eat more than you should.

I can eat all the toppings off a large pizza. I can still only eat 4-5 ounces of steak.

You are making bad food choices you can't blame on your sleeve.

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

1 hour ago, Introversion said:

The further out you get from surgery, the more critical your food choices are. People regain weight from slider foods such as pizza and chips, not from dense Proteins such as chicken breast and turkey. Even if your stomach has stretched to a 16-ounce capacity, a resleeve will not help if you eat crap.

The size of the stomach does not matter nearly as much as what you put into it.

Bingo.

[Dawn Rae 32]

I'm highly positive that your surgeon gave you a paper that states going back to old eating habits will ruin this for you. Mine did.

WLS isn't going to magically make you thinner. It's only a tool to help you along and give you a jump start. What happens in the long run is based on what you to do yourself AFTER your surgery.

So, first of all, drop the chips and bread. That's a good place to start :).

[Kaze 94]

I sympathize entirely with your experience. I, too, have stalled on weight loss because I've been eating like crap (while I can attempt to justify it because I've relapsed on my depression and my work schedule isn't helping me much, I won't tackle that here). Note that I'm sure you'll notice that if you eat very dense, good Proteins (or dense foods in general) your restriction is still in tact. Your stomach at 6 months and beyond is usually just free from all of the surgical inflammation. You'll never, ever revert to anywhere near your normal stomach size. You can however revert back to an emotional tendency to food. The reality is, unfortunately, our brain is separate from our stomach.

Slider foods are called that for a reason...they literally do not hold in our stomach very well so with a brief break and a sip of Water, we can go back to gorging on said foods. I won't tell you how many times in a while I've eaten entire bags of chips since surgery. Hint: it's sad and more than I'm proud of.

But as others have pointed out, your restriction is here to stay, and while it's never going to be like it was post surgery and for the first about six months, it's just knowing what foods will be restricted. The honeymoon period right after surgery and the following months is known as such for a reason...restriction is painfully strict, weight loss is rapid and cravings are basically nonexistent. Once we start getting out there, it gets a little easier to binge again and I think it's best if we can acknowledge that, not beat ourselves up over it.

Just start being stricter with yourself, as I'm trying to do for myself. I'm looking hot and heavy for a gym to join and I'm trying to find replacements snack items that would be more Protein rich (there's protein chips now! weird, right?) and satisfy my cravings.

Do not beat yourself up and don't think you've done irreparable damage! That'll just hurt your attitude and not feed into productive use of this assessment of your habits!

[Greensleevie 451]

This is a perfect example of over reliance on the tool itself, and why doing so is the reason people end up regaining. Two bites of fried chicken? No problem! A whole peice of fried chicken and a few bites of mashed potatoes and gravy? Regain city. A whole piece of grilled chicken breast and a few bites of veggies? You're more likely to keep the weight off.

Let's be real here. This is why WLS is really only temporary. Our good habits are what should be permanent.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Greensleevie

[swall22 2]

Thank you to everyone. Your comments really help so much both for comfort and encouragement! I appreciate it!