No restriction one week out

Ok, I know this is bad: I had my surgery last Monday.  Today I'm not hungry yet I got a bad case of head hunger and ate a quesadilla, I whole one with no problem.  I didn't get stuffed, I didn't feel bad or vomit, I feel just a little full and now I"m mad.  I have the scars to prove I had the surgery yet why don't I have any restriction?  How did I fit that whole quesadilla into my "1 oz pouch"?

Please answer my questions before you scold me, thanks!

No judgement here! Which procedure did you have? I'm just a few days out of VSG (had mine Saturday) and I don't feel like it should be this easy. I'm trying hard to stay on liquids, but I feel like I could eat real food without a problem. I hope the restriction kicks in because my willpower will only last so long! Good luck! 

I am guessing RNY surgery for you.

More than likely it is that the nerve endings have not healed yet and you did not have the full feeling. I know every doc has their own protocol for PO diet but would you give a baby quesadilla? Your new pouch is a new baby tummy. And how big was the piece of quesadilla or was it a whole round of quesadilla? Try to make wiser choices while you are healing.

One of my friends went to a party two weeks after surgery and decided to eat whatever she wanted.  Everything tasted good and she had no problems at all eating.  

That evening she started bleeding from the rectum. She passed out and an ambulance was called.  Her new pouch had split open and they did emergency surgery to staple it back together.

Her family members were called to her bedside at the hospital and told she might not make it through the night.  She pulled through but went through a lot of unnecessary stress.  Remember your new pouch is tiny and still in the healing stage.  You managed to fit all that food into a tiny pouch, but you were also lucky that it held together.

Wow, what a horror story!  However, I appreciate your sharing it so people understand the importance of following your diet.  I can't imagine eating whatever I wanted a week out.  I can barely eat 1/8 to 1/4 cup of food at a time and won't deviate from my food list at all.  

The head hunger goes away slowly but not completely - be strong and it will pass!  I always tell myself "my health is more important than a cheeseburger (or whatever it is tempting me)".  

So scary!  Thank you for sharing.

My RNY surgery is this Monday.  The thought of pushing the pouch this early and with a quesadilla was startling.  Your post, however, is horrifying and literally made me sit back in my chair with a gasp.  Thank you for sharing it.  This is what will come into my mind everytime I am struggling with head hunger and the choice to fight it or not.  I have a friend that has been very successful with RNY and she said one of the main reasons she thinks she has done so well is that she does not push the limits of her pouch. 

I'm still cringing thinking of your friend.  Oh my.

You don't feel restrictions (assuming RNY) because your nerves were cut and you could technically eat anything without feeling you'd had too much...until you blew your stitches out. 

You should be mad as you have indicated you are...but I am hoping it is at yourself and putting yourself in harms way by eating what you did when you did.

I am 10 months out tomorrow and there is no possible way I could get that in. But I learned early on the feelings of satiety and to listen to my body. I am guessing you had SOME restriction and ignored it. Did your nose run, did you feel heartburn, did you have discomfort laying down or extra gas? I am going to guess there was something and if you listened to your body, you would know that it was there but it was ignored.

Here is the thing. You took a MAJOR detour on your journey. But if you were in your car driving from Washington, DC to Florida and somehow you were on a highway headed north, you'd not keep going until you hit Canada. No. You'd get your bearings, check the map and get back on your journey to Florida on a southerly route.  Tomorrow you need to get back on the path and be true to your journey.

If it were me, with as much as you ate of a totally disallowed food (cannot imagine any surgeon saying okay to a quesadilla a week out, regardless of plan) then I would call and see if they are interested in seeing you or doing any tests. If you tore stitches or caused other issues, catching them early is a key thing.

The bigger issue of course, is why you are exhibiting so little control over head hunger. Let's say you wanted it. You had to either prepare it or go buy it. And then spend all that time eating it unless you wolfed it down, canine style. At no point did you tell yourself to stop? Or were you testing the limits on purpose and calling it head hunger?  The biggest issue to me (apart from any physical damage you may have done to your pouch) would be the total lack of control and coping techniques. Because while you can get back in the drivers seat and head down to Florida...what happens next time you come to a food laden cloverleaf? Having the skills, techniques and desires to make the right choices FOR YOU are going to be key.

Each morning I think about everything I COULD eat that day. I still have a child at home and there is plenty of food that is not a good choice for me in the kitchen, but I choose NOT to have them. I actively make a choice on that. The empowerment I feel by saying that I CAN have something and CHOOSE not to have it because I am deeply desiring a fit and healthy me and I know this is THE last opportunity for that to happen. 

All the best to you!

Great response

Great reply.

There are consequences for our CHOICES.  That is a tough reality!

Penny