I'm wondering if I should be eating until I feel restriction? I'm talking about that first initial (tightness in chest for me) feeling... NOT getting sick miserable feeling. It seems like when I eat until I feel that I am much more satisfied and for much longer. When I stop before I feel it I am hungry an hour later. Thoughts?

The restriction kicks in as a signal you’ve eaten too much, too quickly or something that is too dry or too hard for your tummy to digest. As soon as you start to feel it stop.

Sometimes it will seem to kick in early or for no reason you can understand. On those occasions, I think my body is just being a bit more sensitive & I need to give it a break.

But it’s not something you should feel every day & after every meal. Eat until you’ve had enough. That is to the point you’ve had what you need not just because you want to eat - there’s a big difference. Do you need that next bite or just want it. I still pick up my fork to have my next bite & think nope don’t need it & put the fork down again. Sometimes I’ll have that bite a few minutes later & sometimes I don’t have anymore at all.

Good luck.

Thanks! I'm thinking that for me it's probably that I am eating too fast! That and not eating and drinking at the same time are my struggles. It's so hard to eat slowly! I chew really well but still eat fast. I'll keep working on it! Thanks for the response!

Yeah, I have the same problem. I just started solid food yesterday and after both meals (1 T of refried beans and then 2 T of tuna fish) I felt pain in my chest so I stopped but then I was hungry an hour later, but we were told not to graze... so I was just hungry. I am hoping it's just that I was eating too fast so if I slow down I can eat enough to be satiated and not full an hour later.

not sure where you are in the progression, but you likely won't feel restriction until you move to solid food. And you've had nerves cut - takes awhile for them to regenerate. It's probably best to just measure out and eat however much your plan recommends eating. "Hunger" and "full" are going to be kind of weird the first few months after surgery...

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

not sure where you are in the progression, but you likely won't feel restriction until you move to solid food. And you've had nerves cut - takes awhile for them to regenerate. It's probably best to just measure out and eat however much your plan recommends eating. "Hunger" and "full" are going to be kind of weird the first few months after surgery...

I wish my surgery center told us how much to eat. They said "no one can tell you how much to eat"... so I just ate a tablespoon or two, until I guessed I might be full. I was hungry in a half hour, but drinking helped a bit.

On 09/29/2021 at 10:47, lizonaplane said:

I wish my surgery center told us how much to eat. They said "no one can tell you how much to eat"... so I just ate a tablespoon or two, until I guessed I might be full. I was hungry in a half hour, but drinking helped a bit.

This is what my book says...

18 minutes ago, AngieL11282 said:

This is what my book says...

It doesn't say how much to eat in a serving except for starches and fruit/veggies. We aren't allowed starches, and in general my plan is a bit different. Like, how much tuna am I supposed to eat? How much refried beans? How much eggs?

16 hours ago, AngieL11282 said:

I'm wondering if I should be eating until I feel restriction? I'm talking about that first initial (tightness in chest for me) feeling... NOT getting sick miserable feeling. It seems like when I eat until I feel that I am much more satisfied and for much longer. When I stop before I feel it I am hungry an hour later. Thoughts?

In the beginning i ate (or tried at least) to eat according to volume. I pre-measured everything and ate what I could from that amount using timed bites. If I ate to restriction, then it would be too late as I found that my signals were delayed and I would just be super uncomfortable.

As time went on, I was able to gauge when was enough an didn't need to rely on pre-measured volume anymore.

It's a learning process. Listen to your body, learn from your past experiences with food and eating and hopefully you will get the hang of it all in no time.

P.S. for further clarification, I was pre-measuring for about 5-6 months then the training wheels came off and I became a pro (sort of, lol)

Good Luck! ❤️

3 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

In the beginning i ate (or tried at least) to eat according to volume. I pre-measured everything and ate what I could from that amount using timed bites. If I ate to restriction, then it would be too late as I found that my signals were delayed and I would just be super uncomfortable.

As time went on, I was able to gauge when was enough an didn't need to rely on pre-measured volume anymore.

It's a learning process. Listen to your body, learn from your past experiences with food and eating and hopefully you will get the hang of it all in no time.

P.S. for further clarification, I was pre-measuring for about 5-6 months then the training wheels came off and I became a pro (sort of, lol)

Good Luck! ❤️

My problem is I don't know what VOLUME or WEIGHT I'm supposed to be eating. Today I ate until I didn't want anymore and I ended up eating 1.4 oz (by weight) of tuna mixed with light miracle whip. My surgery center didn't provide amounts we should eat, so I have no idea if that's a "normal" amount. Of course, I will need to have a protein shake later in order to get my protein in.

3 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

My problem is I don't know what VOLUME or WEIGHT I'm supposed to be eating. Today I ate until I didn't want anymore and I ended up eating 1.4 oz (by weight) of tuna mixed with light miracle whip. My surgery center didn't provide amounts we should eat, so I have no idea if that's a "normal" amount. Of course, I will need to have a Protein Shake later in order to get my Protein in.

I bought some little portion control containers off Amazon... They measure anywhere from a couple of tablespoons all the way to 1 cup. Maybe try starting with a quarter or half cup and see how you do and adjust accordingly. I personally can eat 1 full egg with a little bit of shredded cheese for breakfast, lunch is usually very light (protein shake and maybe a very small amount of deli meat and cheese, and last night I ate about 3-4 oz of chicken and 3-4 cauliflower florets. I am just going to do my best to listen to my body and it's cues while trying to eat slowly. You'll figure it out as you go! ? We all will...

10 minutes ago, AngieL11282 said:

I bought some little Portion Control containers off Amazon... They measure anywhere from a couple of tablespoons all the way to 1 cup. Maybe try starting with a quarter or half cup and see how you do and adjust accordingly. I personally can eat 1 full egg with a little bit of shredded cheese for Breakfast, lunch is usually very light (protein shake and maybe a very small amount of deli meat and cheese, and last night I ate about 3-4 oz of chicken and 3-4 cauliflower florets. I am just going to do my best to listen to my body and it's cues while trying to eat slowly. You'll figure it out as you go! ? We all will...

How far out are you? I barely ate two T of tuna today! And now I'm hungry again, but we were told not to graze

My way of thinking is do not eat to restriction. The restriction to me is a warning signal you have eaten too much. I measure food so I can learn what 2-4 oz of different foods looks like. I think that will help in the future to keep portion sizes reasonable.

On 09/29/2021 at 12:12, lizonaplane said:

How far out are you? I barely ate two T of tuna today! And now I'm hungry again, but we were told not to graze

3 weeks yesterday. I have had a very easy recovery and am not struggling with any foods so far.

I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup to begin slowly increasing over months. I was at about a cup by goal at 6 months. I’d take 20+minutes to eat that size serving. I still eat slowly & take ages to eat. All about mindful eating & being more conscious of how your body reacts & what it needs.

Was never told that chew, chew, chew thing. Freaks me out actually. You’d be left with flavourless, unappealing mush. Just use a teaspoon & take small bites/nibbles especially in the beginning. I still cut up my meats in small pieces (at home only) so I’m not tempted to take a too big a piece.

I was a lucky one & never felt hungry & wasn’t interested in eating for months. First felt hunger (it felt different & it was real hunger) at about 7 months but was 18months until I began feeling hungry more regularly.