“Testing” your limits of food intake

[Mike Long 52]

Has anybody tested how much you can eat in one sitting? A friend of mine who got the sleeve told me that once you’re on soft foods or beyond that I should push the limits, so to speak, so I can understand what being full is. I can’t bring myself to do this. I’m only 17 days post op and I haven’t had any issues so I’m in the soft food stage. It’s difficult because I’m not hungry at all and also I have a mental block around getting sick. Where do people stand on this?

[catwoman7 11,278]

I would not recommend that. Too many people push the envelope and never make it to goal or gain back a significant amount of weight.

Edited April 11, 2021 by catwoman7

[JessLess 1,163]

That's not smart. You can stretch it. At best throw up. At worst, ruin your sleeve.

[Mike Long 52]

Thanks for the responses. To be clear, I should’ve Clarified what my friend said. She didn’t mean gorge myself. She meant that I should eat until I’m full. And feel what it feels like. This was after I told her that I didn’t think I’m actually eating until I’m full as I was nervous. She was coming at it from the standpoint of making sure I was getting all my nutrients.

[WickedPissah529 3]

I am in the exact same boat. My surgery is tomorrow, and being as afraid of vomiting as I am, I plan to be super-duper careful going forward. Not even going to try to tempt fate and just focus on eating teeny tiny bites over a long period of time. I agree with everyone here, though - don’t force yourself to do anything that may jeopardize your recovery. Good luck!

[catwoman7 11,278]

most people don't feel restriction until they move to solid foods. Plus you had some nerves cut, and it takes awhile for those to regenerate. Also, your "full" cues are likely to feel different than they did pre-surgery, and it sometimes takes awhile to figure out what they are. The first few weeks I just ate what they told me to eat and didn't try chasing the "full" feeling.

[Arabesque 7,593]

I am with the others & don’t think this is a sensible thing to do. The goal is not to eat until you are full but until you’ve had enough. It’s one of the reasons we ‘re advised to eat slowly so the message we’ve had enough gets through. By the time we realise we ‘re full if we’ve eaten too quickly, we’re had more than what we actually need.

We were all guilty of eating way more than our body actually needed to function in the past. It’s why we were obese. This time is to learn about appropriate portion sizes & the difference between needing to eat & wanting to eat.

Oh, and don’t worry, you soon will know if you’ve had enough or eaten more than you need. And it may be different from one meal to another. Never be afraid to put your cutlery down between bites or push an unfinished meal away & get up from the table.

Good luck.

PS @WickedPissah529 - vomiting is different post sleeve - well it was for me. No more of those awful gut retching, muscle spasms. More lots of saliva (foamies) & gently bringing up anything you may have eaten. Sometime you can’t predict what will make you vomit. I ate carrot one day without an issue but the next day one piece & back it came. Your tummy is sensitive to begin. Honestly, I haven’t vomited since about 4 or 5 months after surgery & most of the time I did it was just the foamies & not food. The cause was usually my Multivitamins.

[Pilot my best self 52]

I have been worrying about this too. I am 3 weeks post op for gastric bypass.
I don’t feel very hungry at all so am just trying to get in my macros and liquids. But I am trying to increase my Protein from non-shake sources. I find I can finish an egg or a cup of Soup in one sitting. I may start to feel restriction so wait a few minutes between bites but am am usually able to finish In 30-45 minutes. It seems odd that I can eat a full cup of soup or egg without getting full. But I wonder if I am just supposed to stop eating upon that first feeling of tightness. I have my meeting with my nutritionist this week and will be questioning her but what do folks here use to guide their eating especially during this stage when there’s not much feeling of hunger.
I am also thinking adding protein powders to my meals may be the only way I can get my protein without takin at least 2 shakes. This process is more challenging than I expected.
Thanks!

