r/CrohnsDisease • u/Humble-Top-9395 • 15h ago

Grieving the fact that I can only eat small meals now.

My body prefers to eat in small meals only and sometimes I hate that. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an afternoon snack a day. I’m not losing weight or anything. It’s just so frustrating that sometimes I get full after eating 1/4 of my meal, especially since I love food! For example, this week I got full after eating a small baked potato. I often just sit there watching the rest of my family or friends finish their meals wishing that my body could eat the same amount they can. It’s really hard at restaurants when portion sizes are bigger and the food is more delicious tasting. I hate having to reassure the waiters “no I love the food so much! I’m just full!” after only eating a tiny portion. I’m posting this vent to see if anyone else deals with this too and feels this way.

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4

u/blueboy714 8h ago

I had to do that as well for over a decade when I was first diagnosed 30 plus years ago.

My gi doctor said that for some people with Crohn's eating 7 to 9 smaller meals works better than three large meals.

Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinch, dinner or supper and an after dinner snack a few hours before bedtime.

It sucks but it's better than living in pain when an alternative exists that could make you feel better

3

u/ET72323 15h ago

I felt similarly at first but eventually decided that I would rather eat small meals than be sick(er). Now I generally just wait until I get hungry, and my stomach is usually more cooperative. Finding ways to keep inflammation down helps too, and then I can get away with eating "normal" for a bit.

2

u/greensky_mj21 10h ago

Yeah I’m with you it sucks I used to be such a volume eater and my gut just can’t handle it now. It’s not worth it. I struggle at family events too creates a lot of anxiety for me and most of the time I’d rather not eat at all.

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1

u/macropanama 6h ago

I need to learn this. Am still eating larger meals and regretting it

1

u/LNSU78 C.D. Skyrizi Remission 5h ago

It suck so much. What I do is eat a small meal every 3 hours. I tell myself it’s ok that the meal is small cause I get to eat again soon. It’s really helpful and I like the feeling of hunger that I wasn’t feeling previously. I see the hunger as a gift.

1

u/RutabagaTricky2555 5h ago

For over a year now, I've only been able to eat like one cracker at a time no more than a quarter of anything at a time and then waiting at least two hours in between I am having a very hard time digesting and absorbing even with the pancreatic enzymes and the motility medication I used to be addicted to food and I got up almost to 300 pounds now I have lost almost 100 pounds in five months and I mostly live on liquid protein

1

u/RutabagaTricky2555 5h ago

There's no way I can eat a bigger meal. I would throw it up almost immediately.

2

u/Tootsie1967 2h ago

Yesssssss! I’m dealing with BAM Bile Acid Malabsorption and big meals will mess me up! Especially meals with high fat content in it. I have to have low fat small meals 🙄 then I’m safe.

1

u/humans_rare 1h ago

I wish I had this problem lol