Importance of Portion Control

Now, at this very stage, portion control becomes critically essential. There could have been an easy thinking that one could definitely go back to the previous eating habits like as it used to before the surgery, this is not the case at all. This is where the 20-20-20 rule comes into play: take a bite, chew for 20 seconds, then wait 20 seconds before your next bite, and finally, stop eating after 20 minutes. This will allow you to eat slowly and let your body recognise the satiation level, preventing overeating and its discomfort or complications.

Meal Prepping to Reduce Waste

As we shared in earlier phases, we had a lot of food wastage at the start. To reduce this wastage, we decided to meal prep real quick. We started setting Sundays apart to prepare our meals for the week. Although we enjoyed this, we didn’t enjoy spending an entire day every week cooking, so we invested in a couple of large woks. Our last meal prep session resulted in about 90 meals, which might sound like a lot, but it’s only a month’s worth of food as it’s three meals a day split between the two of us.

Enjoying Takeaway Food

One big thing with our diet was still being able to have takeaway. This had been part of the reason that we had needed surgery, but we also needed to be able to go on enjoying such favourites like Chinese, Indian, and Nando’s. We started having small portions of takeaways again about three months after surgery. For instance, a standard Chinese order would have been chicken curry, egg fried rice, salt and pepper chicken, 10 spring rolls, and five wontons. The last Chinese we took away was a portion of ribs, with three relatively small ribs each, and we were full (Update, revisiting this at 5 months, this is still the case, cannot do more than 3).

5-month Update: This is still the case, cannot do more than 2 and a half to 3, this is ideal, as we treat this as more of a treat once a month or so and its just 3 small ribs each, we are no longer doing big orders, etc.

In much the same way, our KFC orders have drastically changed. We used to order large meals and finish them up, but now we share two boneless fillets. If you’re reading this pre-op or considering surgery and you’re thinking, as I did, that there’s no way this would be enough – it really is. We have found it best to eat half, wait an hour, and then eat the other half. Eating a full portion at one time will leave us overly full and sick for a couple of hours.

The Absence of Hunger

It comes as a bit of a shock when one comes out of gastric sleeve surgery and really doesn’t feel hungry. This is because the surgery removes a significant portion of the stomach that produces the hunger hormone, Ghrelin. So, the sensation of hunger after going through the procedure is greatly diminished. It’s hard to describe, but you just do not feel hunger, and you think about food much less often.

Managing Pizza

The only food we haven’t tried post-surgery is pizza, mainly because it would involve so much waste at this point. We just don’t have places in our area which offer very thin crust pizza, that may be more palatable. If you have access to thin-crust pizza, a slice or two might be alright.

5-month Update: When we were on holiday to Tenerife, we tried a mega thin pizza, we managed 1 slice, we pushed it into the second slice and ended up with a very uncomfortable sick feeling for the rest of the night, pizza is now of the menu entirely, we never want that feeling again.

Snacking

Looking through our snacks, cheese strings, Babybels, and Fridge Raiders chicken bites are the most normal ones we tend to have these days. These are easy and pack a good punch of protein that seems to be just about right following surgery.

Carbonated Drinks

At this stage, owing to lack of variation with fruit juices, we did try some zero sugar, zero caffeine drinks, like Coke and Pepsi. However, we soon had to bring that to a stop. Not only did they not taste good anymore, which on its own was a turn-off, they made our stomachs feel very weird. It’s hard to explain but it was like you could feel the juice fizzing up in your stomach, creating discomfort.

5-month Update: Still not introduced Carbonated drinks in terms of cans of juice but we can handle coke zero on draft, cant manage a can of coke zero but when on holiday to Tenerife draft coke was fine, and thats great, we used to spend hundreds of pounds a month on Pepsi Max, Coke Zero, Red Bull, etc, that money is now funding more holidays!

Final Thoughts

This phase is mainly focused on portion control and not reverting back to old habits. Variety and freedom of normal foods can be enjoyed, but remember to eat mindfully and also take your body’s signals.

You can read more about these meals on our meal prep page.

Key Takeaways

• Chicken and Fish: High in protein, easy to digest.
• Steak: Enjoy in moderation, focusing on portion size.
• Meal Prepping: Essential to minimise waste and ensure balanced meals.
• Takeaway Foods: Reintroduced in smaller, controlled portions.
• Pizza: Potentially challenging, especially with thick crusts, but thin-crust might be manageable.
• Snacking: Cheese strings, Babybels, and Fridge Raiders chicken bites are our go-to snacks.
• Carbonated Drinks: Avoid due to uncomfortable sensations and potential taste changes.

You can end up having a great variety of food while still maintaining the many benefits of a gastric sleeve. Sharing our experiences, we try to offer clarity and guidance in the puzzles during the recovery phase. Please do remember: This is our personal experience—not medical advice. For medical guidance, always consult your GP.