7 months out and worried

I just ate (and finished) a 10oz salad.. I am full and it took 30 mins to finish... is this too much food?  Does this mean my pouch is stretched all ready?

Was that ten ounces by weight or by volume?  What ingredients were in the salad?

1. Do you have a sleeve or a pouch?

2. volume is different than weight

3. what was in your salad? just lettuce that can pack down in your sleeve? or were there raw fibrous veggies in there? was there any protein in there?

10 ozs on your plate doesn't mean 10 ounces in your stomach.  After you chew food, especially empty food like a salad - it condenses down quite a bit.  90% of lettuce and fruits are water.  Salad is hardly ever, in my opinion, a proper food choice when you are in weight loss.  Rather than 10 ounces of salad, 4 ounces of lean protein would have been a much better choice for a meal.  If you were snacking - a few baby carrots would have been a much better choice.

If you are concerned about your restriction, eat 3 to 4 ounces of a lean dense protein.  Try a cup of fat free cottage cheese.  Do you feel your restriction?  If so its doubtful that you stretched your stomach.

You are about due for a capacity increase.  Its not surprising that you can eat more than you did at the beginning.  That is perfectly normal.  You typically notice being able to eat more at around 3 months when the scar line is completely formed.  Then again at 6 or 7 months, and at a year.  I can eat about 6 ounces in a meal now.  

The real challenge is choosing the right foods to eat when I do eat as well as how much.  I have been maintaining for about 6 months now.  I still weigh my food, plan my portions, and track everything.  I try to under eat my sleeve and not eat until I am full.  I stay away from grazing foods like nuts and chips that I can eat a lot of and them become sliders.

I have a question on your post, and you always seem to give good info/advice, so I hope you don't mind the follow up.  Can you describe what you mean by "feel your restriction"?  I see that term a lot on OH and am not exactly sure what it means.  And I am sure it relates to "undereating your sleeve" - another concept I like but am not sure I really understand.  I am three weeks post-op, I eat a few bites of food and feel full (not pained, just satisfied), but am not sure if I am feeling a "restriction" or not, or what that would feel like exactly...Would appreciate any feedback you have.  Many thanks!

What you are describing when you eat is exactly what we mean by "feeling your restriction".  Before our surgeries we all were practically bottomless pits.  After surgery, with the restricted amount of food we can eat, we feel full - "feel our restriction" much sooner.

The other important concept is undereating your sleeve - to avoid stretching it out over much.  To do that you plan your portions for something that will leave you satisfied but not full to the point of nauseousness or the foamies.  So I will be having 4 ounces of chicken, 2 ounces of zucchini, 1 ounce of carrots, and 1 ounce of haricot vert by weight (4 ounces of chicken and 1 cup of veggies by volume).  That will leave me satisfied, but not stuffed.  I will have undereaten my sleeves total capacity.  (If I ate until stuffed I would probably have 6 to 8 ounces of chicken with the same or slightly more veggies).  Being a fairly tall guy, I have a long stomach with probably higher than average capacity.

At three weeks out you are still in liquids and have quite a bit of swelling if you are on the usual plan.  When you get to soft foods you will really start to feel your restriction.  Scrambled eggs are usually the first thing that hit your stomach like a brick.  Your restriction will lessen at about 3 months when your scar line is completely healed, then people usually notice less restriction at 6 months and again at about a year.  This is another reason its important to not stretch your sleeve and make the most of the post-op honeymoon.

Thank you so much for your quick reply!  I wasn't sure if "restriction" meant something different or felt different than fullness.  :)  This is great help and great tips - thanks again!

10 oz by weight. chinese style chicken salad with romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, cabbage, snow peas and grilled chicken. I had Sleeve done in July 2012

Here again, it would be important to know how much chicken there was. Cabbage should be filling and fibrous as well, but the rest of it can compact down pretty easily and therefore you would be able to eat more of that. What you should do in the future is measure your chicken, have 3-4 oz of chicken and then eat some of the veggies and lettuce after you have consumed the chicken, but not to the point where you feel full, stuffed, or miserable. Dense protein always first.

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