How much can you eat after you are past the surgery?

[Angie]

I was really suprised and scared how much I could eat since I had Surgery. I had a lapband and you couldn't eat but a few bites and you were done. I can eat about 1/2 a sandwich. The weight is coming off and that is so weird but, awsome!!! I figured if we talk about how much we can eat that will help many people and their questions. All you really see is how much and what right after surgery.

[Paula D]

As time goes on, I am able to eat more than I was able to right after surgery. At four months out, I figure I eat about ten bites now. I can eat just about anything, too. I've been pleased with my weight loss - I am down 70 lbs - and am never starving.

[Selena]

I think at almost 5 months out, I'm the same as Paula...10 bites and I'm finished (depending on what it is). I can eat a lot of beans/mashed potatoes or maybe one piece of chicken/3-4 chicken nuggets. My mom (who is 6 years post-op) can now eat a normal size portion, although breads fills her up quickly so she tries not to indulge too much.

[Gary Seely]

This was an area of concern for me. I have been able to eat much more than I expected. Even Phase one was 12 to 15 oz of soup or whatever. I am now 3 months out.
I am pretty much always hungry. The limiting factors in my diet now are gas and agent orange. I can eat anything that I have tried, but bread products have given me my only full feeling and also pain, probably dumping, as I tend to get distracted and eat like before the MGB.
I think the amount I can eat is partly responsible for the slower than normal weight loss I am having.
I am still looking for something to satisfy my hunger. I never seem satisfied until after dinner at night.
No reason to really complain though as the 8' bypass seems to be working. Tomorrow is weigh in day. Need another 4 lbs to hit -50. Probably won't happen, but hey it has been a long time since I Iost 46lbs in 3 months.

[Kim Chastain]

I am 3 weeks 3 days out, and I am about at 5 bites and then the new stomach almost hurts with pressure if I dont eat that 5 bites SLOWLY and wait a couple minutes in between bites. What I have noticed the last few days is that I have too many times:
1. forgotten to chew thoroughly and went back to (old eating-chew 4x and then swallow)- then I feel the food all the way down and it hurts some.So, I am having to eat without multitasking or I forget to chew thoroughly.
2. forget to wait in between bites and then get pressure discomfort from all the food jamming up even though it may be only 4 bites.

I have also noticed that I find myslef standing at the refrig or pantry for food when I am not hungry...old conditioning and bad habits. Then when I realize 'what am I doing here'...I walk away....but I am surprised just how hard it is to break bad food habits.

[Gary Seely]

Kim,
I wonder if you are not having sensitivity issues with the new connection. Maybe swelling or something. I really doubt that it has anything to do with your stomach being full with that small amount. Does it happen with true liquids? You would think they would navigate the new connection easily, but take up just as much stomach space as whatever you are chewing (or not chewing enough).

[Kim Chastain]

Hi Gary
It has now been 1 month 4 days and some days I wonder that too about still having some inflammation and sensitivity at the connection. I do know that Dr P had to do extra work on me to get to my stomach as some ligament he has to pass on the way over to the stomach was many layers and the biggest he had ever seen--so I was in surgery for 80 min as a result. My belly is still slightly sore to touch (much better) and I still get some soreness after eating but I have slowly gotten better.I had terrible painful burping the 1st 2 weeks but that is also much better....so I think maybe it was just having more work done.

Liquids-you know-maybe 3 gulps and I have to wait a minute or two. Eating, 5 bites if I eat every 30 sec....but more bites if I spread it out over 20 - 30 minutes. But I still have to really watch what I eat--I havent strayed far from stage 2 other than I do eat chicken, turkey in moist gravy. I had 1/2 biscuit yesterday. I havent figured it all out yet...some days I just dont know what I did wrong. It's a learning process and sometimes scary when I dont know why I am sore or ill or if something isnt going down well.

Dr P is coming to Atlanta in a couple weeks--I may ask him to puch around on my belly to make sure I havent got something wrong....but then again I think I would know if something was really wrong....overall I am doing better-it is just slow healing for me!

Thanks for the insight.

Kim

[Rose Wolfe]

I would eat as much as a 2 year old. I would babysit my gtranddaughter and we had about the same amount of food on our plates..till I hit 7 months out then I could eat like a thin person would. 1/2 a sandwich w/some chips or fruit I was drinking with my meals also until Edie had reported about not doing that so the full feeling would stay longer which it does if you don't wash your food down with a drink....
examples of diffrent meal I eat-
I can eat 1 piece of pizza and then I am stuffed , if I try to eat a 2nd it gives me pain./a small bowl of cereal with milk/.2 scrambled eggs w/ a slice of cheeze/liquids like soups I feel I am eating like a normal person would 1 correl bowl full usually does it/ a junior whopper and pull off the bread around the edges with a few fries/ 1 piece of toast w/ 1/2 a up of cottage cheeze mixed with no sugar jelly Yumm tastes like a cheese cake./ 1 1/2 cups of speggetti/ a southwestern salad from wendy's or the mandrin chicken salad ( I can eat the whole thing) salads go down very easy...

I feel like I eat like a normal thin person would eat??

[Kim Chastain]

Rose
So after reading what you wrote, then it is OK that I can't eat much yet without some pain--being 1 month 4 days out.That made me feel better.

I cannot even fathom being able to eat a piece of pizza! I think 3 bites and I would be rolling over and scared to death I would be vomitting shortly thereafter. And a jr whopper with some of the bread????holy cow....a pipedream.

But yes what you describe does seem like what a thin person eats...and you would know--you ARE thin!

Kim Chastain

[Rose Wolfe]

yes, I really ate as much as my 2 year old granddaughter a few times a day... for a few months it hurt almost every time I ate chicken it didn't go down easy..but fish and shrimp and steak did better for some reason... the pain was noticeably less at 7 months out.Salads where not good in the beginning I would try salad and it came out in about 4 hours like Niagra falls...so keep trying things as you go along if they make you sick...sometimes even cereal and milk make me feel a little queezy yet for about 1/2 an hour...

there is another thing that you will probably go through too. When you let yourself get too hungry your old brain says I am so hungry I could eat 2 scoops but then when you try to eat that much your stomach stops you at about 1/2 way and you feel like you have eaten thanksgiving dinner every time you do that...you really get sick of that feeling so it makes you'" learn" about your new stomach...I call it "surgically enforced portion control"

[Kim Chastain]

Boy is that ever true--"surgically enforced portion control".....and it was exactly what I needed. If I eat chicken salad the chicken is so finely chopped that it seems to go down fine and it is moist. But I agree that if I try to just eat grilled chicken--forget it--it just sits. I know I am eating some fats with the chk salad but at least it goes down.

Is it OK for me to try some steak this early?

I need to get my protein intake up up up....not getting it all in yet. I have those whey protein test tube looking things....couldnt drink it straight. I have been too lazy to make a shake. I need to find 'chewable' alternatives to get more protein in. If only I lived next to Smoothie King.

[cindy]

Ok, i see this question was added a few months ago, but I'll put my 2 cents. In. I can eat a whole bowl of soup, a sandwhich and a piece of pie. no wonder I've gained 14lbs. I've been able to eat quite a bit of food since the dqay of surgery. It scared me all along, because I figured I should only be able to eat small portions. it was fun up till two months ago, when I could eat all I wanted all day everyday and still lose weight. i was hungry all the time! But now it's catching up with me. i wish I'd get full faster, then I wouldn't eat so much. Bummer.......