How Can I eat so much, so quick at week 9?

Hi OH folks, I'm at week 9 and I'm getting nervous as the weeks go on and I realize there is little I can't eat. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to not have any significant problems with dumping, gagging, stomach pains, or anything else that some suffer from, but I'm getting worried that I don't seems to have any issues with volume either! I'm surprised at what I can get in. After 2 months of eating tiny amounts and being satisfied with them, my tummy seems to be saying "I'm all better now, feed me more". I'm kinda scared of that. I waited 18 months (and in some ways, it feels like my whole life I've been waiting for a tool like the WLS I had in January). I track my food religiously, and the portions are going up, and so are the snacks (crackers mostly). I'm beginning to see old patterns return (the "just a bit of this and just a bit of that" habit of snacking). Help! I need to know what practices people use to stick to the rules (eat small bites, eat slow, no water 30 before and 30 after); I'm having trouble sticking to these rules because there seems to be no physical ill effect when I don't! I'm was hoping for negative consequence to eating bites bigger than a pea- that would have kept me in check! I'm not sure I'm strong enough to self regulate the way I'm supposed to... need help from our OB veterans?!!? Please and Thank you!

Get yourself to a counselor who has experience with eating disorders now -- not later -- because what you are describing needs to be addressed NOW while you are still in your honeymoon period so that it isn't wasted.

You aren't alone.

Here's the sad truth -- many of us -- and dare I say most of us, experienced the same thing you are describing. The great majority of us do not have complications, can eat more than what we should, and still crave and want foods that aren't good choices.

There is absolutely no reason you should be eating any crackers in your first year out. They are basically slider foods -- and if you eat slider foods, you will be amazed that you can eat a ton of them. That's why the vets call crackers ... CRACK. Popcorn is like that for me. It's amazing how much popcorn I could eat. When you find a food that calls to you, that brings out your old habits -- get rid of it. There's nothing nutritionally you need from crackers.

That is why so many of us who've been successful long term stress eating DENSE PROTEIN. It will fill you, it's on plan, and it's difficult to overeat it. People are rarely grazing on pieces of grilled chicken or steak when they feel out of control.

If you are drinking while eating or for 30 minutes after -- STOP. You are basically turning all your food into sliders and risking stretching your stoma. You can drink up until eating. This is one of the most important rules of WLS. Seriously.

Here's the biggest thing: just because you can eat something -- doesn't mean you should eat something. For example, I could easily eat more than 4 oz of meat at this point -- but I don't. I measure out my portion and eat only that. Take a slider food like soup, or popcorn, or pudding -- I could probably eat a bucket of it. If I could trust my stomach and my eating cues, I would never have reached 347 lbs. seriously. Your stomach is a big LIAR.

I am sorry if you believed that negative consequences would keep you in check -- that is why so many vets emphasize that WLS is a tool not magic -- you've got to do the hard work. I get it -- it's hard!! I've been there. You can do this.

Get yourself a good counselor to work on your relationship with food. You need a good support system to help you navigate the head work. That's exactly why I laugh when people say WLS is the easy way out.

Thank you so very much for your advice and experience. You've had some awesome success so I'll take your advice to heart. I had my team at the hospital send me a list of therapists that deal with eating disorders specifically, that is where I'm going to start. This is too important to me to not invest the time, money and energy into doing right. So many years being a creature of habit has gotten me into trouble in the past and I can see now it's creeping around waiting to pounce. I'm going to start packing dense protein meals and snacks for my work days and start remembering the reason why it's essential. I also have to convince myself tuna salad can exist without crackers! Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions, it's very much appreciated.

I'm not sure when you are allowed to eat raw veggies but, for future reference, tuna salad tastes GREAT on cucumber slices.

About 4-5 pork rinds work pretty well too... Bu****ch the calories as you get further out and you can eat more of them.

I am so happy to hear that! I was really hoping that you'd take my words with the full heart that I had writing them. I hope you can find someone that you really click with -- but if it isn't the first, or even the second -- don't give up. You are so worth the fight --

You can do this.

Trust me -- so many of us really do understand and get it.

Love yourself relentlessly!!

Well, 1st-- stop eating crackers.

2nd, stop letting your portion sizes go up.

You control what you put in your mouth- not your stomach. I didn't hear you say your hungry as to why your eating more. So it must be cravings/head hunger your feeding.

I'm 22 months out and limit my serving size to 5oz of protein (generous by most standards) but I measure it and STOP. Sure I want more- and CAN eat more w/o physical repercussion. My "trick" is measuring, eating and stopping. Sounds so simple- but my head's desires is what makes it complicated.

Thank you for your points, I'm not sure I am hungry, I think you're right, it's in my head and i have to work on that head-hunger monster. Thank you and continued success to you.

We all had surgery on our stomachs, not our brains. Many of us add a therapist to our team. Getting the head stuff right is the hardest part, surgery is easy.

If you are tracking your food and measuring your food, how can your portions be going up? You measure your portions out and then you STOP EATING! You have to stop eating carby (crackers) foods...period. Get them out of your house. Buy only foods that are good for you.

Eat by the clock. I eat 6 very small meals a day about 3 or 4 hours apart. Anyone can make themselves wait 3 or 4 hours to eat. If you feel hungry, ignore it. Hunger is not an emergency requiring immediate action. If you are eating every 3 or 4 hours, your blood sugar should be stable. Nothing bad will happen to you if you force yourself to wait until your next SCHEDULED meal. Find things to do. I like adult coloring books.

Stop chasing that "full feeling". Many of us use that feeling of being stuffed for comfort. The absence of "full" does not mean "hungry". Many of us have never allowed ourselves to feel real hunger. It's ok to feel hunger. You may never have that feeling of "full" again. If you eat until you feel full you have eaten too much. I am a food addict. I can never trust my stomach to tell me if I have eaten enough. It has lied to me for my entire life, telling me to eat when I'm not hungry. If I relied on my stomach to tell me when I'm full I would over eat at every meal and gain weight.

You are early out from surgery and still healing. Your nerves have been cut and they are not sending the proper signals to your brain. This is why you MUST measure your food and then STOP eating. You could do serious damage to your new stomach. Your surgeon gave you a plan to follow. Please do so. I've seen lots of people try to blaze their own trail after surgery. They ALL come back a few years later with regain. We did it our way for a long time and we ended up needing surgery to fix it. Now is the time to retrain yourself to become a strict rule follower. Stop experimenting. Your life depends on it.

You're speaking the truth here "The absence of "full" does not mean "hungry"... I'm going to tape that to my fridge! I'm going to leave the kitchen scale and measuring cups on the counter as reminders. Thanks for your comments and advice, it makes good sense to me.