It's weird, you know...???

 It's weird, you know...all my life, I've been a hefty hefty eater.  My tummy's always been a Hefty Hefty Cinch-Sack for food.  I could eat things in (what I now see as) massive quantities.

Now, here I am, five-weeks post-op, and struggling to get in enough calories in a day to keep my metabolism going.  I'm not complaining, mind you, but, it's strange to think how quickly that changes post-op.  I used to enjoy hearty meals, and be satisfied.  Now, I have to work to get down a single 4oz hamburger patty (sans bun and condiments.)  And I'm satisfied.  More than satisfied.  If I can manage to keep it down.  

And I'm NOT hungry. 

In fact, I don't have to remind myself to eat, but, I have to remind myself that I can't just skip meals, because at best I'm getting in 800 calories a day, sometimes half that.

Sometimes, I wonder, do others sit-back, and look at themselves in the third person, and just think "Wow, what a change..."

I know I do...

-David
If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution.

Hi, I havent had this surgery yet but i feel weird!  My NUT want me control portion sizes and i look at what i would eat after surgery and my daughter who is 1 1/2 can eat more than that.  so i am left to wonder.  Also I cant wait to feel" not hungry" i am always hungry rite now.
cant wait to be where u are! congrats and good luck!

 I can say that what I saw after my surgery, at this point (6-weeks post-op) was what I was told to expect, for the last 3-4 weeks.  I was told about the portion sizes, and what you could eat, and what you couldn't.  All about dumping, and everything else.  I had no surprises in this time frame.

I was a little surprised when I went home three days after surgery, when I could eat an entire Chobani yogurt as my first meal when I got home on Saturday.  And that I was still hungry.  I was a little concerned about that.  That passed after a few days.  I think it was because my stomach was empty prior to the surgery, so there was a little more room there from the liquid diet, than there is once you start eatin semi-solid foods again.  I actually eat less (size-wise) now than I did in the two weeks of liquid-diet after surgery.  But it's real food.  

My wife thought something was wrong, when I got home, because she couldn't eat a whole Chobani yogurt for a few weeks, and I did it on the first day.  But, that changed a little later on.

At six weeks out, I find that the losses have slowed a little bit for me.  That was kind of a bummer, but, I increased my exercise, and they have started increasing again.  I think, too, that I was relying to much on foods that had more fat than they should have (mainly cheese), because I could eat those more easily than the soft lean proteins (chicken/fish).  I had a week or two where I was dumping those proteins nearly every meal, and so I was eating those, dumping them, and then eating cheese to take away the hunger (and because it would settle without dumping.)

This may sound like I have some regrets about doing the surgery.  I do not.  None.  I just like to "sit back" and kinda look at things from the third-person perspective.  

I went to a restaurant for lunch on Tuesday, and had a piece of broiled haddock for lunch (quite frankly, I just needed to get out of the office and be in a social atmophere.)  I think the portion was about 7oz.  I had about 1/3rd of that single piece of haddock that day.  I had another 1/3rd yesterday for lunch, and will have the last piece of that for lunch today.  And that was ALL I had.  No cole slaw (well, one small bite), no veggies, nothing else.  That little bit of haddock was the entire meal.  It was tiny.  But I was satisfied.  It's freakin' WEIRD to see those small portions...an entire meal that consists of what used to be 2-3 bites before.  

I know they say the adjustments get easier, and I hope for some of that.  But I hope that it never gets to easy, because I think that's a great part of the tool that can help this be a lifelong change.  A constant reminder of where you came from, how you got there, and how hard you had to work to get there.  

Every down has an up, you just have to change direction to see it!

Enjoy this "honeymoon" period in your surgical journey. Things will even out.

It's really amazing what it took to satisfy before and after surgery.  I can still remember right after surgery having a half hour pass and I hadn't been able to finish my 8 oz. protein drink! ONly being able to eat a few forks of scrambled egg.

At 2 1/2 years out I can eat most anything in small portions. Hard proteins (meat) still sits heavy in my pouch, so I still chew, chew and eat that slowly.

DH and I have learned that when we dine out that we will either get questioned as to whether the food wasn't good, or we ask for the boxes to pack the extra food to go at the start of the meal. WE did find that there are some foods, and I don't know why, aren't  tolerated as left-overs like they were at the 1st meal.

Now for the unfortunate part. Fats and sugars gave me dumping during the 1st year or so, as we are told they will. Now I can eat a bit of these, but it's a fine line how little it takes to go over the limit and cause dumping. Darned- I just had to try, and found that I can eat some junk. As they say it's not brain surgery. I still fight with my mind over cravings. Most days I find that it's thirst, not hunger.

 My wife and I have both had the same experiences when we dine out.  Often being questioned if the food is okay, etc.  We've gotten used to it.  Mostly, the servers themselves (especially at the always-fantastic Red Robin in Augusta), *****ally seem to want you to be happy, and genuinely concerned if they think you don't like your meal.  Today, when we went, the manager came by, and she obviously remembered our earlier conversation (the last time we went), because she didn't even ask if it was okay, she just asked if we'd like some to-go containers.  That was very nice.  We packaged the leftovers in containers when we got home, and I had 3 meals for me, from my leftovers, and another two for my wife from her leftovers.  Amazing!

Another great thing about Red Robin?  They have alternate sides that include salad, cole slaw, vegetables, etc, even melon!  And they have whole-grain breads as an option to their buns, and they will even do it wrapped in lettuce instead of bread, if you like.  It's all on the menu, at no extra cost, and they're happy to do it.  

Then, to top that off, look at their nutrtional informtaion on their website...you can customize every meal by adding/removing the parts you order or don't order.  It shows up "built" they way they serve it by default, and then you can customize it, and it will add/remove the items you tell it, and re-build the nutrtional information.  How cool is that???

Red Robin gets a thumbs-up from me for assisting those with dietary needs.  :-)