How do you under-eat your sleeve?

I do a really good job measuring my food and eating appropriate portions...until I have to get something for my kids, or put dinner away, or do something with food after I'm full.  A few times in the last month I have over-eaten to the point that I have to throw up to feel okay.  What are your strategies?

To me, under-eating my sleeve means eating 4 or 5 ounces of food per meal, even though my sleeve would hold 6 or 7 ounces.

How to do it?  Weigh and measure my food.

At times, I have overeaten to the point of pain or getting the "slimies" (mucus production triggered by too much food in the tummy.)  But other than remembering that it feels bad and that I need to stop as soon as I feel full,  I don't know of any other strategy.

It takes a while to figure it out, but it will become second nature in time.

best wishes,

Carol

Under eating your sleeve is a very simple concept that I have somehow received credit for coming up with.

It is just common sense from what I have learned from our surgeon.

Basically if your sleeve holds 4oz. (volume)...... eat 3.75oz

Over eating with the sleeve as you have found out is not very pleasant with several possible consequences like, discomfort, pain, slimes, vomiting.

If a glass holds 6oz. what happens when you try and put 8oz. in it ????

The sleeve can be a very "high pressure" system because most of the stretchy fundus has been cut out. No more...... "I'm full" and than eat another plate of food.

Read up on the function of the pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach/sleeve.

There are several variables if you get deeper into it.

Eating fixed/measured amounts of food that is under your capacity is the key to successful sleeve eating.

Eating till full is how most of us got fat and very hard to pace/log your daily intake and constant eating till full is a way to stretch your sleeve.

Larger sleeves are becoming fairly common these days and are more prone to sleeve stretch which makes under eating your capacity much more important.

The biggest skill to learn is how to recognize satiety with the sleeve. Speaking for myself and I know I'm not alone, pre-op full was pretty much "stuffed".

Learn to recognize satiety as satisfied and not gorged full. Fill most your sleeve with room left over and really pay attention to the sensation..... that is your new satisfied.

Hope this explains the concept !

frisco

Thank you!  I understand the concept, I just can't seem to control myself.  That is what I need help with.  How do people resist eating too much?

I have had my moments with over filling my sleeve, too. Not too often, but I went through about a month or two period this past year where I wanted to feel full. Not sure why, but I did. I think I was looking for that old feeling of full, which I just simply don't have anymore. To get past that new need to feel full I did a couple of things.

1. I reminded myself every time I ate for more than a week that if I over ate I would feel awful and regret it. I would remind myself that a few minutes of the party in my mouth was not worth the HOURS I would feel uncomfortable after the party was over!

2. Each time I ate I insisted that I stop about halfway through the meal and put my fork down and try to feel my satiety level. After about 2 days of this I began to realize I was "satisfied" with much less than the portion I had meted out. My portions over the next week got smaller.

3. If I found that I was not yet satisfied after the first break in the meal, I would take a second break to feel for satiety. If I was satisfied, then the meal was over. If not, I continued to eat and finished my meal. (I find that some days I am hungrier than others and I allow myself that flexibility. We are not static beings and hunger levels DO vary from day to day.)

4. When putting things away after a meal I remind myself that I chose to be finished eating. Not eating the leftovers as I put them away is a choice I make to help my weight and my health. Yes, this is a cognitive/psychological behavior modification technique and may sound trite, but I find that it does really work. It is my choice to eat or not eat those little nibbles and bites. You'll be amazed at how empowered you feel when you do this several days in a row!

5. I remind myself each and every day that I am in charge of my eating and that food has no control over me. I allow myself to eat anything I want and no foods are ever off limits. This permission has taken away the drive/compulsion for certain foods (for me baked goods in particular).

6. In addition to the permission to eat any food I may choose, I remind myself that I am eating for my health and to honor my body. Compulsive eating does neither.

Those are some things that are helping me be successful in the food arena once again. I think when we are post op several years we must work a bit harder on the mental side of this journey because, as you have found, it is easy to eat a little here and there and forget where we came from.

Thank you!!  That is very, very helpful.  A lot of positive self talk.  I might write these on my frig too.

Thank you Frisco! 

I have a set of very small dishes, and they help tremendously. I get the little one-cup gladware cups, and I also have a couple of toddler bowls that I picked up at Target. I can't eat any more than fits in the little bowl, and I get the visual cue of "my bowl is half-empty, I have half of my food to go" that you wouldn't get on a bigger plate.

If you can't put it on your plate, you can't eat it! :)

Second this advice! I went to Chinatown and picked up some rice bowls. They are the perfect size for my portions!

Even though my capacity has increased, I still portion food out like I did in the early days. Frankly, it's just too uncomfortable to try to eat to fullness!

Ooooh, that's a good idea. Mine are pink plastic and kind of goofy looking, I bet Chinese ceramics would be much nicer :)