Question:
FOUR MONTHS POST-OP AND FEELING LIKE PROPORTIONS ARE TOO BIG -WANTING TO PURGE

AFTER THE HOLIDAYS AND THE CONSTANT MUNCHING, I HAVE BEEN THINKING THAT MY PROPORTIONS HAVE INCREASED AND I FEAR GAINING. I HAVE LOST 70 LBS SO FAR AND FEEL LIKE I MAY BE TOLERANT BACK TO SUGAR AND GETTING BACK INTO MY OLD HABITS. HELP! ANYONE ELSE HAD THOUGHTS OF PURGING (NO PAST HISTORY). JUST FEEL LIKE I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF AGAIN. AFRAID TO GAIN BACK WEIGHT.    — JILL H. (posted on January 9, 2003)

January 9, 2003
Hi! I am at the same boat almost. I am 4 months out and I have lost 70 pounds, my bmi is higher than yours though, I don't know how much too eat, I don't know how much should be a serving size. My dh fixed me a hamburger for supper tonight, I ate about 2/3rds of it, but it tasted so good I wanted to eat more of it, eventhough I was full with eating about 1/2 of the hamburger.
   — Donna T.

January 9, 2003
Jill, I had surgery 8-15 (started out at 305, down to 224)...I constantly feel as though i eat to much. I can eat a 1/4-1/2 burger (no bread) easily w/out feeling full and the another day, I can't even eat 1/2 of a Wendy's chili. My suggestion to you is make sure you are getting in around 1000 calories a day now and that you are drinking 64 oz+ of water and at least 60-80 grams of protein. Also, if you are still losing, then don't worry. My weight loss has slowed (1st -34.00 lbs, 2nd -10.50 lbs, 3rd -15.50 lbs, 4th Month -11.00 lbs)...I am a wk short of 5 months and I have lost about 9lbs so far this month. Good Luck! Note: Don't take this the wrong way, but, please don't beat yourself up over this and please don't purge. Purging will rot your teeth and screw up your head. I am going to start seeing a therapist in the next few weeks to start to deal with the "reason I ate to begin with"...I don't ever want to fall back into my old habits. Good Luck!
   — heathercross

January 10, 2003
Jill, keep in mind that the further out from surgery you get the more you will be able to it. This is because the pouch does stretch, but before you freak out, it is supposed to stretch! We start out with tiny 1-2 oz pouches, or thereabouts, and that is why we eat these tiny portions the first few months and drop really fast early on. This surgery is designed so that the weight loss does slow at the same time that we eat more so that we don't lose too much. Can you imagine losing 20-30 pounds a month when we are at or near goal??! So don't freak that you are eating more. I am 11 months post -op and can remember not being able to eat 1/2 a sandwich with the bread and used to remove 1/2 the bread. Now I comfortably eat the 1/2 sandwich and a pickle and maybe a few chips. As for the sugar, well, the more sugar you eat, the more you will crave. Its a matter of raising the blood sugar levels if you have too much, so if you cannot limit your sugar intake to very low amounts, best you can do is to avoid sugar. The less you have, the less you willcrave. But please, do not purge. It is very unhealthy and remember we had this surgery to get our health back and not to undermine it.
   — Cindy R.