Eating after the sleeve
Im just wondering how people eat so little after being sleeved and dont feel like they are starving all the time. I eat tons of food, not because im hungry but for all the wrong reasons. I just have been reading what everyone is eating afterwards and i guess i just cant wrap my mind around eating that little amount of food and not starving. When you have the sleeve does it also take the cravings away of wanting to eat large amounts of food. Also what about sweet and salty things? Do your taste and cravings for those go away also???
Jeanette 
I haven't been tempted by sweet or salty. I really have cravings/lust after sushi, mexican, chinese, hamburgers, steak, etc. You should see me look at all of the flyers that come in the mail! LOL
My new relationship with food is something that I am still trying to figure out!
In my experience, after surgery my tummy hurt and even when the surgery pain is gone there is a fear that I could hurt my tummy...or feel overful, which is a dreadful feeling.
I do get frustrated because I want to eat all of 3oz of soup that tastes like heaven because mostly I am drinking protein shakes but I can't do it, because I have to listen to my tummy which seems to make it pretty clear when I've had enough.
You wont starve, but it is difficult to wrap your mind around it! You really wont be able to eat for all the wrong reasons, at least initially, and once you start loosing weight you probably wont want to eat for the wrong reasons because you don't ever want to go back to where you've been.
My new relationship with food is something that I am still trying to figure out!
In my experience, after surgery my tummy hurt and even when the surgery pain is gone there is a fear that I could hurt my tummy...or feel overful, which is a dreadful feeling.
I do get frustrated because I want to eat all of 3oz of soup that tastes like heaven because mostly I am drinking protein shakes but I can't do it, because I have to listen to my tummy which seems to make it pretty clear when I've had enough.
You wont starve, but it is difficult to wrap your mind around it! You really wont be able to eat for all the wrong reasons, at least initially, and once you start loosing weight you probably wont want to eat for the wrong reasons because you don't ever want to go back to where you've been.
I felt the same way before I had my VSG. I kept wondering how in the world I could live off of so little food. Fortunately, I don't experience hunger like I did pre-op. I don't get ravenous & shaky, I simply feel empty & know i need to eat. And then only a small amount is needed to satisfy that. On the ohter hand, I do still deal with head hunger...wanting to eat b/c I'm bored or b/c something smells good. That is a daily battle. But as far as physically needing the large amounts of food, my body doesn't need that much anymore.
It's hard to grasp until you are experiencing it.
It's hard to grasp until you are experiencing it.
I keep telling my husband that it is virtually impossible to have completely understood what being sleeved feels like when I was a pre-op. Looking back 2 months ago, I couldn't wrap my mind around it either.
The fact that the amount I consume while cooking a dish (tasting and nibbling) FILLS me up was a crazy thought pre-op but now it's the truth.
I feel fullness after such a small amount, the same fullness I would feel after eating 5 slices of pizza pre-op but now it's from one hard boiled egg or a few ounces of chicken. (Speaking of pizza, we went to our favorite pizza place last Friday and I barely managed to eat 1/2 of a fairly small slice. Pre-op I'd go through pizza like water and never feel full until there wasn't any left...and then I'd have dessert).
I never feel like I am starving. Pre-op, I rarely let myself get to the point of TRUE hunger...I just ate a lot and frequently. Now, I eat when it is time and find myself "snacking" between meals out of habit and NOT out of hunger. It's a bad habit that I am learning to replace with protein like jerky so I am physically full and the mental part disappears.
I MISS eating large amounts of food. I think I am finally starting to get over that. It's taken a good two months and has even brought me to tears (more out of embarassment that I was "sad" I couldn't eat more). When something tastes good, I want to eat, eat, eat until it is all gone! But I physically cannot and I am learning to appreciate the first 2-3 bites as opposed to the last morsel that I lick off of my plate ;)
I have always been a sweet/salty person and I still gravitate towards those things. (But sweet things taste overly-sweet and I can get satisfied with 1-2 M&Ms as opposed to the super-value family bag :))
With anything I eat though, it's in moderation and thank goodness my sleeve is my moderator.
