Sleevers who have been done a while:

I am now 18months out from surgery and can eat anything. But ditto to what others have said, can eat more now than i could at 3 months out but it is still a small portion size. Re takeaway comparison I can fit
1/2 McDonalds angus burger
1/2 HJ Aussie Burger
Most of a six inch subways
2 slices of pizza

etc. Generally use a bread and butter plate at dinner time. I think because the plate is smaller but it looks full, it can be a bit of a trick to the mind re how much you are eating. So generally stick to using the small plates now. Generally eat 3 meals a day and sometimes have a mid arvo snack and/or supper. But try not to graze and this is the worst thing you can do. Somedays I can eat more than other days. But still know when I am full. Have not vomited once but yes have overdone on occassion and felt uncomfortable for a while usually about for around 1/2hr or so.

I'm 12 months out now and since things settled down, nothing has changed. Some days I can eat more than others - haven't worked out why - but the basic amount is the same. I still feel full at the same time, but if I wanted to I can push past it (but I don't want to usually). But even that is only a mouthful or two.

This is sooooooooooo nice to know that I'll be able to eat a more realistic amount than my present 3 - 4 dessertspoonsful! It really got the better of me the other night. Now a chop and a small potato sound just heavenly. I guess I gotta wait and be patient for a bit longer!
This I can do as long as I know there's a future.
Thanks peeps!
:D

Sunland what a great 'comparison' to use - A large banana.

It's kind of what our new stomachs look like so thats what we need to fill.

Not that I can eat anywhere near that at the moment but it's something I will remember as I am able to eat more.

Great info. thanks very much everyone. The food amounts seem so tiny compared to how much I can eat, I'm a tad jealous! You all still seem to have a good level of restriction even a year in.

Thanks for that apple. Before the op I loved my chips. But now I will only have one or two. If I could lick them and put them back I would. lol Mostly its because I would rather have the protein first and don't have any room for them but also they just don't do it for me like they used to. I try to eat protein first and because chips are a carbohydrate I tend to limit them quite severely.

compaire that to more than a year out.............

1 cheese burger and a few of the chips out of the happy meal, if you are yacking and taking your time you will eat a few more chips.

I tried the angry angus burger and Hungry Jacks, not sure if I stoped at half because I was full or because it was so vile *LOL*

subway a wrap tho you need to go light on the salad and I leave out the lettuce. You can fit a 6inch in if you are very careful what you put in it but it leaves me to full so I avoid them.

burger in a cafe, it is always half only, if it comes with a side of fries 1 or 2 as I like to taste them.

toasted sandwhich done at home say hame cheese and tomato fits but if it is a cafe one it will be to big, about 3/4 of it.

a cafe made chicken and salad sandwhich I would struggle with much more than half in most places unless I was very selective on what went in it as they tend to put to much stuff in them and use large bread.

normal chicken kebab with tomato and onion only I can eat between half and 3/4 depending how big they come out as some places are huge.

5 wicked wings, mostely bone in them and mabe a few chips if I pry them off the daughter ;)


If there is a particular food anybody is curious about just ask as I have tried most things now. But seriously in 2 years I think we have had KFC twice mcdonalds 3 times and HJ's once. Now subway we eat a lot if we are on a health kick with the kids like we are now.

applesauce

This will probably sound really bad as it is all takeaway stuff but will give you an idea of the volumes as it is uniform around australia:

I can eat for one meal:

4 KFC nuggets comfortably (can fit in 6 if I take my time but feel really full - not nice)
or
1/2 Chicken Treat Hot Chicken Roll
or
1/2 Hungry Jack Bacon Deluxe Burger
or
1 Chicken Kebab on a stick
of
100g Steak (but will only have a bite of a veg)

I am 5 months out and have no problems with any food. If its new I just take my time.

Ditto to what the others have said.
I just had lunch - I was very hungry, and had a small tin of tuna and about 8 rice crackers. After about 15 minutes, I followed that up with a banana - a large one. But I ate it all very slowly, and now am really full.
Best wishes
Chris

I am nearly 12 months out now as well. I can eat more now than I could at 3 months of course, but still am restricted. As the others have said, if you wanted to overeat or increase your weight, you could definitely still do it by eating more often. To give you an idea of what I can eat, I had a lamb cutlet (no fat), 2 baby potatoes and a tablespoon full of peas for dinner last night. That filled me up and was yummy. I can eat anything I want - no restrictions - and definitely know when I'm full.

Re How to gauge how much you can eat...

I look at my stomach as being the size of a medium banana!! When I have a meal I look at the amount and compare it to a banana and after a while you get into the habit of getting your portion size correct..

I have been sleeved almost 12 months and have never vomited from eating too much...sure there have been times when I have known I have had one teaspoonful too much (it only takes that much) and you feel quite uncomfortable but as time gets on you do get the ability to get your portion size correct..

