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?

9 minutes ago, njlimmer said:

I'm 40 days post-op for bypass, and I'm just starting to understand my new "full" feeling. I also just had a meeting with my nutritionist for some of this very same info. She said the amount we're able to eat will vary person. I told her that I didn't know what my new full feeling was, but that when I've been eating, I just get this feeling of - I'm done with maybe a burp to go along with it. She said - that's it! That's my new full feeling! So now I'm working on being mindful when I eat so when that feeling of I've had enough hits, I can recognize it. I've been tempted to push my new pouch to see what it feels like, but I have an aversion to being sick so I'm not going to do it on purpose. I'm sure I'll do something forgetful and pay for it all by myself without trying to do it on purpose.

Thank you for the response. I think that’s exactly it - each person is different. I’m doing exactly what you are with respect to eating until I feel a little something and I stop. Maybe I’m full, maybe I’m not. But if I’m feeling ok and not getting sick, that’s the major priorities for me. Good luck!

13 hours ago, WickedPissah529 said:

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!

Good luck on the surgery! You’ll do great!

Just now, Mike Long said:

Thank you for the response. I think that’s exactly it - each person is different. I’m doing exactly what you are with respect to eating until I feel a little something and I stop. Maybe I’m full, maybe I’m not. But if I’m feeling ok and not getting sick, that’s the major priorities for me. Good luck!

Exactly!! Good luck to you too! I will say my biggest hurdle is trying to kick myself out of the "clean plate club." My mind says I'm done, but then I hear the voice of my great-grandmother saying - But those poor children would really appreciate that bite of food... That is my biggest hurdle, but I'm working on it!!

1 hour ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

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.

I’m not eating more than the portions (in most cases I’m below) and I’m never hungry. I haven’t felt hungry a single time since my surgery 18 days ago. The point my friend was making (she had the sleeve 6 years ago and has been wildly successful) was that there’s nothing wrong with feeling full and that it will help me to understand that when I’m 1,2+ years post op when I’m in maintenance. I guess everybody has their own way. I asked my Dietician and she simply said to eat what I’m supposed to and I should be full. I’m also very early in the process so my cues aren’t fully developed. I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing. I just wanted to see what others are doing. Thanks for the response.

4 minutes ago, njlimmer said:

Exactly!! Good luck to you too! I will say my biggest hurdle is trying to kick myself out of the "clean plate club." My mind says I'm done, but then I hear the voice of my great-grandmother saying - But those poor children would really appreciate that bite of food... That is my biggest hurdle, but I'm working on it!!

LOL so true about the voice of granny!

1 hour ago, Mike Long said:

The point my friend was making (she had the sleeve 6 years ago and has been wildly successful) was that there’s nothing wrong with feeling full and that it will help me to understand that when I’m 1,2+ years post op when I’m in maintenance.

I think your friend makes a perfectly fine point - you are going to want to learn what "full" feels like to you - you're just too early for that. Since she's 6 years out, she probably doesn't really remember very well when/how that happened to her - I really doubt she learned what full feels like at 2.5 weeks out.

Right now you are healing. Any stress you put on your stomach could slow the healing process. You don't want to do that. That's why your doctor has given you a strict list of food/amounts, and you should keep to that.

Once you do get to the point where you're eating larger amounts and regular foods, you probably won't have to work that hard to find out what too much is. I often found that the "too full" point came near the end of a normal meal. If I finished that last bite or two (despite not feeling hungry all of a sudden), I would get a sharp sudden pain and feel dizzy and need to lie down for 10-20 minutes. Often I would burp, and that would relieve the discomfort. Now that I'm 13 months out, it's more rare to get to that point and the symptoms are milder, but it still happens. It's funny how now I often feel proud of myself for NOT finishing the last bite of my meal.

3 hours ago, Mike Long said:

LOL so true about the voice of granny!

lol...... I remember the last thing my grand mother said to me...... Many many years ago..... She said, damn Chris you getting fat...... true story. Only person that had the balls to tell me.

18 hours ago, Mike Long said:

A friend of mine 

Sorry, that’s not a friend.

Even if you wanted to know what the amount you can comfortable eat would be there's too many variables. Like if you have eaten or drank recently it might be less. If you eat a denser food like chicken you might only be able to eat 1/3 of a cup or a single egg for a long time but you can eat a full cup of a "slider" food like yogurt in 5 minutes without issue. It is best to not push it and initially follow the recommended limits and pay attention to your body as you may get a feeling like a runny nose or ache before you get to the sick, too full feeling. That was my guide early on.

36 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Sorry, that’s not a friend.

Ok, thanks. I’ll stop being friends with her based on your thoughts.

32 minutes ago, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Even if you wanted to know what the amount you can comfortable eat would be there's too many variables. Like if you have eaten or drank recently it might be less. If you eat a denser food like chicken you might only be able to eat 1/3 of a cup or a single egg for a long time but you can eat a full cup of a "slider" food like yogurt in 5 minutes without issue. It is best to not push it and initially follow the recommended limits and pay attention to your body as you may get a feeling like a runny nose or ache before you get to the sick, too full feeling. That was my guide early on.

This all makes sense. Thanks

2 hours ago, rjan said:

I think your friend makes a perfectly fine point - you are going to want to learn what "full" feels like to you - you're just too early for that. Since she's 6 years out, she probably doesn't really remember very well when/how that happened to her - I really doubt she learned what full feels like at 2.5 weeks out.

Right now you are healing. Any stress you put on your stomach could slow the healing process. You don't want to do that. That's why your doctor has given you a strict list of food/amounts, and you should keep to that.

Once you do get to the point where you're eating larger amounts and regular foods, you probably won't have to work that hard to find out what too much is. I often found that the "too full" point came near the end of a normal meal. If I finished that last bite or two (despite not feeling hungry all of a sudden), I would get a sharp sudden pain and feel dizzy and need to lie down for 10-20 minutes. Often I would burp, and that would relieve the discomfort. Now that I'm 13 months out, it's more rare to get to that point and the symptoms are milder, but it still happens. It's funny how now I often feel proud of myself for NOT finishing the last bite of my meal.

Thank you. I think you’re right and I will talk with her again to clarify some of things she mentioned. She didn’t tell me to run out to Mickey D’s and get a double quarter pounder meal. But I also think that she probably meant that I should do the “testing” when I’m actually on regular foods after I’ve healed. She’s been extremely successful and leads a very large Bariatric help group. I should’ve had her clarify before posing the question here. I feel like a little kid getting scolded for having candy before dinner lol

34 minutes ago, Mike Long said:

Ok, thanks. I’ll stop being friends with her based on your thoughts.

If you were offended by my comment, apologies.

2 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

If you were offended by my comment, apologies.

I’m not easily offended. I just think I didn’t pose the question the right way and should’ve clarified with my friend before coming here to ask others. But regardless, it’s all good.

20 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.

I can understand the impulse to ask "Exactly how much CAN I eat now"? The difficulty is that things are different after the surgery. Pre-op, I could tell when I was getting full and I'd automatically slow down my eating and then stop. Post-op, the cues that you've had enough can be much subtler. One. single. bite. can be the difference between "satisfied" and "miserable". Early on, when I was about 3 weeks out, I ate too much for the first, and last time. The combination of pain, nausea, and distress was horrible. It was so miserable that I've never eaten too much again, in two years. I was lucky in that, the episode was short-lived because I threw up. Since then, there have been a couple of times when I took one last bite and then spit it out because I felt like it was going to send me over the edge. So when I caution you about this plan, it's coming from a place of remembering what it feels like to overeat in the early days after surgery. No bueno.