The fact that the amount I consume while cooking a dish (tasting and nibbling) FILLS me up was a crazy thought pre-op but now it's the truth.
I feel fullness after such a small amount, the same fullness I would feel after eating 5 slices of pizza pre-op but now it's from one hard boiled egg or a few ounces of chicken. (Speaking of pizza, we went to our favorite pizza place last Friday and I barely managed to eat 1/2 of a fairly small slice. Pre-op I'd go through pizza like water and never feel full until there wasn't any left...and then I'd have dessert).
I never feel like I am starving. Pre-op, I rarely let myself get to the point of TRUE hunger...I just ate a lot and frequently. Now, I eat when it is time and find myself "snacking" between meals out of habit and NOT out of hunger. It's a bad habit that I am learning to replace with protein like jerky so I am physically full and the mental part disappears.
I MISS eating large amounts of food. I think I am finally starting to get over that. It's taken a good two months and has even brought me to tears (more out of embarassment that I was "sad" I couldn't eat more). When something tastes good, I want to eat, eat, eat until it is all gone! But I physically cannot and I am learning to appreciate the first 2-3 bites as opposed to the last morsel that I lick off of my plate ;)
I have always been a sweet/salty person and I still gravitate towards those things. (But sweet things taste overly-sweet and I can get satisfied with 1-2 M&Ms as opposed to the super-value family bag :))
With anything I eat though, it's in moderation and thank goodness my sleeve is my moderator.
HW: 251 SW: 243 CW: 146 Height: 5'6.5"
For me *disclaimer*
The preop liquid diet and the post op low carb liquids were a real good detox time. For me, so many of my "cravings" were fueled by poor food choice insanity - so after detoxing, and gradually coming back onto foods - I did not have the same "cravings" because I had the poor food choice insanity out of my blood.
Now - eating for head hunger stuff - for *some folks* (me) I have done a lot of emotional therapy and behavioral therapy before surgery, but there was not any room between my URGE and my GIMME*nomnomnom* - because I was fighting my biology, but especially the detox period and the weaning back on foods - I realized how much I *was* stuffing my face instead of facing my stuff (course I KNEW I did that before, but there is a difference between knowing in your head and knowing experiencially). Okay - so I got some books that were helpful with the after effects of GOOD LORD I WANNA CHOKE SOMEONE AND I CANNOT EVEN EAT TO QUELL THAT!
those books are
Beck Diet Solution - NOT A DIET - its a cognitive behavior therapy sorta book
Shrink Yourself - shows you how to peel back your onion of your emotional why you eats
10 Thin Commandments - shows you how to live maintenance out, shows you how to know if you need to totally eliminate some foods (read in my blog about a bad food day - and I go into it a bit) or if you can just block that food out for special occasions or whatever.
I can be triggered by sights - like lately - those Almond Joy Pieces are making me insane, but I have had good conversations with myself about why I do not *need* to buy the bag, because it does not matter how many cals are in a serving, because I WILL eat the whole bag. I have a spring party with an egg hunt and am going to get a bag and have a serving and stuff the rest in the eggs. ( I will also have a friend there with me helping me while I stuff eggs, so I will not just lose my mind and cram them all in my piehole and end up naked in the corner with the almond joy pieces DTs :}).
We can *live* on much less than we *think* we can. So many times we use food for way more than it was ever SUPPOSED to be. But as far as fuel goes - we do not need as much as we think - and too - its so amazing to be satisfied with SOME.
Cravings - for me - if I have a period of overindulgence in carby things, I crave them. Carbs call out to carbs *for me* There are some foods that "should be" safe, that I have just had to toss, because I have them once,and then I start to think about them, and plan for them more and more.
