Question:
What does full really feel like?

hi everyone...I'm one week post op and I have a silly question....What does it feel like to be full? I know before surgery, it was obvious to me when I was full cuz I overate all the time and I would be miserable. Now however, I don't think I have yet to feel full.....even when I have several spoonfulls of soup at one time. I'm sure this is normal for many people to wonder if this is a sign that wls won't work for them. I would appreciate any advice you can give me guys! Hope all of you had a fantastic weekend! Josii*    — meltedbuttr (posted on March 2, 2003)

March 2, 2003
Hi Josii :). This is a good question, and I'm curious as to how others are going to describe feeling full. For me, I can tell that I'm full when I ask myself, "If I stop right now, and don't have any more, will I still feel hungry?" If the answer is "No", then I stop. If I still feel like I need to eat to get rid of that empty feeling, I eat a little more. I can definitely tell you what TOO full feels like! Then I'm really uncomfortable and feel like I really need to throw up. I'm only 2 months out so am still playing the "Learning Game" when it comes to my pouch LOL. Good luck! SuzAnne in Utah, post-op 2 months and down 54 pounds :).
   — SuzAnne S.

March 2, 2003
at one week, you should not be striving to feel full. You are still healing. The difference is that you get that same pressure, right in the middle of your abdomen, below your breast bone, and you just know that you can not eat any more. And it is after a few bites. A first, I felt like i had a rock in my abdomen when i was full. Now, it just feels full to me.
   — Vicki L.

March 2, 2003
I didn't feel full in the liquid/pureed stage. The first time I felt full was when I ate a scrambled egg. I got almost half of it in and I knew I couldn't put another bite in. I think it is a feeling that if you eat anymore you will be really uncomfortable. It was quite a bizarre experience because post-op I could eat 3 scrabled eggs easy and now I had a hard time getiing in 1/2. Good Luck. **kelly
   — Kelly T.

March 2, 2003
sorry--pre-op I could eat 3 eggs **kelly
   — Kelly T.

March 2, 2003
i, too, am three weeks out and have never felt full. I only eat the amts the doc told me to but I always feel as if I could just keep right on eating. I have had that knot in my throat feeling and the burping and vomitting, but i think that was from eating too fast. Another area i am having trouble with. I hear people say they can only eat half an egg. I can eat a whole one. (it is one ounce) but always feel as if I coulod eat more. Now, I have been afraid to eat over that amt. I dont want to be sick or hurt my pouch but I did eat three ounces of chile from Wendys and another time three ounces of cottage cheese. guess I overate cause I was miserable. Guess it is a trial and error thing. Good luck.
   — Delores S.

March 2, 2003
I am over 3 years post and have never NEVER felt full. Not one time. I eat by quanity...I eat the minimum amount of calories necessary to get in my daily allotment of protein. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. In other words if it fits it doesn't mean you should eat it. You need to learn to be satisfied on low calories. Or...well you don't want to hear about failure. I am 3 years post and lost 165 lbs in 12 mts. I went from a size 30 to a size 4 and have been holding my weight loss over 2 years now. Many long term post ops are gaining. The difference between them and me...is I never discovered how much of a sandwich would fit....
   — lee J.

March 2, 2003
When you're a fresh post-op, on liquids, you really can't feel "full" in the same way as when you're eating normal foods again. But this is a good question. At nine months out, to me, "full" is when I know I really couldn't eat another bite without being uncomfortable. What's amazing to me is that I'm aware that I want to avoid being uncomfortably full (I didn't care about that as a pre-op, and just kept on stuffing). Often, I just eat whatever I planned to eat, regardless of fullness (like the previous poster, who is never full), but at other times, I do eat until I'm "full" (sometimes that's even less than I planned to eat, though). It seems to vary sometimes from meal to meal, and certainly varies with whatever I'm eating. You'll get to know the feeling. ;~)
   — Suzy C.

March 3, 2003
Josii, Thought I would post on in, feeling full, pre-op you're right it was easy to tell when you're full, the tummy told us, now being post op, I feel it, but it's really not an in the tummy full feeling, and it's not a very satisfying feeling ( like it once was pre-op) I find that my full feeling is like a full in the throat feeling, sort of feels to me like one more bite and I could easily tilt my head forward and throw up, I try to limit my intake to where I don't feel that way very often as it's a nasty feeling, besides that feeling it's acompanied by a sort of heavy on the chest feeling, at least it is with me........ I did a no no the other day, I ate a handfull of cereal and then proceeded to make myself and eat a iced cappicino protien shake, I must have been half alseep but wasn't thinking, that the ice would weigh down the cereal already eated and make me feel 10x's fuller, Oh man I took 2 sips of my protien shake and tossed it in the garbage, big mistake..... and what a waste of money, those protein shakes are expensive..... Oh well the only way we can learn... I think if you eat things that aren't watery that will slid right on out of you, you'll never feel full, on your post it said you were eating soup, I would try some beef stew or something with a little thicker of a sauce, and soup with a little more substance, vegtables and what not..... Hope this helps, the full feeling, I don't want it.. smile You're doing great ! Post op 9 months down 125 pounds
   — tannedtigress