Already pushing the limits...

Confession time.

I'm excited to finally have had WLS, but just 10 days after surgery, I'm already resisting the appropriate eating protocol. I'm on to the "liquified puree" phase of my doctor's post-op eating plan. I'll measure the appropriate amount of food, 1/2 cup, for my meal, but then still be hungry and go back for more. Today I really overdid it and I'm nervous that I have done damage to my healing stomach and may have set my band on the course for slippage. (I'm actually really freaking out about this.)

I ate about 1.5 cups of thick soup (pudding consistency) and didn't feel any discomfort. Is this really weird? Why can my pouch hold that much? I expected to feel full and then stop.

I know that now I have to stop beating myself up about today's mistakes and just follow the plan again. I've never been able to be disciplined with food, but was trying to turn a new leaf. I lost 10 lbs. in the first week after surgery and I want to be successful after all the effort I've put into the journey towards my surgery.

What are your suggestions for getting through this phase of the post-op diet? Can you give me examples of how you ate during this period of time and got through it successfully? 

Thanks for helping out this new bandster.

At the moment, healing is the priority, not weight loss. Taking in too much food will do no harm as long as it is of the correct consistency. Once the swelling has gone down, the band is (for most peopel) still open enough to allow soups etc to just go straight through so you won't stretch anything - but neither will you feel full.

My suggestion would be to go on as you are doing. If you feel unbearably hungry, have another cup of soup. Just don't ru****!

And don't worry if weight loss slows or even stops. That is perfectly normal at this stage.

Kate

When I was on my soup phase I could eat as much soup as I wanted because soups just dont stick with you at all  and to this day they dont stick with me .

I would eat a cup of soup at a time and be h ungry again in 2 hrs and eat some more.  My doc said I could eat as much soup as I wanted  because it was considered liquids to him. 

There are many times I might eat 1.5 cups of something .  It takes so much food for you to stretch your stomach out .  Like my doc told me because I was scared to when I did this and asked about it.

It takes months of overeating every day. Day in day out of overeating the wrong foods .  Eating a cup of  half of food here and there is just not going to stretch your stomach out.

My gf has had her band for two yrs now .  She wasn't serious the first yr she had it and she ate all the time and I mean she ate but nothing happened.  It takes alot to stretch it back out so dont worry about that :o)

I ate alot of broccoli and cheese soup and I added extra cheese to it to have more protein to it and that helped some . 

I wasn't limited on my foods till I started my third week of post op and then I had to cut it back to three cups per day and no drinking during meals :o)

With soups (and other liquids), you pouch is not 'holding that much' -- it is going through.

Generally, liquids (even full liquids) don't do very much to make us feel 'full'.

That being said, the biggest change for me was to learn that I do not need to eat to feel FULL anymore.  I need to eat to satisfy my hunger.  That is not the same feeling.

To teach myself that, I made myself fix my portion (in the case of full liquids/purees that meant 1 cup of soup) -- and I ate it and I stopped.

I did not wait to feel full, I just stopped.  I walked away from the food, knowing that I could have more in 3 hours.

If I felt hungry in those 3 hours, I did something to distract myself (I have a list of 25 things to do besides eat) --- and I waited it out.  Usually, after 10 minutes, I was able to ignore the hunger.

So -- basically, I was eating 100 - 200 calories every 3 hours 600 - 1,200 calories a day.  But mostly, I was training myself to eat on a schedule, and to recognize that I can be hungry -- and survive it. 

In the past, I ate all the time --- I ate because I was hungry, I ate because I might be hungry later, I ate because my husband was hungry -- LOL ---- now, I eat because it is time to eat, and because my body needs fuel. 
I feed it a reasonable amount -- and stop -- and wait for it to satisfy my hunger -- but not to make me feel full --- if I feel full,  I have eaten too much.

Ok...you're asking for help so here goes!

Eat the half cup, wait a half hour and then drink your water.  If you are hungry after that, have another half cup, drink your water and ask yourself if you are hungry....

I ate every 2-3 hours the first two weeks because I was eating pureed soups and runny cream of wheat, sf puddings etc.  You don't lose weight at this stage (fat), you are supposed to be allowing your stomach to heal where they have stitched your band to it and allowing your band to "settle" in properly.  Even eating every 2-3 hours I was still only getting in between 500-800 calories.

The half cup rule is one you really need to follow, because once you are on solids, you will damage your healing stomach and cause long term problems if you overeat.  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  This is how you are retraining your MIND to make a lifestyle change.  The band will not stop you from eating....it keeps you from being hungry between meals if you eat properly.

thanks for this post. I am 13 days post op... and I am feeling the same way. i appreciate everyones input. I guess we are so anxious for weightloss early on that we forget about the healing process. I feel great and am almost totally healed up. I have moved on to solids just yesterday. I am still hungry all the time. and I know I am eating too much. Not too much at one time. just too often. I am still eating way less than before the surgery but Im hungry so I eat. to me it feels like even the solids are moving through the band with great ease. Thus I am not feeling satiated like they say I should. I felt way less hungry the first week... but then I think my swelling went down and all the fluids and mushies I was consuming went straight down... I liked that feeling the first week. I was satisfied. I did not feel hungry and truthfully did not think about food. I am back at home base again it appears and all I can think about is food! I just want to feel full!

Hi there...there are some things you need to know about this WLS journey you are on....

13 days post op, you are not even close to almost totally healed up.  It is a 6 week recovery and you are almost 1/3 of the way through.

You most likely have little or no fill in your band, so it is wide open and you won't feel much different than pre-op, unless you eat way too much and then you risk doing permanent damage to your band. 

You won't feel "full" with the band like you did before.  The band works by keeping you from feeling hungry between meals once you have a fill and if you eat the right foods.

It is ok at this point to eat more often, just don't eat more than what you were instructed to by your doctor/nutritionist...it can cause problems later.

Make sure you are getting your water in, taking your vitamins and getting enough protein in and chewing your food thouroghly.

Be patient and allow yourself to heal...

Wow, I think you posted this just for me.  I am 11 days post op and today I felt like nothing was working.  I ate, nothing overly bad, just seemed as though I kept being hungry.  I am down about 15 pounds since the pre-op liquids. I was worried that it just was not feeling right.  Guess this is all just a new learning curve.  I too just want to fill full....