Every Sleeve is Different.. Yours?

My sleeve .....

doesn't like tuna sashimi - makes me sad. Going to try it again really soon!

takes all chicken, beef and pork easily - though chicken gets me the fullest except for......

talapia, which is the most filling protein I have found. 1 to 1 1/2 ounces and I'm so done and satisfied for hours. Who would have thought fish?

likes room temperature water better than any other drink - and likes a lot of it.

will not tolerate anything citrus - lemon water, crystal light lemonade, ..... gives me insta reflux! YUCK!

hasn't needed a PPI yet, but does fine on Pepcid twice a day.

loves spicy, heat, hot chinese mustard, horseradish, etc.....

makes low carbing a breeze!

I was given a PPI from the Dr. Took my 1 one supply and don't need it now.
I have not found one thing my sleeve doesn't like..
Julie

 I am only three weeks out but nothing seems to bother me  since nearly the beginning I have been able drink more than sips though a big sip can hurt like a mother! Hot sauce in my chicken broth, cottage cheese, yogurt and cheese sticks no problem. I have been wondering if my sleeve is too big as this week I can drink nearly two cups of chicken broth at a time. BUT I tried some soft food today a cottage cheese pancake that did not go well. Who knew there would be such a difference between cold cottage cheese and cottage cheese fried with a egg.  

*  I like my drinks a bit warmer now..
*  I haven't had any acid reflux and take no PPI
*  I can't tolerate foods too sweet like regular ice cream, but some fatty foods a little is fine like bacon which I like
*  I can eat a lot more fish than, chicken, and a lot more chicken than beef
*  I can't handle spicy foods, which is tought because I can't even handle my own salsa that I grew up making
*  I don't eat low carb so to speak I choose better carbs, can eat a slice of bread but that is all.

My sleeve ABSOLUTELY  rejects ALL healthy foods....meat...veggies...all the  good  "healthy"  stuff!     It LUUVVES   junk food.......cupcakes.........cookies........cheese puffs.......Funyuns...churros.....and DONUTS !!   Oh....wait!.....that's my brain!  LOL!   Never mind!

LOL at Jim! Hey those low carb donuts are HEALTHY.. don't forget!

 At 2 years out, you'd think I'd be back to "normal", wouldn't you? Well... in many things I am. But I can't handle legumes of any sort. I still take 2 PPI's a day. I'm more hungry and can eat more food at a time than I could before but nothing like what I could eat pre-op. I stick to a protein+veggies diet because bad carbs are just that- bad. Eating them keep me hungry and overeating. Meat and chicken are OK, fish is iffy. Where I used to drink inordinate amounts of sugar-free cola (pre-op) I can't stand it now. I got to LIKE water again but I do have some diet orange pop, or sugar-free iced tea every now and then. Coffee is a MUST.

At 2.5 years out, my stomach;

1) Still loves my PPI, I take it religiously

2) Still never experience real hunger except in pregnancy

3) Can eat nearly twice as many ounces of beef(steak/ribs) than I can chicken of any sorts

4) Empties faster now and works more efficiently at mushing down foods

5) Eat full fat everything (always have, always will)

6) I abuse my stomach with Spicy as well being pregnant back to back is going to be horrific on my belly since I mainly crave spicy Thai and Mexican foods.

7) I still have amazing restriction if I follow the sleeve rules

8) Because I have major food issues, I've learned out to cheat the sleeve and luckily I recognize the behaviors which keeps my ass from getting huge again

9) I have drank soda for 2 years with zero change to my sleeve capacity, not a healthy habit, but one gingerale per day isn't going to make me fat again.

10) Eating low carb is extremely easy post-VSG, it just seems natural now. Not that I eat low carb in maintenance, and I can't while pregnant, but it's a lot easier for me to "detox" from foods now than it ever was pre-VSG. I never feel deprived when I get back on the proverbial wagon.

11) Cereal and Soups are still "weird" foods for me. I actually eat cereal with a fork to drain the milk because the liquid/solid combo does not work well with my stomach. Soups with big chunks do not work well either. It's really odd, chili is fine, and works wonderfully, but a hearty bowl of veggie soup is murderous on my sleeve. I think I've had 3-4 bowls of soup in my entire maintenance stage (almost 2 years) and probably only 5 bowls of cereals in that same amount of time. I think 3 of those cereal adventures were in my last pregnancy, and it was freaky craving for Honey Bunches of Oats, and I paid for it dearly for a couple of hours.

