Stretching the stomach, eating around the sleeve...and other fears?

As I head into maintenance, and after reading about some of the pitfalls and continued struggles we will all face...I wondered if those more knowledgeable and/or experienced, could explain how our stomachs can become stretched, and what "eating around the sleeve" means, in practical terms.  I'm looking for details about what NOT to do.....

Thanks so much!

Kerry

"Eating around the sleeve" is choosing foods that flow through the stomach quickly, so that the restriction does not limit quantity of food.  To maximize the effect of the sleeve, we need to eat dense protein first, which causes the pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach to close, holding the food in the tummy for processing, and maximizing the restriction.  If we eat junk food, or highly processed foods, they pass quickly through the stomach allowing us to eat more calories, thus, "eating around the sleeve."

I cannot speak to "stretching the stomach"  as I don't really understand this.

best wishes,

Carol

I agree with carol. These are what they call slider foods because you can process them quickly and eat more. While it may be different for everyone i find that of i stay away from white food (white flour, white sugar, processed crap) I'm okay. Sometimes fruit can be an issue too so if i eat fruit i do it sparingly and stick to high fiber berries. But realty anything can become a slider food. You can teach yourself to cheat which it's what the people who gain back all the weight end up doing. As far as stretching i was told while you can stretch the stomach somewhat the part that's left over after vsg is more the muscular part and doesn't really have much give. I've noticed if I'm eating the same things day in and day out the easy most of us do i don't notice the restriction but when i eat something foreign that i haven't had in awhile I'll feel the restriction. I wouldn't worry too much but at the same time always be mindful. Even though we fight like hell to get here we all know how easily it can come back. Some food us just totally off limits for me because i have issues with sugar and junk food so i stay away completely. Why play with fire. Hope this helped.

While your stomach can certainly stretch the part that is left after surgery is the least stretchable part of your stomach, so stretching it out should not be as big a concern as your comfort level with filling it. I have noticed that I as I close in on a year post-op that I am more and more comfortable eating until I am full. A habit I am trying very hard to break right now. Now if you stuff yourself every time you eat you will likely stretch it out. But if you notice when you get full, its not very comfortable, and not like before where you could just grumble and loosen your pants. Now it is almost painful and there is no room to go anywhere. I am sure you could power through and stretch it out, but I think it would take some work.

Eating around the sleeve is another issue entirely. If you eat ice cream and you sit down and eat slow enough, you could finish a half gallon easily. Eating food that pass through the pyloric valve before getting an opportunity to fill you up is how you eat around your sleeve. If you eat a handful of crackers now and 20 minutes later another handful, you are never filling yourself up and you are never uncomfortable but you can literally eat a couple hundred calories every 20 minutes or so and easily hit 3000-4000 calories in a day. Eating foods that our formerly overweight bodies are sensitive too like sugar heavy or carb heavy food that spike your blood sugar and trigger insulin responses are another way to eat around your sleeve.

If you stick to something close to your basic plan you will be fine.

Hopefully you have spent enough time losing the weight to realize what you need to do to stay where you are. Its not all that different from weight loss, just a few more calories.

Simply follow some of "the sleeve rules":

1) Eat dense protein first.

2) Don't eat white carbs (often).

3) Don't drink as you eat or for about an hour after you eat.

4) Don't graze (this is a big one).

5) Don't drink your calories (drink mostly calorie free liquids like water).

6) Don't eat until you are full, just until you are satisfied.

That should do it.

Having been in maintenance with the band prior and now having to re-lose the gain after band failure, here's a couple of things I noticed in the years I spent in maintenance.

1) Don't go back to your old lifestyle...which sounds simple right?  But this is one of the hardest things....once you're "normal" it's easy to go back to the way you used to eat.  Which, by the way, probably wasn't normal for a thin person.  Ditto your exercise schedule. You have to exercise a lifetime of diligence in watching your weight.

2) Don't relax things like drinking your calories.  Keep your water up.  This is hard....see above.

3) Don't push your luck.  You shouldn't be foaming, throwing up or feeling any uncomfortable-ness after eating.  All of these items indicate your over eating and "stretching" your sleeve.

4) As others have indicated, don't eat soft and/or junk foods which go down very easily and don't fill the pouch.  If you're going to eat something you know has potential for over-eating, eat dense protein first.

Thank you folks....I do struggle somewhat with evenings...for several reasons..one being I am working evenings and I don't often get to "sit and relax" while I have a "meal"....I bring several small snacks and get to them as I can throughout the evening.  It's probably not ideal - it has worked thus far, but I am unable to change it at this point due to my schedule.  I can see that "grazing" could be a problem even during the evenings I am not working......grrrr

I have to say I've seen it first hand w/ my older brother, he had a band put in years ago and quickly learned that if he just waits about 1/2-1 hr he could eat more so being a numbnutz and his own worst enemy guess what he did?
That's right he lost 75lbs and that's all shot to S@&T b/c he learned to eat around the band...IDIOT! This worries me too...I pray everyday I don't make his mistakes, I'd hate to throw away this gift I was given...all I can say is..be diligent ...
once I'm in maintence that how I plan to conduct myself...