something is wrong, I think????

okay so my surgery date was DEC 3rd and I have been trying to eat until I feel full. but what normally happens is I take too much time eating and I just stop even if I am not full. They told me it should take at least 20 no more than 30 to eat. Okay so I eat like 4-5 bites and that's all I get in, b/c I do not want to eat too fast and I know how bad that hurts. So here is the problem I just ate until I felt full it took me about 45 mins but I think I just ate too much in general. I ate half an egg and 1 1/2 piece of thin sliced deli meat. I know it is not alot of food but this soon out should I really be able to eat that much? I have been on Popsicles and jello so now this eating thing is really scary to me. What do you guys think, should I be eating less or am I just worried b/c I do not know what my body wants yet?

Is it ok to go from jello to deli meat?  That seems like an awfully big jump.  (I don't know your guidelines but there is usually a more gradual progression).

Watching your time is important-one of the ways we can "eat around" our surgeries is to eat very slowly for a very long time (grazing)....so I would be careful about time limits.  That said, one goof up isn't a life threatening thing or anything like that.

"Full" doesn't feel the same after most WLS, for me now full is no longer hungry not really interested.  If I eat to the point of feeling "full" I've eaten too much and will get uncomfortable pretty quickly.  I'm a year and a half out with a lap band, and the difference between not hungry, full and OMIGOD is usually one or two bites-when I doubt, I stop.  Even now, I have to fight with my head, which says "no way are you full"....but if I pu**** the tummy will always win, so I don't pu****

At your stage, it's pretty normal to be freaked out either by "too much" or "not enough", but I would check your practice guidelines to make sure you are eating the right things. 

I think the amount you are eating sounds pretty typical.  It was a LONG time before I could eat very much at all and I still eat about 1/2 cup of whatever it is....not much at all.  I can only eat about 1/3 of a chicken breast or less.  We just have to make sure and chew, and chew and chew!!  It will get better!!

Nothing is wrong and you're not eating too much.  (and you can have deli meat as a Walton patient)  You will find that some days you can eat a lot more than other days.  I'm a little over 6 months out and still find that to be true.  So, don't freak!  You're doing fine so congratulations!

I have the opposite problem where I think I still eat too fast.  And I have to remind myself to stop at the FIRST feeling of fullness.  But I think eating too slow isn't the best move either.  So maybe you should consider limiting yourself to no more than 30 minutes or so?  And then just quit after that.

Good luck!

You're doing fine with the small amounts of food at not quite three weeks out...  I still remember the feelings of horror when I could only choke down 1/2 of my first scrambled egg in about 25 minutes.  I was pretty upset, but I survived it, and now I can eat a whole egg at a time.

Just keep in mind that at this point, your probably still have swelling from the trauma of the surgery, plus your head is telling you that you need a lot more food than is really necessary for the body.  It takes a lot of adjusting - I still haven't figured out how to fill a plate with the proper amount of food.  I feel like my garbage disposal eats better than 90% of the people on the planet.

If you just eat until you feel full and then stop, don't worry about whether it's too much or not enough - just stop when you first feel full.  If you're eating for more than 30 minutes at a time, they'll tell you that is grazing, and not a desired activity.  (I stand among the guilty grazers, myself) As long as you're following the plan from Chris or Jess, you'll be well on your way.

Have a great Christmas and try not to worry too much... we're always here to provide our hard earned (?) wisdom (?)

John

Hi, I had surgery on 11-26 so I am a week or so ahead of you.  I feel like I can eat too much sometimes.  The first egg I ate....well it got COLD after two bites  so I just didn't eat it.  When I added tuna to what I could eat I found out I can eat almost a whole can.....really really slowly. I am finding I get tired of eating before I feel ANYTHING because I am am waiting two minutes between bites.  I haven't had any feeling of nausea or pain at eating, but I still wonder if I am eating too much.  My weight loss has also been what feels like slow. I have lost 18.5 pounds since surgery.  How are you doing? 

Well I don't weight myself often because I know I would drive myself crazy the last time I weighted I was 12.5lb since surgery which is not horrible but I do see what you mean I see people on here losing 20-50lbs the first month and I am not sure if I will even break 15. I know we are not suppose to compare ourselves to each other but then again I was reading on here that the 3rd and 4th week some people did stall b/c we introduced food back into our diet and we are no longer on just a liquid diet. Hope that helps, we are in the same boat keep me posted.