amount you can eat

Thanks Janey. It has been a real eye opener for me. It's not that i didn't have concerted efforts at times in the past to address my poor diet and nutrition issues. The sleeve has givem me the opportunity to have a salad and get the level of satisfaction that a nice rare staek and veges would be required pre-op.
I still have not had any steak since the op and really have no urge for some either at the moment. I have been finding that some grilled fish and salad or some prawns etc are able to fill me up and provide excellent satiety. It's still a novelty that i can have 4 oysters and some veges and feel like i'm eating like a king.

Sounds like you have the correct formula down pat Pricey. Good one.

I have to start eating a bit slower. I'm finding that eating is much easier with the sleeve than with the band and I can eat faster than I have been able to for a long time. I need to put the brakes on and really get back into chewing every mouthful for much longer. Thanks for the reminder.

Keep doing what you're doing and success is yours for the taking.

Hugs,

I agree with you all that the amount varies day to day that i can eat. I was never a salad person before, not that i disliked it, but now i realise that it was not satisfying. Yesterday i bought a Macca's Crispy Caesar Salad for lunch. Not realising how big they are i simply separated into 2 portions and ate 1 of them for lunch. I must say it was the most enjoyable lunch i have had for some time. Can't wait for today, portion 2 will be gone.
The best thing for me has been the realisation of eating until satisifed. If i eat to quickly i feel uncomfortable and after some time the satisfaction decreases prematurely. Where by if i take small mouthfuls, chew, chew, chew, and then be the last to finish my amount and duration of satisfaction is much longer.
So i feel it is a combination of food quality, freshness, nutritional value and the way that it is consumed that makes my new life exciting and refreshing.
Stay safe all.

Janey, that is exactly what my surgeon said to. "That it's all mainly water".

steph

Thanks for the tips everyone. It's really great to be able to run these things by people who have experienced the same things.
Cheers
TC

I'm exactly the same Steph. I can eat a whole cup of salad mixed with tuna. My surgeon said probably because it mainly water and I think he said fluff....with a smile on his face, when I told him I was amazed at how much of it I could eat. I love my lunch time salad.

Other meals are only half a cup or so and for brekky it's either a slice of toast with some protein or an egg and baked beans. I can't do any toast if I have an egg and baked beans. Much too filling.

Hugs,

12 months out I can still only fit in 1/2 pkt of 2min porridge for brekky but I can eat quite a bit of salad for lunch with one of those little flavoured cans of tuna mixed in, although today I have had a banana. Dinner will be a small teacup size plate with very small amount of vegies, mashed potato and 1/4 palm size of meat. Last night was teriyaki turkey lol.

steph

the amount i can eat at nearly six months varies from day to day. today for instance, struggled with a cup of tea this morning so waited and have just had a protein shake for breakfast (11am) and feel very full. other days i have had a slice of burgen toast, poached egg and two cups of herbal tea by 8am. you have to just listen to your stomach and take each day as it comes. most days i can eat nearly a cup of food but if it is rare steak or chicken, i fill up very quickly.

Suzi, i was eating 4 small meals a day for about 3 months and found that so much easier to, until i could manage to eat at least half a cup in one sitting.

cheers
tracey

I am 7 weeks out, and I can eat more of softer foods than the harder foods... like last night I had about 5 gnocchi but a lot of sauce (made it with shaved ham for protein- Lazy persons dinner at our place last night) and so it seemed for every gnocchi i had two or three teaspoons of meat sauce and i had about half a cup intotal. lovely but couldnt get anymore in. however for breakfast I have an egg on 1 slice of toast... certainly more than half a cup!

I actually thought the opposite. I thought I was overeating like crazy as you will see from previous posts. I thought I stretched my stomach out and went into a panic. LOL My doctor recommends that I eat everything by ounces so I finally went out and bought a scale thinking the worst. Once I started using that, I realized that I wasn't eating enough. What I thought was 4 ounces of meat was actually only 2. I am only 5 weeks out and I can eat 4 ounces at a time. When I measure out a cup, I cring realizing how much that is. I don't think I can eat that yet. I have eaten a whole 6 ounce yogurt once, but after measuring I see I only eat 4 ounces of meat and veggie or meat and fruit. I am eating regular food though. Maybe you just need a little longer on the mushy stuff. I was told that shrimp were one of the hardest things to digest and to stay away from them for 6 months and you are already eating them. I think maybe you may be a little nervous? I was for a little bit and it stopped me from trying different things. I have eaten a golf ball size boiled potato and I eat alot of fish. I also like beans. I use white navy beans and mix those with herbs and a little salt and pepper and vinegar. Not much, but you would be surprised how filling they are and they are pretty high in protein. It doesn't taste bad either and they are mushy once you are done chewing. Maybe try that now that you are handling shrimp ok. Just remember to eat slow and chew alot. It will all come in time. I do get hungry and I eat 4 times a day. If you aren't eating enough, like applesauce said, drink your protein shakes. Sorry so long, I just feel for you because judging your food intake and being nervous is not the best stage of this journey.

some people are eating more at this stage some are not. It really depends a lot on how fast the swelling goes down. Keep your food wet and suplement with nourishing liquids if you feel you are lacking calories. If you are still concerned after a few more weeks have a talk to your surgeon a very very few need a little stretch but most settle down. the male of the species was only doing tiny bits for over 4 months then it all settled down and he settled to a normal size meal. Do remember tho get out a measuring cup and see what half a cup looks like it is not half a tea cup or half a coffee cup. so 3 decent size prawns would be getting closer to that half cup

applesauce

Hi,
I am about 9 weeks post surgery. My dr told me I could expect to be eating about half a cup of food each meal, however I find that I can only manage a few mouthfuls of mushy type foods, or 3 small prawns, or 2 walnut sized meat balls. Have other people found something similar? I am thrilled with my weight loss - about 20 - 21kg so far.
TC