When will I be able to eat “normally”

[hazthain 3]

I am 8 weeks out of gastric sleeve surgery and have lost a great amount of weight, I’m happy with my progress. I just can’t believe how small my portions are. I knew of course they’d be small, but I can literally manage two bites before I feel really full. How long will it be until I can actually eat a fairly normal portion size and not look rude at meals? I don’t mean to sound stupid or ungrateful for my surgery, but once I hit my goal weight, I would like to be able to enjoy eating out and family meals like a “normal” person. At the moment, eating is not a good experience and I don’t like the feeling whilst eating or immediately after. Can anyone share their story with portion size?

[FluffyChix 17,409]

Enjoy this time and take advantage of it to get the weigh off quickly--as much as you can in the first 6mo honeymoon period. Cuz there WILL come a time all too soon where you are struggling with the opposite and feel like you can't control how much you eat any longer.

[allwet 868]

57 minutes ago, hazthain said:

I am 8 weeks out of gastric sleeve surgery and have lost a great amount of weight, I’m happy with my progress. I just can’t believe how small my portions are. I knew of course they’d be small, but I can literally manage two bites before I feel really full. How long will it be until I can actually eat a fairly normal portion size and not look rude at meals? I don’t mean to sound stupid or ungrateful for my surgery, but once I hit my goal weight, I would like to be able to enjoy eating out and family meals like a “normal” person. At the moment, eating is not a good experience and I don’t like the feeling whilst eating or immediately after. Can anyone share their story with portion size?

Haz your are eating Normal. The problem we all have or had is we dont know normal when we see it anymore.

never eat on a dinner plate again. use a salad plate to give the visual of a full plate.

The Portions given during eating out ARE NOT NORMAL. That is a big part of the Mental changes you have to work thru to ensure long term success.

Hopefully you will never again in your life Eat that old Normal again.

Nothing written above stops you from going out and eating with friends and family.

You just have to change how you look at the food and portions you encounter when you do.

Skip the dressing , pass on the bread and order tea or diet soda and you can eat almost anywhere and just bring the leftovers home and turn them into lunch for work the next day.

You can and will have as normal a life as you want. Hopefully it will not be the same normal as before surgery.

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

My understanding is that over the course of time, there is some dilation of the sleeve that will result in a gradual increase in portion size over the course of a few years. I think someone...maybe CreekImp?...Posted some info about it once.

That being said hopefully you will follow your new diet guidelines and continue to eat healthfully.

I ate out once so far. I had a few bites of salad, some grilled shrimp, some grilled scallops. No bread. It can be done you just won’t be able to eat huge portions of say fries and Pasta.

[Mattymatt 491]

2 hours ago, hazthain said:

I am 8 weeks out of gastric sleeve surgery and have lost a great amount of weight, I’m happy with my progress. I just can’t believe how small my portions are. I knew of course they’d be small, but I can literally manage two bites before I feel really full. How long will it be until I can actually eat a fairly normal portion size and not look rude at meals? I don’t mean to sound stupid or ungrateful for my surgery, but once I hit my goal weight, I would like to be able to enjoy eating out and family meals like a “normal” person. At the moment, eating is not a good experience and I don’t like the feeling whilst eating or immediately after. Can anyone share their story with portion size?

Definitely enjoy this while it lasts! You shouldn't feel rude for not cleaning your plate. We have such a screwed up notion that if our plates aren't cleaned, we're somehow being disrespectful or rude. I kind of hope that I will never be able to eat normally again.

[sideeye 1,440]

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How long will it be until I can actually eat a fairly normal portion size and not look rude at meals?

NO! IT'S A TRAP!

Seriously though, don't think this way. There is nothing rude about stopping when you're full. Eating to make other people happy is crazy and part of what got us here today. Wash that thought right out.

Coping mechanisms: get smaller dishes. Eat with chopsticks. When going out for meals with friends, angle to make it a family-style restaurant or tapas place where everyone eats from communal dishes. If you do go to a meal-per-person place, aim for the Soup. Ask the server if you can have their salad mains served as a side salad instead.

And if all else fails, just don't care. Eat the five bites and when your colleague looks at your plate and asks if you didn't like the food, tell them you got hiccups halfway through the meal or got so focused on talking and now you're going to bring it home because you want to finish it later. They won't care past that unless you actually look sickly.

The one exception I make for this rule is if a family member or friend is cooking for you in their house. In which case I make sure to tell them up front I'm not hungry/ate a lot beforehand/don't want to eat a lot, but that I do want one bite of the dish they slaved over. And when I eat that bite I make sure they know I loved it - most people don't care whether or not you ate in quantity, but that you appreciated the quality. So the compliment matters more than leaving a clean plate. If the other person is paying for your meal, tell them up front you plan to order lightly but deliciously and again, compliment and thank.

I've also had a devious amount of success tasting something, saying "oh, this is so good! try some!" and then getting other people to snag bites off my plate. Magically disappearing food!

[Creekimp13 5,838]

I eat normally now, and I love it. 1200 calories a day. I'm never hungry. My energy is awesome.

But you know...there's a big difference between eating "normally" and eating the way we used to.