I still tend to eat quickly so I fill up faster..which can be good in a way as long as you don't go back for more..Ifyou eat very slowly (which you should do in the early stages..chew chew chew) then over the space of half an hour or so I feel you can fit more in, and hence weightloss might be slower..

My 2 cents worth

Greg

As applesauce says once you heal the volume does increase. I will link a study that shows this. I have a copy of the fully study and a similar one that my surgeon gave me (he knows I am a study nut hehe). From the start I have had to use strict portion control and at 8 months out I dont overeat because I follow the rules. If I did not then yes the bad habits are just a mouthful away.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19533260?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Quote :

Sleeve gastrectomy is a restrictive procedure for treatment of obese patients with different body mass index (BMI) and presents good results in terms of a reduction of percentage of excess weight loss and BMI. There is no consensus which is the optimal technique regarding to the diameter of the gastric tube, but a capacity of 100-120 ml has been suggested. In this prospective study, we compare the gastric capacity evaluated with barium sulfate or computer-aided tomography (CAT) scan early and 24 months after operation compared to the changes in body weight and BMI reduction in a small group of 15 consecutive patients submitted to sleeve gastrectomy. METHODS: Fifteen successive obese patients submitted to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy were included. They were studied in order to measure the residual gastric capacity with barium sulfate and CAT scan early (3 days) and late (2 years) after surgery. RESULTS: The early postoperative gastric volume was 108 +/- 25 ml (80-120 ml) and 116.2 +/- 78.24 assessed with barium sulfate and CAT scan, respectively. The gastric capacity at the late control increased to 250 +/- 85 and 254 +/- 56.8 assessed with the same techniques. However, patients remained stable with a BMI close to 25 without regain of weight at least at the time of observation. CONCLUSIONS: Gastric capacity can increase late after sleeve gastrectomy even after performing a narrow gastric tubulization. It is very important to measure objectively residual gastric volume after sleeve gastrectomy and its eventual increase in order to determine the late clinical results and to indicate eventual strategy for retreatment.

I can pretty much eye ball now what 250ml is BUT on a day to day at home basis both of us use a bowl which we know how much of what fits in there. Our standard bread and butter plate is very handy as well it holds just the right amount of veg when you have a 100-120gram steak with it. But again the reality is we pretty much know how much to dish up on a normal plate if we have to. When ordering out we share a main or eat an entre each most of the time. Tho if it is a very fancy type resturant you can eat most of a main as long as it isnt a pasta or rice type dish as these tend to be small. But having said that I doubt either of us could finish an entre size pasta at a family style pizza pasta place as the serves are so huge.

I had a 300gram lean cuisine for lunch today, as usal I couldnt finish it, but I just do not care any more I choose stuff I like to eat, and ignore the bit I waste most times :) NOW if I had wanted to I could have stopped and left it 20 or 30 minutes and finished it, but THAT is a bad habbit to get into.

applesauce

Applesauce - how do you know how much you are eating? do you weigh it all?

Thank you for the info I am getting done on 29/3 and just want as much info as I can get :

Both my husband and I are more than 2 years out from surgery now.

In a word NO you can not stretch your sleeve over time providing your sleeve is done correctly in the first place. 99% of peo9ple who have a sleeve done incorrectly, to large or on the stretchy part of their stomach know something is wrong within the first few weeks of surgery, they can just eat far to much.

Now the facts on oh my gawd I can eat soooooooooooo soooooooooo much more than I could at 3 months stuff. The reality is everybody heals at different rates, your stomach will be swollen and have scar tissue that can be very stiff and thus let very little food in. The time it takes for your stomach to fully heal to its final size of about 250ml will be between about 3 months and 18 months. Yes there are a few people who heal slower or faster than that as well but they are rare. Those who take longest to heal tend to lose weight fastest as they can be reistricted to 100ml for quiet a few months. the second factor in the oh my gawd I am eating so much now is that you just had major surgery on your stomach it causes damage and disruptin to the lining of your stomach and thus how easily it can digest food. As it heals you are able to digest food a LOT faster that means your stomach empties faster and you can now snack way way way more often if you choose to.

You are warned when you have surgery it is a tool you must work with it, yes it will restrict the volume you can eat by a massive amount, but if you constantly fill and empty that tiny volume you can feel like you are eating LOTS.

I do have to say tho that both of us are still eating 250ml, sure some days we can fit a spoon more in and we think oh my gawd noooooo but trust me the next day we are struggling to fit 200ml. It is a tiny variance that will happen. sure we can snack more often if we want to but we seriously have to work on it, and it is hard work to constantly top up when you do feel full so often. Did this on a cruise before christmas and I swear I never wanted to see food again. The good thing was the couple of kg I put on with the cruise feel off the first week back with NO diet NO exercise, just the abcence of 24/7 to die for food and me eating 6 times a day. Same for the male of the species.

applesauce

Just a question for some of you who have been done a while: how long have you been sleeved and do you still have a great level of "restriction"? Has it felt like you've had any stretching of your sleeve and can now eat more?
Thanks =)