[PrincessKristy]

When does your head catch up to your body??I nkwo I have lost weight but my head seems to forget that. Does it ever get better?


Also has any one ever heard of if you over eat and your new stomach gets bigger can you ever like eat less and make it smaller again?? I worrie that I will eat to much and make it big again I am so afrade of it that i hate eating!

[bren]

I'm not sure when your head and body catch up but I totally hear you on that. I know i've lost weight but I don't see it or believe it yet even when other people are telling me that I have.
As far as the stomach thing.. I know you can stretch it out again but as far as making it small again I dunno. Just remember this surgery is a tool and its up to you to make healthy choices.

[fr1endly2]

well being I had surgery in June 2005...I still dont always
see my weight loss. ONLY when i see pictures its weird.
I still feel like the old fat me and think i always will.
I did see it some once 100 lbs was gone. BUT it was
more cause i wasnt in the plus sized clothes.
I dunno its a tough situation!
ITS very normal as time goes on to eat normal.
We cant stay healthy and well on the small early post
op portions forever. PERSONALLY im having a tough time
were i am and what im capable of eating.
but its normal.
and i should have had better eating habits at this time
to get thru but i know with feeding the ulcer i didnt realize
i had i made bad habits that are difficult now.

[Becca]

PrincessKristy, for the weight loss, i see it in the pictures, but i feel the same ol' me............But i know i have lost but, i understand it hard, to see it........

For the stomach, i wonder that too.......I guess it could srink back, i guess we need to ask Doc, that question.........

[DocSanae]

With the bypass surgery, your pouch will be about the size of a golf ball. Eventually, it will stretch out enough to hold about 3 oz or so. It is meant to stretch out that much. Physically, it is possible to stretch it out to probably twice as much, but no more than. It will never go back to the original size.

But, this does not mean that you will never be able to overeat, or that you will never be able to eat enough to get you back to where you started.

With the normal stomach, the exit closes while the stomach is moving around and mixing the food that is in it, so if you have normal sensation, you feel that your stomach is full because the exit is closed, and you can't stuff anymore.

With GBS, the stoma, the opening where your pouch is connected to your bypassed small intestine, is always open, since there is no muscle structured into it that will close the opening. Unless you learn the "full" sensation, where your pouch is full, and the food not yet passed through the stoma and into the intestine, you can find yourself having a hard time. Since the stoma is always open, if you get into the habit of grazing, you are going to be in danger of regaining your weight, because you will be constantly eating, even if each are small portions, the total is going to add up. This is where you have to learn the pouch rules. You need to keep track of how many times you eat, how much, (in other words, the total number of calories you get in not go up and above the total number of calories you need daily to maintain) and what types of food to get the best effect.

Keep in mind, the portions you ate before your surgery were never normal or appropriate portions to keep your weight under control, and within the range that is healthy and good for you. You need to learn now what the normal and appropriate portion is for your body to be on good maintenance, and that is actually the whole point of WLS. To enable you to control your portions. This is the most important habit you have to aquire, and it has to be lifelong.

In other words, the final and life long success of the surgery is up to you. That is why the surgery is a tool, and only a tool, the means to the end, and CraigT, the host of this site and board says, your weightloss journey itself is the destination.

May your journey go well, (((((((HUGS)))))))

PS: As for your head catching up with seeing your weightloss, it seems to vary with person to person, but if you read everyone's posts, I think you'll see that it takes at least 50lb or so before you can see it yourself, when others will notice with even 10-20lb change. But also, even though you're at goal, you will sometimes go back into the "fat" mindset. Everyone does.
Here's a thread on the Q&A session I had with CraigT on this subject. Hope it helps.

[PeggySue]

It definity is a mind game... just lately everyone at work has called me "skinny "or you are "gonna blow away" I personally don't see it, I have lost 60 lbs since July 20th and my eyes still see a fat girl... I dont know if I will ever "see "a skinny me...so you are right on target about your head... Peggy.

[FemmeMode]

....for asking the questions Kristy.....
I know I'm not there yet....I do see some postive mental changes....It took me a while to get where I was....so I imagine even though the weight has been dropping off...it will take some time to think different!!