I used to think it was "normal" to drink a 2 liter of Pepsi over the course of a day, and have...ya know....5 or 6 slices of bread in a day (what's a few PB and J sandwiches?)...maybe some fried chicken...and dessert? Booyah! Bring it on...big servings and seconds, please. And pass the Doritos, dammit....TV means snacks!

Yeah, no.

What I used to perceive as normal...and what I now realize is normal....are two very different things.

My advice...(take it or leave it)...

Really figure out what normal is gonna look like for you long term. Do some research. Talk to your nutritionist. Create a new healthy normal.

Be very careful of extremes and extremist thinking.

Eating the crazy number of calories I used to eat...ain't normal.

But eating starvation level calories long term isn't normal either. (I realize for many folks this is a necessary step in the process)

Avoid extremes and work toward sane moderation.

"Normal" isn't that far away:)

[FabBy55 46]

I think I know what you are asking. I asked prior to surgery when people feel “normal” again and was told 4-6 months is average. A few odd ones take up to a year.

The above is all true that you should never eat what you did before. That, for most of us, was not normal.

But at 4-6 months you are kind of rocking along being able to try different foods, different Proteins and veggies and not be afraid of how it will make you feel (assuming you have learned your “full” cue and abide by it).

I am 8 months out and take normal

size bites and normal size drinks of Water and have for several months now.

My portions are very small but I enjoy my meals that include lots of variety. I like eating very small portions and being satisfied. Makes me feel like I am finally in control of food and not food controlling me.

[GotProlactinoma 458]

Slowly, over the next weeks and months, you will be able to est more and more. Please don’t worry about it right now. Worry about getting your Water and Protein for now, and Vitamins and minerals in some way.

Im getting close to goal weight, and now after 9 months I can eat a small normal portion. Months 3-7 I could only have say one chicken wing for dinner, and maybe a couple bites of salad. Now I can eat two chicken wings and a bit more salad. I’m happy. I was at a bbq today and had two kebabs, each one with maybe 3 chunks of chicken on it, pineapple and onions. I was pretty full but happy after. Please just enjoy the ride. It’s good you have that constriction now. That was the point!

[GotProlactinoma 458]

I love the poster above who said “Just don’t care.” I feel lucky that I am open about the surgery so I will tell people “I’m sorry, I can’t eat that.” I am so lucky I can’t eat any breaded baked or sweet ANYTHING. It makes me feel sick. So I will just say that after surgery I canno longer eat x without getting sick. And if someone has made something that I CAN eat, I taste it and ooh and ahh and eat the amount I CAN eat, letting them know I can only fit a small amount in. I’m not insulting anyone. I think at parties and holidays I get to have more conversation, and help more with the plates in the kitchen etc. because I am done eating before most others. Enjoy the view of our heads no longer bent 100% over our plates like before.

I really Have found out that it is true, now, that one bite can give us as much pleasure as that huge plateful (or two) we used to think we needed to get pleasure from. My joy at some good bbq is just as great from my few bites than from eating a whole ox and then two piece set of cake. Lol. The actual joy is the same. I still love eating.

Edited April 15, 2018 by GotProlactinoma
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[Max Caulfield 3]

First, as far as eating out goes don't worry about seeming rude. If people have a problem with you eating small portions that is their problem. Secondly, I am sorry you're struggling so much with food. I am just shy of six weeks post-op myself. I've been fairly fortunate that I'm tolerating most of the foods I'm allowed to eat (the soft food phase is over Monday). I can't do egg whites but I suspect that is because they're pretty disgusting by themselves (without stuff in there to make it interesting).

Now, about "normal." The way we eat is most definitely NOT normal, not for someone who hasn't had surgery like ours. Anyone eating this way without having had surgery is most likely not eating a healthy amount of food for their bodies. Eating 2-3 oz (or less) at a time (ALL THE TIME) is utterly abnormal. So I totally understand how you feel that way.

The thing is, we chose this path so now it IS our "new normal," so to speak. Which means learning to adapt to things like social situations. I'm fortunately pretty antisocial so in general the only person I have to eat around is my husband. But I will have no qualms asking for a takeout box with my meal when we do eat out for the first time (which will be in just a couple of weeks). I just plan to enjoy the leftovers for a few days after!

Hopefully, as you progress with healing and over time you will be able to eat more and not feel so awful. With what you're describing, you're not even eating the post-op "normal" as of yet, and that has GOT to be really frustrating.

I spent over a decade carefully undoing almost 20 years of yo-yo dieting, weight cycling and eating disorder damage to cultivate a healthy relationship with food. I love food and have zero shame in saying so. Food should be fun, enjoyable and something we don't have to feel guilty over. And that includes not feeling guilty because you need to eat smaller portions!

Be gentle with yourself. Have patience, take the time to get familiar with your uh let's say refurbished stomach. Learn what you can tolerate and what you can't and just take things slowly and meal by meal.

PS. I edited to add that if you haven't already, I'd discuss with your surgeon/team about not feeling physically good while and after eating. Post-op 8 weeks I would expect that should not be the case at all times... once in awhile as we learn what we can tolerate (and can't), sure. But ALL the time is - at least to me - concerning. They may have suggestions to help you through this period.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Max Caulfield