12) I'm still mildly lactose intolerant with milk, but can eat cheese, yogurt, greek yogurt, small amount of ice cream (no more than 1/2 cup), but 1/4 cup of straight milk, and I'm sick for hours.

13) In the pregnancy, I found grazing/snacking to be a new "fat habit", I was not a snacker pre-VSG, and it's the most difficult habit/behavior to break. I never knew what this "grazing" thing was and now it's the most difficult thing I've had to fight in my post-VSG life.

14) Sliders are my arch nemesis and that is my #1 issue with my own eating. Crunchy, salty, tangy carby foods go down without issue. A 99cent bag of Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos is nearly 500 calories, and I can graze on an entire bag over the course of an hour and my sleeve doesn't even recognize those type of foods. They go right on through. . .

Zow, lucky me!

My only thing that's much different (from before surgery and many other people) is the need to supplement with the shakes so my labs stay good. Well, you know, aside from the capacity to not down a large 'za anymore :}

Other than that, in nearly 3 years only 1 instance of something too hot, when we went to daddys reefball and I had some amazing ceviche with some habaneros in it.  JEZUS!!  I never had such pain, EVER.  This is when I realized, always carry baking soda with me in Mexico, because not everywhere has it, and that damned nasty boxed milk does not stop the burn.  I just had to writhe and cry for a few hours. 

Other than that, I tolerate and my body prefers to run on fats and protein.  My mouth and my head love carbs still but I do not run as "clean" on them and they only leave me wanting more.

My tastes are not any different except now I have a yen for peanut butter that I did not have before, probably from years of us being po' and living on pb sandwiches.

Hot drinks, warm drinks, cold drinks, all tolerated fine.  Plain water, I do not enjoy the taste of like I used to, but you know.. I drink it anyway.

No acid issues, was only on an acid inhibitor for the first month or two after surgery then did not need it after that.  Did the PPI experiement to see if it would stave off hunger and it only gave me concrete gut and angry anus. 

I have been a measurer from the beginning, and so that probably ? was the reason I have only had foamies once, and that was on an empty stomach after chewing a few vitamin C and lying down!  I just went and drank some baking soda, since I knew what was going on was chemical and not food related, and it was gone. 

Also, restriction.. for me, meat PLUS anything else, veg, carb, = less restriction or the ability to eat MORE COMFORTABLY. Dense meat alone, I have a definite cut off that is enough.  If I have that same amount of meat in something, like steamy veggies, or in a salad, I could absolutely eat that amount of meat PLUS the vegs and not have the same feeling of satisfaction and the ability to eat more.  It seems that meat PLUS equals the food shuttling through my system faster and my being hungry sooner than meat alone. 

Coffee, I drink about 6 cups (that is the volume, I have 2 physical coffee mugs full) first thing in the morning with 2/3 cup of almond coconut milk.  I have a tablespoon of espresso in each, and in my second cup I have 2 scoops of protein also.  Coffee does not bother my stomach at all.  Plain water is not good on my tastebuds and has the capacity to sit hard, but mostly does not taste good.

OH yea, and alcohol.  While I gave myself a full year after surgery of not drinking (because I am a human who can grab me a bad habit in a heart beat) when I did start again on the rare occasion, what I have noticed is, alcohol increases my capacity to eat, MIGHTILY. 

 Have always had a cast-iron stomach and that hasn't really changed since the sleeve.  The only thing I find makes me barf is high fat food.  I've only thrown up twice since being sleeved almost 3 years ago:  once was on whipped cream and one was on peanut butter.  Any occasional nausea is always the result of too much fat hitting the stomach.  

Never took a PPI.  Have struggled some with what I perceive as hunger, but I think it more just a "wanting to qell the feelings with food" like I used to do.  

Occasional problems with constipation, but have never taken anything for it.  I have a bidet in my bathroom, and that works surprisingly well in "priming the engine" so to speak.  

I still love carbs and could probably demolish a whole loaf of bread if I would let myself.  But I don't.  I find that setting a "bright line" that I don't cross makes this journey much less painful.  I don't eat cookies or donuts or candy bars or other obvious junk.  I do struggle with what I rationalize as "good carbs":  oatmeal, grains, popcorn, dairy, fruit -- things that most people would consider healthy, but they all tend to trigger me to want more, and they all tend to put weight on me.  My body type likes protein and green veggies, and not much else.  :(