What does "full" feel like to you?

[Gege1061]

Hi Everyone!
i am nine days out today and I have a question.... What does your "full" feel like? I ask because my appetite hasn't really returned(yes things look good to me but I can't do more than 3 tbsp) and when I do eat I measure but I have no idea if I'm full. I stop when I feel like I don't NEED anymore but it's so much different than that full belly feeling I've had wayyy too many times in the past. I just tried some bean puree and I sneezed(i've heard of some that do that when full). I'd love to hear from everyone for my own education. Thanks!

Gege

[RehabNurse]

Your stomach's nerve endings were severed during the surgery, so you probably won't feel full until they regrow and reattach themselves (read: several months down the line).

Therefore, don't strive for fullness. It's a bad habit that many obese/formerly fat people have/had.

Some people develop a runny nose when full. Others feel soreness at the bottom of their sleeves when full. However, the feelings of fullness that we had when our stomachs were normal-sized might not happen with a sleeve.

[Truffles]

The first time around, when I ate, it was a like a “tap” feeling at my sternum. This time, I don't have that but I just lose interest.

[Dutchie]

Sighing
Yawning
Hick ups
Belching
Pain (one bite too many)

[Luna354]

loud stomach noise is my signal to stop & I've had enough.

[Gege1061]

See.... I find this fascinating! Everyone is so different and no one has said they get the old "full" belly feeling. I am learning so much!

[DHB]

This is so helpful. I'm not sure I know what hungry or full feels like yet. I do know that I have started hiccuping like crazy but it doesn't seem to correspond to when or how much I eat.

[Viv28]

I am still learning what full feels like to me. My surgery was 10/21/16 and I still am not 100% sure when I need to stop eating. I make small portions and stop before I feel uncomfortable. I have had a few occasions when I ate too much and the feeling is awful. I measure my portions and only eat that amount because I can't trust myself to stop when I am no longer hungry. It is a work in progress.

[Barbzilla]

I can tell I either ate too quickly or am full when I start hiccuping. It also happens when I eat really dry solids like chicken or tuna. If hiccups start, I just back off and give it a rest to determine whether it's fullness or rushed eating that caused it.

As for the actual sensation of fullness, it's much different for me after the sleeve. It feels like I've got food sitting in my esophagus if I eat even one bite too many. I get lots of grumbling and gurgling in my tummy too.

[sraebaer]

I never felt full until I started real (not soft) food. Then there is no doubt when you are full. My first chicken breast was quite the experience! We were at a restaurant with friends and I ordered a small salad with a chicken breast on top. Ate a few bites and felt like I would die right there in the restaurant. The people we were with didn't know I had surgery, so they probably wondered what my problem was.

Only temporary! Now I can eat half a chicken breast.

[mandyjdc]

I’m still figuring that out too. I don’t get pain until about 5 minutes after my last bite. So it’s hard to tell for me because I’ll feel fine until 5 minutes later, I have a horrible pain behind my sternum. Every day is different. Last night I went out to dinner and got a roast beef sandwich without the bread. I had only two bites and was in pain. The other day I’d had 4 bites of food without problems. I’m assuming that soon we’ll have a better gauge!

[Barbzilla]

I’m still figuring that out too. I don’t get pain until about 5 minutes after my last bite. So it’s hard to tell for me because I’ll feel fine until 5 minutes later, I have a horrible pain behind my sternum. Every day is different. Last night I went out to dinner and got a roast beef sandwich without the bread. I had only two bites and was in pain. The other day I’d had 4 bites of food without problems. I’m assuming that soon we’ll have a better gauge!

That's my issue, too! I go from hungry to hurtin' without the "full" cues between. I'm already eating ridiculously slowly, but I guess I need to put the brakes on a little harder, LOL!

[Christie13]

I would feel kind of a block in my chest. Or hiccups. Lots of hiccups. If I went past full....it was painful. You will learn soon and regret it when you do.

[BlueUmbrella]

I start to feel like I can't take any more food onboard, and I'm mindful of not going past that point. It's just not worth that horrible, sickly, overly full feeling.
But it's definitely taken me awhile to realize what that feels like. I've had a few times where I've eaten and then felt nauseous. I tried to eat a cup of chili way too soon after my surgery and ended up barfing it up, that's not an experience I want to repeat. Now I can feel my stomach getting full and I know I need to stop before it reaches that point. I can tell that "okay, that has to be the last bite" and then I push it away. Don't get me wrong, I knew I needed to stop before I was full before my surgery, but that wasn't something I felt I could ever control or get a handle on. It felt like food controlled me a lot of the time.
After spending literally decades of my life trying and trying to stop compulsively overeating, and to stop being insane around food - to now have no desire to overeat and little interest in eating - it's nothing short of liberation.

[BlueUmbrella]

The first time around, when I ate, it was a like a “tap” feeling at my sternum. This time, I don't have that but I just lose interest.

YES! This is is it exactly. I lose interest. It probably sounds crazy but after years of obsessing and driving myself insane over food and weight, losing interest in food now is an absolutely wonderful feeling.