CAN EAT MORE

I'm six months post VSG and I seem to be able to eat more.  I don't like the ability to eat more, is there a way to stop this pattern?

Your sleeve is starting to mature now, which means the tissue is relaxing and creating more room inside it. This is a natural part of the process. This may seem counter intuitive, but you need eat less to ensure your portions don't continue to 'grow' with your sleeve. You need to stay within carefully measured portion sizes and eat dense foods. Most importantly you have to learn stop eating before you're 'full' and learn to eat only to the point of satiety. 

Please spend some time researching posts by frisco for references to under eating your sleeve and the pyloric valve. This VET has laid out some very useful information for keeping your calories low and protecting your sleeve. 

I weigh and measure everything - not going over 4 oz (yes.. lunch was 2 5/8 oz of chicken!)  Normally I don't finish all of the food but if I do, I'm done.  Period.

There is a saying here called under eat your sleeve. The mental portion of your eating has to start kicking in. Don't rely so much on the surgery to get you to stop eating. You can stop this pattern. Don't eat till you feel full, keep measuring & staying within the limits of your plan. The head stuff is a pain to work thru, just because you can eat more doesn't mean you should, you probably know that, just keep it in mind every time when you know you can eat more. It takes practice, but you can do it. 

There's nothing physically to stop you from eating more. There's only your will to do so.

The is not a surgery out there that you can't eat around.  Weigh your portions.  Eat protein first.  Frisco's Pyloric valve 101 is a must.

Props to you for recognizing increased capacity.......many people just go at it blindly and it's one of the reasons WL can slow or stop at around the 6 month mark.

Regardless of what others may say, I am 100% convinced that sleeve size and eventual sleeve capacity matters.

Now, that said..... every sleever should be counting nutrition including calories. Sorry, surgeons that don't have their patients count calories are setting them up for failure..... period.

The bottom line as a "general rule" is that you must eat less than your caloric balance point to lose weight and if you eat more that your balance point..... guess what, you gain weight!!!

Basically there is nothing wrong with increased capacity just as long as you are at your calorie target.

I figured out early from the schooling I received from my surgeon that it only made sense to eat less than my capacity and came up with the term "under eat your sleeve" and it kinda stuck. It is really just common sense. If you eat to much, you can get sick...... and constant over eating is about the only way to stretch your sleeve.... both of which you don't want.

"Typically" a sleeve that starts out with about a 2oz. capacity will double in size over time.

"Typically" sleeves that start out larger "can" more than double in size because more stretchy tissue is retained.

Many sleeves that start out with about a 4oz. capacity can end up with an eventual capacity of 8-16oz.

Although far less than an unaltered stomach that can hold say 64oz. you can pack a lot of calories in an ounce. Protein with nothing on it can range from 50-100cals per oz. on average, you can do the math.

So the key is to under eat your sleeve capacity and stay in your calorie range to preserve your restriction for the long haul.

Just because you can eat more, doesn't mean you have to...... eating till full is how most of us got fat.

Learn to recognize satiety as satisfied..... it's there, you just have to identify it and label it !

Hope this helps !

frisco

Nothing unusual about the sleeve gaining a little capacity as it matures, and the advice others have already posted is solid. I will only add that you might want to focus on what your restriction is, and not what it isn't. In other words, it isn't as tight as a few months ago, but it is still plenty tight!

I have a very large sleeve, and a tall frame. What I put in (not referring to quantity) matters! If I eat clean (protein first, green leafy veggies, low glycemic options) then my restriction is actually a bit of a pain in the ass. I can't eat much, and I actually have to work at getting in 1200 calories.

On the other hand, I am a carb and sugar junkie. If I eat a lot of bad carb (high glycemic index, processed) and/or a lot of sugar I can rapidly seem to "lose" the restriction. I am not referring here to the slider food phenomanon where we can all eat slider foods, and keep eating them all day long. What I am referring to is eating too much carb/sugar over a couple of days in a row- and then have screaming bad cravings and what truly feels like minimal restriction. That, for me at least, is when my calories skyrocket and I can easily hit 3,000 a day and still not be "satisfied". It is in stark contrast to what my restriction actually is when I am eating clean.

Yesterday is a good example of what my restriction is when eating correctly- protein shake at lunch, protein cookies at snack (premeasured, low glycemic index- not as bad as that looks!), 3 ounces of chicken at dinner, and then making myself eat yogurt to up the calories/protein count at the end of the day. At the moment I am just in a place where I don't really want to eat much. It is not always like this though!

An example of a bad, bad day goes like this: eggs, bacon, small amount of hashbrowns, and a half piece of toast for breakfast. Snack all morning at work- might include birthday treats that students deliver me constantly all day long. Larger than normal portions at lunch with protein and carb. Snacking continues in the work shift afternoon, some protein snack options and continued crap options. Home, and a dinner portion that is consistent with a small adult size portion. More snacking until bed. Easily can put down 3,000 calories this way. The birthday treat is typically a baked good so can eat a lot of it and crazy high in calories. I also never seem to be satisfied on these types of days. That type of a day is not my restriction failing me- that is me making crap choices, period.