[WickedPissah529 3]

@arabesque, thanks. I’ll try to remember that. 👍

[catwoman7 11,278]

19 minutes ago, Pilot my best self said:

I have been worrying about this too. I am 3 weeks post op for gastric bypass.
I don’t feel very hungry at all so am just trying to get in my macros and liquids. But I am trying to increase my Protein from non-shake sources. I find I can finish an egg or a cup of Soup in one sitting. I may start to feel restriction so wait a few minutes between bites but am am usually able to finish In 30-45 minutes. It seems odd that I can eat a full cup of Soup or egg without getting full. But I wonder if I am just supposed to stop eating upon that first feeling of tightness. I have my meeting with my nutritionist this week and will be questioning her but what do folks here use to guide their eating especially during this stage when there’s not much feeling of hunger.
I am also thinking adding Protein powders to my meals may be the only way I can get my protein without takin at least 2 shakes. This process is more challenging than I expected.
Thanks!

just know that at the point you feel you've had too much, you've often overdone it and it can come back up. This early out, just follow your plan's guidelines. If they tell you you can eat 1/4 C (or whatever), then just eat that. Your nerves are still healing and you don't know your body's cues yet that you've eaten too much.

you won't get full on a full cup of soup because it's a liquid and goes right through you. You'll feel restriction once you move to solid food. It feels differently for different people, but I never feel "full" the same way I did before surgery. I start to feel some tightness and then know it's time to stop or it's going to come back up.

[Pilot my best self 52]

7 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

just know that at the point you feel you've had too much, you've often overdone it and it can come back up. This early out, just follow your plan's guidelines. If they tell you you can eat 1/4 C (or whatever), then just eat that. Your nerves are still healing and you don't know your body's cues yet that you've eaten too much.

you won't get full on a full cup of Soup because it's a liquid and goes right through you. You'll feel restriction once you move to solid food. It feels differently for different people, but I never feel "full" the same way I did before surgery. I start to feel some tightness and then know it's time to stop or it's going to come back up.

Thanks for explaining why I am able to have so much more soup in a sitting. part of my problem is i have been given a range of foods to eat but no guidance on quantity. Only the instruction to eat Protein before fruits or vegetables. But I can’t imagine when I would ever be able to eat anything but protein. I also have not experienced having food come back up like I hear so many people talk about - not sure if it’s because I have not exceeded my new stomach (hard to believe) or if I just don’t have that reaction (also hard to believe). I do eat all my foods from 1/4 or 1/3 cup measuring bowls. But I have felt a range of tightness from mildly uncomfortable to painful for up to 5-10 minutes which is accompanied by having to burp. I sometimes feel exhausted or just blah after I feel restriction. I will be talking with the nutritionist so hope to get more guidance this week

like you said, everything feels so different it has been hard to read my cues yet. But this site has been so helpful in gauging what I am going through. Thanks!

[Mike Long 52]

24 minutes ago, Pilot my best self said:

Thanks for explaining why I am able to have so much more Soup in a sitting. part of my problem is i have been given a range of foods to eat but no guidance on quantity. Only the instruction to eat Protein before fruits or vegetables. But I can’t imagine when I would ever be able to eat anything but Protein. I also have not experienced having food come back up like I hear so many people talk about - not sure if it’s because I have not exceeded my new stomach (hard to believe) or if I just don’t have that reaction (also hard to believe). I do eat all my foods from 1/4 or 1/3 cup measuring bowls. But I have felt a range of tightness from mildly uncomfortable to painful for up to 5-10 minutes which is accompanied by having to burp. I sometimes feel exhausted or just blah after I feel restriction. I will be talking with the nutritionist so hope to get more guidance this week

like you said, everything feels so different it has been hard to read my cues yet. But this site has been so helpful in gauging what I am going through. Thanks!

This is almost identical to my situation. I haven’t had anything come up, I feel very blah almost every time after I eat anything but soup and I get the 5-10 min uncomfortable feeling. I guess it’s just early in the process and it will get better as each week goes by.

[Pilot my best self 52]

35 minutes ago, Mike Long said:

This is almost identical to my situation. I haven’t had anything come up, I feel very blah almost every time after I eat anything but Soup and I get the 5-10 min uncomfortable feeling. I guess it’s just early in the process and it will get better as each week goes by.

It is comforting to know it’s not just me!! I’ll share whatever I learn from the nutritionist. Thanks.

[Mike Long 52]

Awesome! Thanks!

[BayougirlMrsS 3,938]

13 hours ago, Mike Long said:

Thanks for the responses. To be clear, I should’ve Clarified what my friend said. She didn’t mean gorge myself. She meant that I should eat until I’m full. And feel what it feels like. This was after I told her that I didn’t think I’m actually eating until I’m full as I was nervous. She was coming at it from the standpoint of making sure I was getting all my nutrients.

no.... don't do that either.... Eat your portioned amounts. Even if you are still hungry after, never try to eat more.... stop and go do something else.