Richard Wilson
Member
What does it mean to stretch your stomach later after surgery
What does it mean to stretch your stomach
- Thread starter Richard Wilson
- Start date
WazzuCoug
Member
Everyone's stomach gets bigger over time after surgery. It won't regain its previous size, but filling it up will stretch it and you will be able to consume larger meals over time. I suspect the VSG stomach probably expands a bit more since it is generally a little larger, to begin with. It's a natural thing, so making good food choices along the way is critical.
What most people are worried about though is stretching it out sooner than normal. This can happen by over-eating until you feel "stuffed" instead of just barely full. Basically, eating and drinking more than what's recommended can stretch things out over time. I think one of the hardest things to learn is really being in-tune with satiety. Many of us before surgery were eating until we could really feel it in our stomachs as either full or stuffed. After surgery, we are trying to learn to recognize a much subtler fullness. We don't need to stuff ourselves to feel satiated, which is where eating very slowly can come into play. Eating slowly has been one of my major issues, I usually eat very fast, but I'm getting better because I feel better when I do and I'm noticing that my fullness is more comfortable. I don't want to enlarge my stomach too quickly, but some stretching and having a bigger stomach or pouch over the long term is inevitable, but that doesn't mean you have to return to overeating again.
What most people are worried about though is stretching it out sooner than normal. This can happen by over-eating until you feel "stuffed" instead of just barely full. Basically, eating and drinking more than what's recommended can stretch things out over time. I think one of the hardest things to learn is really being in-tune with satiety. Many of us before surgery were eating until we could really feel it in our stomachs as either full or stuffed. After surgery, we are trying to learn to recognize a much subtler fullness. We don't need to stuff ourselves to feel satiated, which is where eating very slowly can come into play. Eating slowly has been one of my major issues, I usually eat very fast, but I'm getting better because I feel better when I do and I'm noticing that my fullness is more comfortable. I don't want to enlarge my stomach too quickly, but some stretching and having a bigger stomach or pouch over the long term is inevitable, but that doesn't mean you have to return to overeating again.