How much can you eat?

[Star1234 19]

how much can you eat after your sleeve compared with what you could eat before? I can eat a lot at pre op , I can literally eat and eat !! Some people say after about 6/7 months their restrictions isn't there as much, will there be some sort of restriction for life ? Or will you be able to eat again like you could pre op ?

[summerseeker 1,853]

Everyone who does this surgery will have a different story, I have found nobody is the same. We all have different regimes and surgeons' recommendations. So, everyone progresses at different rates. It is a mistake to compare yourself to anyone else.

Well, I could eat for England as we say! Especially Chinese foods, I loved rice and noodles. Now I am just starting to eat a bit more, but I don't have a lot of hunger and quickly get full, so I have 5 small meals a day and 20 ounces of milk or milk shake a day. That puts my daily calories around 900 - 1200

My Breakfast today was almost 4 ounces of Protein yogurt and a milky coffee. lunch was a peeled apple and a 1 ounce of French Brie cheese. I have just had a strawberry milk shake. My evening meal is 2 ounces of homemade pork sate with 1Tbsp of brown rice. The rice is just for show as I can't manage more than 2 tiny bites after the protein. Later I will have an almost sugar free ice lolly [44 Cals] and my milk allowance. If I am short on protein for the day, I will finish the day on 4 ounce of protein yogurt. I usually fit a bit of veg into my day, even if its only in a mug of Soup, but not today

I am used to seeing my tiny meals, but family and friends are shocked at how little I eat and don't see how big that their portions are.

[armartin98 103]

10 months post op. I eat anything I want at very small amounts. I didn't eat a huge amount before. After 6 weeks I wasn't on any restrictions. I don't eat junk food or processed foods very much never did. Good luck to you.

[MistySkye 181]

It’s all about what you eat that will determine if you can feel your restriction. If you eat slider foods - then you can definitely over eat.

if you eat chicken - I guarantee you can’t over eat. I’m 15 months p.o. and the restriction is definitely still there. I always focus on Protein first.

[Spinoza 1,190]

Where are you on your journey OP?? I'm almost 11 months post sleeve.

If I stick to Protein first, veg second then I can eat three kind of half sized meals a day - 2-3 of oz of meat/fish and a few oz of veg - and two or three Snacks. I reserve my carbs for bedtime so generally have porridge (oatmeal) made with milk then cos that helps me sleep (I am such a baby). I make a point of having one or two servings of fruit a day and at least three proper portions of veg for my general health - I know lots of people have lots more than that this far out from surgery.

If I wanted to eat carbs all day then I probably could and would probably gain weight but I've gone to some trouble and expense to get a tool that I can use to lose weight and then also keep me at a lower weight so I intend to use it!!

Stick to the program and you'll be fine, that is the absolutely most important thing. Best of luck. When is your surgery??

Edited October 9, 2022 by Spinoza
annoying typo

[liveaboard15 1,292]

so i am 6 months post op. i can eat a lot during the day. But not big portions. I fill up quickly. But like 45 minutes later i am a bit hungry again and that goes on throughout the day. I typically have a Protein Shake to get past that.

[Arabesque 6,488]

I’m almost 3 & a half years & I still feel my restriction at times. Though it’s usually not related to how much I ate but what I ate. I felt it Saturday night because of some coarse vegetables I ate. Got a slight case of the foamies too. ☹️ However the goal really is not to feel the restriction just like it shouldn’t be to feel full as an indicator to moderate how much you eat. Once you feel full or the restriction you’ve already eaten too much. I ask myself do I need the next bite or do I just want it. And I only serve myself an appropriate portion.

As @summerseeker said we’re all different. While there may be similarities you really can’t compare yourself directly to another. You’ll work out the portion size, the foods you need to eat & the calories you need to consume to lose & maintain your weight & for your body to function effectively & healthily.

If you’re determined to do it you can eat around your sleeve but do you want to? To go back to eating how you did will only lead you back to each to where you were before surgery - with a weight problem.

I eat smaller portions than I did. I eat more regularly now (was a meal skipper). There are a lot of foods I don’t eat any more or eat very little of or rarely but that’s my choice though there are some that don’t sit as well (bread, Pasta, rice, potatoes) I don’t eat. I eat a lot more Protein because of an absorption issue. I don’t eat a lot of carbs & very little sugar (real artificial or alternatives) & I feel better for it. But again that is me. You’ll work these things out for yourself too. Remember, no one diet/way of eating works for everyone.

