How do I know when I'm full?

Thanks DayleD & PC. That was the answers I needed. Now I feel I'm ready to set an op date!

Hi Phi8,

The sleeve helps in that with your reduced tum capacity, you are simply unable to eat too much.  Your mind may still want to, and it's not going to get rid of the emotional eating side of things, but you literally won't be able to fit too much in.  That said, if you consistently eat too much all the time, you can and will stretch your new pouch.  Another result of the surgery is that the part of the stomach cut away contains most of where the hunger hormone (grehlin) is produced.  Taking this away, for the majority of people, takes away a lot of the hunger.  Once again, this isn't the case for everyone.  It hasn't worked this way for me and I am still hungry (unlike other people who are never hungry and have to 'force' themselves to eat), but with having regular, small meals I am satisfied.  Apparently this hunger tends to come back over time for people.

I am an emotional overeater, or binge eater if you will.  I still have strong urges to overeat at times (I am 10 weeks post-op) so it's not a miracle cure and all the issues you have with your emotions and brain will still be there after the op so would recommend regular psyche appts to help.  I don't want to be negative at all, just trying to give you my reality.

Again, the first 12 months seems to be the period of most weight loss, then it really is up to good food choices, exercise and commitment long term to keep weight off.

Just another point, some people seem to change their taste for things, and certain foods make them ill or sick etc.  Again, I haven't had any changes in what I like or don't like and haven't been sick at all since day 1.  So keep in mind that it is a totally different experience for every person.

Best of luck with whatever you decide, if you have any more questions just ask...there's always someone around who can help out.

Cheers, DayleD

I'm 6 weeks post-sleeve today.  

While I didn't treat "all you can eat" as a challenge (not in recent years anyway), I was usually able to eat as much as I could possibly want, and it never felt really satisfying.

The sleeve changed everything.  I have been back on soft solid foods for the last week, and while I'm eating larger quantities than most of the people here, I'm not eating much, and (except when I'm bored) I could get away with eating nothing at all.  I force myself to eat to get in the protein I need.  The quantities are tiny but you get used to them.

A typical dinner is now either:

• 140 grams of grilled salmon fillet, with some lemon and tartare sauce, or
  
• 62½ grams (no, really, 62½ grams, 1/8th of a 500 gram wrappage) of beef mince plus 1/4 can of red kidney beans, 1/4 can of black beans, 1/4 can of tomato, and a tiny bit of frozen veg.
  

I decide which to have on any given night based on how much protein I still need for the day.  The fish option has more protein & goes down easier.  The beef n beans mix option has more fibre.  It also depends on whether I have leftover beef n beans mix in the fridge ready to be reheated, or if I'm willing to cook more that night.

Whether I was on Purees or Soft Solids, knowing when to stop has been relatively easy ever since the op.  I actually force myself to eat a 4th meal if I need that extra few grams of protein & don't feel like downing a protein shake.

I track my protein intake using MyFitnessPal.  That app/website mostly exists to track calories, which now don't matter given the tiny quantities, but it also tracks other macronutrients if you want it to, and if the data is in there correctly for the food you're serving yourself.  You just need to learn how to use kitchen scales or otherwise guesstimate what you're serving.

To be honest, you can skip all that if you choose to simply overload on protein shakes.

Thanks Sparkles I really appreciate the long reply. I have previously lost 53kg without any assistance but now I have other health issues which prevent the exercise I did to do that in the past unfortunately. So this is my chosen option. I will search that article you mentioned. 💖
Great to hear such positive results! 💖

Hi Phi!

I'm almost 4 weeks sleeve surgery post-op, and like you I was hungry ALL THE TIME beforehand! All I can say is that the surgery has physically limited what I can eat (in that if I eat too much, I either throw it back up, have awful reflux, or feel really uncomfortable and have pain around my stomach), but it also has changed what I CAN eat and what I WANT to eat! I never thought I'd be saying it but, as a former choccy addict, I now can't face the idea of eating choccy squares ever again! If I eat anything with too much sugar in, it gives me palpitations now, which has been enough to make me not want to eat it. Weird, as that has succeeded where counselling, hypnotism, dieting and weight control Bootcamp all failed miserably!

I feel much more positive about maintaining this new lifestyle longterm than I had ever thought possible. As my (amazing) surgeon said to me, it's only a tool to MAKE you lose weight. The keeping it off is down to lifestyle change and commitment once it is off, but until I had it done, I couldn't imagine that it would be within my reach!

Sorry for the long reply! Do lots of research, read everything you can on here (there's a brilliant article on here somewhere about research conducted in Sweden on hunger hormones and gastric sleeving - I think either Reboot or Rebirth posted it - if I can find it I'll send you the link!) and speak to as many people as you can. I personally would never go back, despite the adjustments and changes it needs!

Sparkles xxx

Hi everyone, as an emotional eater I'm concerned about overeating even with having the gastric sleeve surgery. The Dr mentioned 3 small meals a day. At the moment I feel hungry all the time!
How does Gastric sleeve assist this?
How will I know I'm full?