long time VSGers

after having the sleeve , do you ever eat like before getting sleeved, is it possible to eat as much after a year or two out of surgery like you used to pre surgery????or you still have some kind of restriction???
im very dedicated and i can follow a strict diet even with OUT surgery but i  always gain back due to cravings (sweet tooth) and PHYSICAL hunger and head hunger.
my biggest fear is that i fall into bad eating habits again and regain all my weight back and stretch my sleeve to original stomache size(worst nightmare)

I am 4 years out and I still cannot eat as much as I did pre-sleeve.  As a matter of fact, I still cannot eat a small burger without throwing up.  It is just too much.  I can eat 3/4 of it... but that is it.

The physical hunger is the worst.  I think it is because of the carbs.  Once a person detoxes their body of carbs, I think the hunger will go away for the most part.  At least, I am pray that it will happen that way.

Kay

 I am 3.5 years out and can no way eat what I use to in fact I'm always in amazement at the amount others can eat and I think wow I use to be able to eat like that but what I do know is you have to watch it the way I have maintained my weight and success is on the scale everyday only allow a three pound up then it is diet time to get it back off . But I have fallen back to old habits and you can eat way more bad stuff then good like chips fries cake cookies I ate a whole box of girls  scout cookies last week samoas the whole box no problem but I can't eat a whole sandwich or burger usually just a quarter half at the most just be careful with the bad foods ok to eat once in awhile bu****ch it the more you eat the more  you want but do far it is still working and have plenty of restriction when it comes to eating what I call real food real meals it is the snacks that will kill you they never fill you up stick to protein first always and you will always be fine best wishes 

There is no humanly possible way your stomach will ever stretch to be as big as it was before. At close to 7 months out the most I can eat at one time is maybe 1 slice of pizza or 1 burger (sometimes double burger depending on burger size. Now slider carbs are a different story. Chocolate, candy, chips and other carby goodies slide right on through so yes with those you can easily eat around the sleeve. Physical hunger is still reduced to about 20 to 30 percent hunger compared to before. Sweet tooths are triggered by poor quality carbs with me.

Yes you still need to be responsible with what you put into your mouth as you could gain all the weight back if you got really careless however the sleeve really makes things alot easier especially being less hungry and getting full on much smaller quantities of food.

 it looks like im gonna have to give up chocolates :S

Hmmmm....not sure you need to completely "give up" anything forever........once you are in maintenance.....I see nothing wrong with any food in moderation.  Unless it is a "trigger food" for you and you will binge yourself sick.   And I'm 2.5 years out...I actually weighed out some tri-tip today to see w how much I can eat...(just a coincidence you asked this)  I had 2 3/4 ounce....took me 45 min to eat it all....that was it...no more food....if I ate it faster like 1/2 an hour...prob would have left 1/2 an ounce behind  so my sleeve  can comfortably hold about 2.5-3oz dense protein depending on type.  I have a pretty "tight" 32f and  am glad for that!  stretch it out to normal size?  Hell to the naw!

 i asked my surgeon a few days ago what size bougie he will use , he said 32fr - 26fr
is that good???

There still is restriction, but not like at first.  Our choices about what we eat will be the saving grace for most of us - not that we rely on only being ABLE  to eat small amounts (i.e. using restriction as your babysitter). 

If you look around here and also the failed wls board and revision board you will see its ENTIRELY possible to gain weight back, even with good restriction further out.  What I suggest to folks is cruising through the "help I have gained X pounds" threads and the failed and revision boards and see if you can see yourself in some of their stories, and then work on a strategy to help keep you out of the same ditches they fell in. 

We regain for so many reasons, but honestly a lot of it comes back to being woo'd into thinking we could add the foods into our "now" lives that we got heavy on all the other times, without any discretion, and became that food's ***** again.

For me, a key has been to be cut through the bull**** and be painfully real with me about the habits that are self-destructive, and to take the preop and post op time of only eating small amounts and sticking to the prescribed food plan given to me, and work on rehabbing those behaviors without the overwhelming stress of the huge raging panicked hunger that I had before. 

I have hunger now, but its not like before.  Head hunger still lives in this head of mine.  I have the same past and tendencies and food history as I had before, but somewhere along the line it became apparent I could not keep it off and needed help.  For help I chose an elective surgery and risked my life and relationship for it.  If I am willing to risk my life, *I* need to be willing to be truthful with myself and let some things go, you know?

Good luck, friend!  This is a good place to ask questions. 

OH, also go to the WLS Graduate forums, that is a good place to see what folks X years out have to say about things - and also the VSG maintenance discussion board.  You can peek into what life is like for some folks a few years out - which is much more telling and sometimes not as "YAAY!! HOOORAY!!!" as the year and under out of surgery folks. 

Its all good, but its hard work for some of us.  Hard work never made anything good not worth it though, you know? 

Peace out!

B

**here are links to the places I mentioned.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/failed_wls_second_time_aro und/

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/revision/a,messageboard/bo ard_id,5360/

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/hunger_and_food_troubles/

hijack for just an OT question. Brandi--is your avatar a gerbil? yours?

We have babies now that are one week away from being weaned (7 week old). Love them!

Rhonda Roo

That was Hammylton, a dwarf hamster, a Russian Winter White, to be supa-specifical.  He changed to a much whiter color (with some splotches) during the winter.   He was my boy.

I bet your gerby babies are cute!!  I look at all my toilet paper tubes and wish I knew someone who had gerbies that would love to chew through them to make nests!  :} 

Funny little rodents!