Eating too much?

Tara's post got me to thinking... so I'm just gonna throw this out there and see what you all think. Yesterday I, too, went to Applebee's with some friends. I got a half-sized Oriental chicken salad, light on the dressing. It wasn't tiny, but my guess is it was probably about 1.5 cups or so. Well..... over the course of about 30 minutes, I ate the whole darned thing and I felt no discomfort. I know I'm saying this after-the-fact, but that worries me! Usually if I eat too fast or too much, I feel the discomfort. It lets me know to stop. But then sometimes, I just could eat eat eat and never feel bad at all! And it's mostly when I eat salads. I'm thinking maybe it's because vegetables contain a lot of water? Maybe it's due to the density of the food? I know this topic has come up before, but does anyone else feel like they are able to eat a lot more than they're supposed to?

Cathryn- I have the same concerns. My surgeon recommends 1/2 cup portions at this point and I can eat 1 cup portions. I feel ashamed that I have stretched my pouch out prematurely, but try to rationalize it that I am losing weight at an appropriate weight. I was told that at one year, I should be able to eat 1 cup portions and then try to maintain that pouch size for the rest of my life.... and here I am 4 months out eat 1 cup portions. rrrrrrrr.... For example, I can eat about 3/4 c lettuce with some cerry tomatoes, diced chicken and cheddar cheese on it. It totals more than a cup and I can eat it and not feel overly full at all. Also, last night... I had 4 oz of grilled pork and about a 1/2 c of sautee'ed oriental cabbage and felt satisfied, but not stuffed. Again, I can eat a whole 100 calorie bag of popcorn too (5 cups) and not feel stuffed. I am hoping that it depends on how much air is in the food.... like popcorn and salad leave a lot of space when you measure them. Could it be weight verses volume? Does anyone measure foor by weight and not volume? Sorry, I think I am rambling! But anyway, I can obviously relate!!! Belle

My friend who is 5 years out told me something very valuable about salads. Lettuce is mostly water. When you chew it up it becomes nothing. How does she know this. She ate a whole large salad when she was relatively new out and called her MD freaked out!!. He said it was normal. Things like salad arent very dense so you can eat more of them. Things that are more dense you wont be able to eat as much. Dont worry your new stomach will tell you when you eat too much!! Nikki

Hey Cathryn: I am right there with you. I ate 5.5 hot wings last night when I used to be able to only eat 3....they were the flat pieces of the chicken but still. It seemed like a lot of food and I was not stuffed. I wanted to eat more of them and had to stop. I feel all the time as if I have strecthed my pouch out so very early on. I am going to have to get back to timing my meals and also weighing my food. I think they say after 15 minutes (or was it 30) of eating you have eaten enough to sustain you so we should stop eating at that point and move on. If we take longer than 30 minutes to eat, its like grazing and getting calories we don't need or want. I am also glad this question gets revisted every now and then to help us see that others are feeling this same way still. Sometimes when I feel like "oh my, I can eat too much" I don't want to post it because I feel so bad about doing so. But we are all on track with our weight loss so I say...keep up the good work to each of you!!

Stephanie- I am glad you said what you said about feeling bad and not posting about it. I definitely feel like I can eat too much at a sitting, especially since I got lectured at my last appointment by my surgeon when I told her I was eating 1/2 cup portions and she told me that was too much and to scale back to 3 oz ones. I felt like a real failure. I haven't posted, because I feel embarassed that maybe I am blowing this?! I mean the weight is coming off pretty steady, (-64 pounds as of this morning), but still I have that awful guilty feeling like before surgery when I knew I was eating too much. It is so hard not to compare to others on here that have lost 75-90 pounds and started out where I am or even weighing less. Makes me think that maybe it is because I am eating too much?! rrrrrrrr..... I think I will always be a fat chick in my head! I hope that is all it is!!! Belle

You are in good company with the fat chick in the head. I am there too!! lol And I am right with you at losing 65 pounds. Except at my PCP office where the scale weighs me 5lbs less than my surgeons scale so I like hers a lot more!! lol

That's funny Belle-I'm glad you said that cuz I always think I am the WORST one on here and I'm one of the 75+ pounders. I guess we all still struggle with the "will I fail again?" mentality from all our previous diet experiences. I too am eating a boatload of salad- but I think it's gotta be the water content or density... cuz there's no way I could eat that much if it were something else. Although I did put away some serious food today for Mother's day lunch... Happy Mother's Day!!! Holly

I'm so glad you posted this. I'm right there with you. I am a little depressed over it too. The last 2 days I've been hungry and my mind seems to want to eat all of the time!!! I was hoping to never want food again, and have to force myself to eat. Well. that's not the case for me. I know I am still under 1000 calories though, but still. I could eat more and it bothers me!!!!!!

Ive worried about this exact same thing many times since surgery. I even emailed my surgeon and told him and he siad this...." dont worry if you eat more than others can. Everyone is differant on how much or what they can tolerate. your pouch will tell you if its too much" He said not to worry about calories and such, just to eat 3 meals and make healthy choices. Even then, I questioned it because you read some people are only eatin 600 calories a day, or eating next to nothing and drinking protein shakes..or never feel hungry and have to make themselves eat....NOT ME!!! In fact I posted about this before and one person said the half-one cup is CHEWED consistancy. Lettuce chews up to nothing. And logically even tho I feel like its alot, what I eat in a week now Id have eaten in a day before surgery.Also, I think its normal to eat a bit more now. Our nerves have healed and things are becoming more "normal". Youre doing great! Dont worry!! Mary

You all are the best! *hugs you all* I'm glad to know that I'm not just a freak. lol I guess I worry that I had stretched my pouch out, but it sounds like a lot of people feel the same way, so I'm sure it has something to do with the density of the food.