Hi..
I've started the phase of my diet where I am leaving liquids behind and starting with pureed soft foods...
Since my surgery, I've never felt hungry... I've occasionally had an "empty" sort of feeling that reminded me I need to eat, but nothing that I would have referred to as 'being hungry' in the past.
Since I've started having full liquids (pudding, creamy soups) and now soft foods (flounder, tuna, cheesy mashed potatoes) I have eaten and not felt full. Granted I haven't eaten alot.. for example, I had 1 hard boiled egg and 3oz of tuna for dinner. It looked like a lot of food, but I was able to eat it and didn't feel full. (I ate it all because I needed the protein count!)...

My Dr said that I will have to discover what if feels like to be full now... I'm curious, at what point did the rest of you feel that first feeling of "full"??? I don't want to over eat but I also don't want to under eat - cuz I need that protein count... but this wondering when I will feel full stuff is keeping me at lower levels than I probably should be.....
Does any of that make sense??

Thanks again!
T

Everybody's different. I didn't feel hunger or emptiness for several months. The only time I felt discomfort was if I ate too fast. I don't really feel hunger now, but if I go too long without protein I get real woozie.

Hi Traci!

I'm just a lil over a week ahead of you.. and I can tell you that personally, I just started getting hunger feelings this weekend! Prior to that, no hunger and didn't really feel that old type of "full" either. Full to me is now more of an uncomfortable pressure sort of thing.

Some of the things I've heard mentioned in regards to this is that while we are healing, our nerves don't send the full/hungry messages completely (they are healing too!). Once all is healed up then our nerves send those messages. This is one of the reasons even if we dont feel hungry or full we should still follow Doctors orders and eat when and how much they tell us.

Dunno if its 100% correct, but it sounds right

Traci,
Definately don't over eat now. I could not eat a whole egg at 3 weeks out, never mind the Tuna. I still can't eat that even now. You don't want to over load your pouch at this fragile stage of the game, so I would definately weigh all of my food. 2oz and no more at one time. You still have alot of healing to do and you don't want to hurt any of that. Don't worry about feeling full yet. When you start on solids protein you will know full really well. Right now you are eating sliders so you wont really feel full. Just measure or weigh your food and don't worry about the numbers yet. You have the rest of your life to worry about the numbers! My surgeon told me that he had a patient that ate about a cup of Lo mein burst his staple line and died of a massive infection. So be careful Girl!

I am almost 8 months out and realized just the other day that I actually do feel hunger again. As others have said, we are all different. The thing to remember if you don't feel hungry and you don't feel 'full' when you eat is to MEASURE everything. Keep your food amounts in line with what you are supposed to be eating and at some point, you will begin to 'feel' when you have had enough to eat. I now know that if I eat just one more bite, I am going to be miserable. After a bit, you begin to see just how much protein, carbs, and fat you can tolerate before making yourself ill. The bad thing is that you can tolerate much more in the way of carbs. This is why it is so important to eat your protein first or at the very least, eat three bites of protein for every bite of carbs.

Great responses. I agree with all.
Especially

• Don't push it
• remember not to drink while eating
• stay hydrated all other times

eggs and tuna are some dry stuff. might be early.
think of getting extra protein with protein shakes made of protein supplement powders
And Keep asking questions! Our answers will vary a bit but might well contain just the answer
you need when you put 'em all together!

Yup, I'm agreeing w/ the above.
Be careful to not overfill. I was 5 mos out yesterday. I have found I have to measure things that will go right through my pouch to avoid eating too much. 1 egg is usually it for me (sometimes 2, depending on how they are prepared). 3 oz of a canned meat (I still can't eat tuna, but use chicken) would fill me. No way could I eat the two together. When you start to feel fullness you will know it. Like, Barbara, if I eat one bite more I feel awful!
Keep asking your questions. The only dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.

[/quote]My surgeon told me that he had a patient that ate about a cup of Lo mein burst his staple line and died of a massive infection. So be careful Girl!
[/quote]

HOLY CRAP!! Now I'm terrified to eat!! How can you tell if you've burst a staple line?? Is it painful??
Maybe I'll just stick to protein drinks for a while... if I add my unflavored protein to my flavored protein, use milk and add peanut butter, I can get 56 grams of protein in 1 shake...

okay... thanks for that bit of insight... definately something to think about!

Traci, you sound like you're right on schedule to me. Don't be too scared. You'll be okay. There are hundreds of us on here and we haven't burst yet. Some have regained weight, but haven't burst. Be sure to eat slowly and taste every bite. Feel what he feels like as you eat. Stop when before you feel FULL. Chew carefully. Enjoy and savor your little tiny meals. Before you get all the way to goal, I bet you'll start to feel hungry again. At least that's what a lot of others have shared on here.

Keep us posted on your progress. Best wishes.

Hi Traci

It took me until recently to figure out when I was full we are all different and some find out easily others don't ..... when you eat try to relax and it will get easier to figure out. I agree measure all your food now because I struggled and was overeating it took alot of willpower to realize that I was only hurting myself...... I needed to relearn how to eat and how to stop myself from overeating...I struggle with the battle daily but I will keep on.... as Julie AKA Sunshine says "Keep on Keeping on" ..... I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers take one day at a time its a long road that we all have to adjust to living in and we all adjust different .....you will do great ....hugs