This is a real good time to learn about yourself girlie. Its not JUST about the food. its about how the food affects you (because it does) and how you may have used the food to alter your situation (do you eat to numb yourself? are you a food sneaker and eat to spite someone else because THIS you can control - things like that).
For me, those cravings are not magically gone, but I CAN keep them at bay by making good/better/best choices that do not DRIVE me towards those cravings.
For me - my tastebuds did not change after surgery - I like everything I liked before, and there was not much I did not like!
Just tell yourself, during the first liquids and mushy bit I CAN DO ANYTHING FOR A MONTH, and think of crazy assed diets you have been on (I assume you have at least one cabbage soup diet under your belt :}) and then you will see, when you get to more solidy things - restriction is a BEAUTIFUL thing!
Well, that's how it is for me. It has not been a magic tool in the sense that I am never hungry and I never crave things, but it has been a WONDERFUL tool in that I do not have to fight my biology and I have TIME to have a conversation with myself inbetween the URGE and the stuffing my face, and now INSTEAD I can face my stuff!
And that's what I think about that!
Peace babygirl, its hard to understand on the side you are on, but its groovy fo sho!
Brandi
The preop liquid diet and the post op low carb liquids were a real good detox time. For me, so many of my "cravings" were fueled by poor food choice insanity - so after detoxing, and gradually coming back onto foods - I did not have the same "cravings" because I had the poor food choice insanity out of my blood.
Now - eating for head hunger stuff - for *some folks* (me) I have done a lot of emotional therapy and behavioral therapy before surgery, but there was not any room between my URGE and my GIMME*nomnomnom* - because I was fighting my biology, but especially the detox period and the weaning back on foods - I realized how much I *was* stuffing my face instead of facing my stuff (course I KNEW I did that before, but there is a difference between knowing in your head and knowing experiencially). Okay - so I got some books that were helpful with the after effects of GOOD LORD I WANNA CHOKE SOMEONE AND I CANNOT EVEN EAT TO QUELL THAT!
those books are
Beck Diet Solution - NOT A DIET - its a cognitive behavior therapy sorta book
Shrink Yourself - shows you how to peel back your onion of your emotional why you eats
10 Thin Commandments - shows you how to live maintenance out, shows you how to know if you need to totally eliminate some foods (read in my blog about a bad food day - and I go into it a bit) or if you can just block that food out for special occasions or whatever.
I can be triggered by sights - like lately - those Almond Joy Pieces are making me insane, but I have had good conversations with myself about why I do not *need* to buy the bag, because it does not matter how many cals are in a serving, because I WILL eat the whole bag. I have a spring party with an egg hunt and am going to get a bag and have a serving and stuff the rest in the eggs. ( I will also have a friend there with me helping me while I stuff eggs, so I will not just lose my mind and cram them all in my piehole and end up naked in the corner with the almond joy pieces DTs :}).
We can *live* on much less than we *think* we can. So many times we use food for way more than it was ever SUPPOSED to be. But as far as fuel goes - we do not need as much as we think - and too - its so amazing to be satisfied with SOME.
Cravings - for me - if I have a period of overindulgence in carby things, I crave them. Carbs call out to carbs *for me* There are some foods that "should be" safe, that I have just had to toss, because I have them once,and then I start to think about them, and plan for them more and more.
This is a real good time to learn about yourself girlie. Its not JUST about the food. its about how the food affects you (because it does) and how you may have used the food to alter your situation (do you eat to numb yourself? are you a food sneaker and eat to spite someone else because THIS you can control - things like that).
For me, those cravings are not magically gone, but I CAN keep them at bay by making good/better/best choices that do not DRIVE me towards those cravings.
For me - my tastebuds did not change after surgery - I like everything I liked before, and there was not much I did not like!
Just tell yourself, during the first liquids and mushy bit I CAN DO ANYTHING FOR A MONTH, and think of crazy assed diets you have been on (I assume you have at least one cabbage soup diet under your belt :}) and then you will see, when you get to more solidy things - restriction is a BEAUTIFUL thing!
