Hi all - I am post VSG surgery nearly three years. While I still feel a restriction during meals, if I wait 15-20 minutes I can continue to eat whether it’s the remaining of my meal or something else. This concerns me.

Anyone dealing with this or have dealt with this? Any suggestions?

Thanks!
-KB

i mean i can do this now 4 months post op. I eat, get full and can eat again in maybe 30 minutes or so. So i try to make sure i dont by eating and finding something to drink to keep my mouth busy lol

This is called "grazing." If we sit and eat a bite of food when room for a bite of food opens up, we can eat quite a bit of food. Change it to include less than appropriate choices (not actually necessary, though) and we can easily get back up to our pre-op weights and more. It is also called "defeating your surgery."

Don't do it. Follow the rules, and get up from the table when your rules say to. Don't build on the bad habit.

You can do it, you've done it mostly for this long.

Good luck,

Tek

Edited August 17, 20223 yr by The Greater Fool

Are you still eating protein first KB? Hitting your fluid targets in between? And getting all your protein every day? If any of those have slipped might it be worth going back to basics to see if you can stay full for longer?

Also, when you say you *can* eat again, does that mean you actually feel proper hunger? If not then could this be head hunger/boredom (or curiosity!!) eating?

Have you regained any weight? I do hope you can get it sorted quickly, I can see how that would concern you.

I should clarify - up until 7 months ago my pouch didn’t empty as fast and didn’t have a desire to eat between meals. I do eat enough protein and drink quite a bit of water each day (at least 100 oz). I reached my goal weight, and have since gained 25lbs. So having the pouch empty so quickly after eating a meal concerns me.

I’m a slow eater (30-60mins). One of the reasons I eat slowly is to get my serving size (calories, nutrients) in. I found it was on the only way to stop myself losing. In saying that if I don’t need the next bite of food I won’t have it so there are many times I don’t eat all my meal. I never eat more than the correct portion of food & I never eat just because it’s on my plate. I also eat pretty much to a routine in terms of the times I eat. I may skip a meal or snack if i’m not hungry, but I don’t add meals or snacks. Honestly, it has got harder to do this as time’s passed so it is something I work at every day.

How do you know your tummy is empty? Is it just that you ‘feel’ hungry? If so, it could be like @Spinoza suggested: not real hunger. If you’ve eaten a recommended portion size of a meal & are getting in all your protein & other required nutrients, you shouldn’t be hungry. We don’t have to keep food in outer tummy stall times. It does perfectly fine being empty. Are these old habits, thinking, etc, raising their head. That’s the down side of surgery. It removes some of your tummy but doesn’t remove why we ate the way we did.

Are you still in contact with your surgeon, dietician, therapist? May be worth some conversations to work out what’s going on.

All the best.

Edited August 18, 20223 yr by Arabesque