All the best.

[Star1234 19]

11 hours ago, Spinoza said:

Where are you on your journey OP?? I'm almost 11 months post sleeve.

If I stick to Protein first, veg second then I can eat three kind of half sized meals a day - 2-3 of oz of meat/fish and a few oz of veg - and two or three Snacks. I reserve my carbs for bedtime so generally have porridge (oatmeal) made with milk then cos that helps me sleep (I am such a baby). I make a point of having one or two servings of fruit a day and at least three proper portions of veg for my general health - I know lots of people have lots more than that this far out from surgery.

If I wanted to eat carbs all day then I probably could and would probably gain weight but I've gone to some trouble and expense to get a tool that I can use to lose weight and then also keep me at a lower weight so I intend to use it!!

Stick to the program and you'll be fine, that is the absolutely most important thing. Best of luck. When is your surgery??

I have had my first appointment, I'm waiting for my pre op tests and i should have my second appointment before Christmas then surgery early next year 😁

[ms.sss 14,691]

23 hours ago, Star1234 said:

how much can you eat after your sleeve compared with what you could eat before? I can eat a lot at pre op , I can literally eat and eat !! Some people say after about 6/7 months their restrictions isn't there as much, will there be some sort of restriction for life ? Or will you be able to eat again like you could pre op ?

Im 4 yrs post op sleeve and i generally eat about 1 cup of food in volume. More if its salad, less if its dense meat or fluffy bread in one sitting

In the first 6 months it was like 1/2 a cup. And the first month or two it was like less than 1/4 cup. The first 2 weeks was essentially nothing, yikes.

Im a grazer though so i can get enough food/calories in by the end the day.

Compare this to pre-surgery when I could easily get in maybe 4-5 cups of food in one sitting. I would be stuffed, but i’d get it in (im rarely stuffed like that anymore as i actively try not to reach that point because its a quite uncomfortable - in not painful - feeling)

Everyone will have different experiences, best to pay attention to how food volumes (and types of food) affect YOU, and act accordingly.

Good Luck! ❤️

Edited October 10, 2022 by ms.sss

[Jeanniebug 472]

On 10/9/2022 at 6:23 AM, Star1234 said:

how much can you eat after your sleeve compared with what you could eat before? I can eat a lot at pre op , I can literally eat and eat !! Some people say after about 6/7 months their restrictions isn't there as much, will there be some sort of restriction for life ? Or will you be able to eat again like you could pre op ?

We will - eventually - be able to eat just as much as we could eat before surgery, if we don't watch ourselves. This is why we're not supposed to eat until we're full. We're supposed to stop eating before we feel full, so we don't stretch our pouches. I think the recommendation is that we eat 8 ounces of food per meal - forever (once we can eat that much).

That's why it's so important to get our eating habits under control while we have the restriction - because it won't always be there. At some point, we will be relying on our routines and habits, to keep us in check. And if we go back to eating the way we ate before surgery, then this will all be for naught and we'll regain all our weight.

[RickM 1,747]

This doc gives a pretty good timeline for you things progress. yes, you will be able to eat more over time, but not as much as you can now, but that is still enough to get into trouble if you don't learn how to use your WLS to keep things in check. This doc's recommendations are one way, and a somewhat unusual way, to do it, but it works, (though I'm not so sure about his green smoothies) as do others. It's a matter of what you can find that works for you over the long term.

[kcuster83 1,502]

Too much. lol

I weigh and measure everything and just eat what I am supposed to.

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,837]

After the first 2 or 3 weeks, I never had any restriction at all and my hunger hormone never went away. It's about training your brain to know that you've had enough, you're not starving, and even though you CAN eat more doesn't mean you SHOULD. I can eat a lot more than I thought I would be able to, at months out. But I just don't.

[Tomo 1,137]

I had VSG revision to bypass due to gerd over a year ago, but my experience with the VSG and restriction for 6 to 7 years was the following: I didn't have alot of restriction either but had enough to be successful. With meat, about 3 ounces. Everything else about 1 cup. The great thing is... Even years out, I was never able to truly "pig out" again. If and when I ate too much, my heart would pound like crazy. I did have to work to stay away from slider foods since the end result of that is very little restriction.

As long as you don't get gerd, and you eat Protein first, it is a wonderful tool for weightloss and lifetime restriction but it takes work and commitment.