Well, that's how it is for me. It has not been a magic tool in the sense that I am never hungry and I never crave things, but it has been a WONDERFUL tool in that I do not have to fight my biology and I have TIME to have a conversation with myself inbetween the URGE and the stuffing my face, and now INSTEAD I can face my stuff!
And that's what I think about that!
Peace babygirl, its hard to understand on the side you are on, but its groovy fo sho!
Brandi
It's difficult to describe what I feel now... At first you are not hungry because you feel pain from surgery...After a few days, with the liquid diet, I started having cravings, and being sad for not eating the things I love... But I wasn't able to... I am not starving at all. I don't know if it's the grelin they remove with the stomach, but my relationship to food changed immediately after surgery. In the beginning, I forgot to eat... You may have some cravings or head hunger, but your body makes it impossible to eat more. It's was difficult for me at first to not eat the last spoonful of yogourt , but I wasn't able to. You learn to follow your new tummy. And when I am hungry, I eat a small piece of cheese and I am full. I can say I don't have many cravings, but when I have some, it is easily satisfied with one bite . Sometimes it's so yummy I try to eat more, but I am feeling so bad that I learn not to do that again.
Before my surgery, I was like you, I didn't believe it was possible to feel full with so little food... But it is and it's the most marvelous part of it!
Before my surgery, I was like you, I didn't believe it was possible to feel full with so little food... But it is and it's the most marvelous part of it!
I hear you! My husband worried that I wasn't eating enuf, but it is amazing how little you can live on. I totally MISS eating a whole plateful of food like the rest of the family. They look at my portion and shake their heads and say "SICK!" But I am coming to terms with it each passing day. I am able to eat more than I did the first couple of weeks post op....I definitely find that soups with crackers go down very well...I tried a bit of lasagne last night and felt absolutely awful after....not from being overfull, but just that it didn't sit well with me.
Each and everyday is going to be a journey. Old habits die hard but I know because we are literally "FORCED" into a different lifestyle, it will become just another thing we accept...I like how that now food doesn't control me like before and that I am in total control.
Be strong girl...it does and will get better. Blessings
Each and everyday is going to be a journey. Old habits die hard but I know because we are literally "FORCED" into a different lifestyle, it will become just another thing we accept...I like how that now food doesn't control me like before and that I am in total control.
Be strong girl...it does and will get better. Blessings
Ok thanks for the info. Yeah I could so eat 5 slices of pizza at one sitting or a whole bag of M&Ms. lol Thats what got me here. I have printed off info from this website that tiffykins posted on verticalsleeve talk and it seems really informative. Heres the link if anyone wants to look at it. http://www.iabsobesitysurgery.com/Me...eDietGuide.pdf I am also going to join a wls support group in spokane afterwards. Thanks for your responses. Very helpful info. To me the head hunger will be the hardest to deal with.
Jeanette
First of all, you physically can not eat all that much at one time after having a sleeve. That's the whole point of having one, to limit the amount you CAN eat.
Do you have cravings? Sometimes yes you do. But, you have to change your way of thinking. You have to decide, in advance, that you really want to change your life and you WILL do what is necessary in order to do that.
I suggest you read my note to Newbies down below this post.
Do you have cravings? Sometimes yes you do. But, you have to change your way of thinking. You have to decide, in advance, that you really want to change your life and you WILL do what is necessary in order to do that.
I suggest you read my note to Newbies down below this post.
A former Army Medic (1959-1969), Registered Nurse (1969-2000), College Instructor (1984-1989) and a retired Rehabilitation Counselor. I am also a dual citizen of the USA and Canada.
High Weight 412 lbs. Date of Surgery 360.5 Present 170 lbs
High Weight 412 lbs. Date of Surgery 360.5 Present 170 lbs
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