How do you know when full?

Wow! Lots of great info. Thanks everyone!

It's usually just a feeling.  Different then before, but it's much earlier than you expect.  It's hard to stop because your body WANTS more but overeating is so incredibly uncomfortable, it's not worth it.  I think I always take about one or two bites too many.

The feeling also changes.  Early out it felt like one thing - now it sort of feels like it used to just much quicker.  All the noise has stopped too (the gurgling)

Sometimes I sneeze when i'm done.  usually my nose runs.  but then again sometimes my nose runs as soon as I start eating so it's not like I can count on that.  I've had the hiccups a couple of times when i'm done.

If I eat too fast and overfill I get this horrible, weird spit thing.  Like my mouth floods with spit and I will have to stand over the toilet and just spit and spit for about 15 minutes until the feeling subsides.  With it comes some weird, vague nausea and I feel like I can't sit still.  

That's only happened probably three times since surgery and I learned my lesson....I stop eating.

I haven't thrown up once since surgery.  I think listening to your body is key.

Oh yeah - sometimes the thought of what I'm eating suddenly repulses me......like sounds just disgusting.  Another sign i'm done.

 So this is another thing I've been doing wrong!  I just didn't realize that I was overeating each time I ate anything.  For me, it's exactly like Krissywats described--I'm repulsed & feel that I don't ever want to eat that food again. 

Burps... Little burps, that's my signal to stop.  I can wait 5-15min and eat a few more bites, but slower eating - I can eat more.  If I g hungry, I can't eat as much.  If I eat every couple of hours it's better.  I will get the runny nose sometimes.  I did a few times, offending food that my tummy rejected (no control over that), eating too fast and too much.  Now, if I eat too much, I'll be very uncomfortable for 45-60min, generally not worth it.   Driving eating a hamburger and not thinking about how fast I'm eating...  It's a learning curve.  Long dinners out w/friends where you are socializing and dinner takes a long time... easy to eat more.

No horrible effects like that - I just feel "Thanksgiving full".  Now, early out, if you ate too fast while your innards were still swollen, you may need to vomit, but that's only the first few weeks.

I often stop before I reach that point, but if something's just too good I may press my luck.  My triggers are a hiccup or three, followed by a drippy nose.  My family then throws themselves in front of my plate if I don't stop. 

I'm making a list for my family to watch for, since I can be painfully clueless sometimes. So far I've got:

1. Runny nose
2. Sneezing
3. Hiccups
4. Burps
5. Hiccurps, which is something I do now if I drink soda when I eat carbs?
6. Spitting food in a napkin
7. Drooling

I'm going to instruct them to tackle me and steal my plate if they observe any of the above until I learn better

Also when my daughter notices I am eating too fast, she tells me to 'slow down'. That actually really helps, since I sometimes wait to eat because I am not hungry, and then I start eating too fast. I also can get a few hiccups sometimes when I am full. A few times, when I ate too much I felt like I had a baseball sitting in my stomach, but I've never thrown up.
I also love to drink water or lemonaid with my meal & at first could barely sip a little, but now I can take 3 gulps of fluid at a time. Love that! :)
I also notice the changes in my tastes - eggs were disgusting after surgery, but now I actually had a steak fajita omlette that I really enjoyed  today. The silly stuff we find out about ourselves as we go down this journey towards health.
Happy journey to you!
Tina

Great question! I have a tight feeling across my upper rib cage just under my bust line. It feels almost like I have done too many situps. It is very uncomfortable but goes away quickly if I stop eating. I have only vomited from overeating once - I probably ate 2 bites too many...it can be tricky. But I am learning to listen to my body. I try to visualize how big my stomach is then visualize how much I have just eaten...works pretty well. I am wearing the scopalomine patch (seasickness/motion sickness) for nausea now. So it is hard to say on that front as I am medicated - and it is working well. All the best.
Brenda

I can feel food in my stomach a few minutes after I take my first bite. When I'm full, I literally feel the food up in the top of my stomach, combined with just a tiny touch of pressure. If I go past that, my stomach feels like it's about to burst - pain and an uncomfortably tight feeling that takes up to 15 minutes to go away. Once, I drank too much after a full meal and the excess saliva thing started. It wouldn't stop until I vomited. I will literally do anything not to vomit, but all that came up was the water and then I felt peachy keen again.