Resetting pouch?

[Sarahj2710]

Hi as you probably know (cos I've been moaning about it ceaselessly for ages) I am currently feeling no restriction when eating, I thought I was getting there a couple of days ago when I gulped down some water without thinking about it, but not had anything since, and have been unconsciously (maybe not that unconsciously) testing my pouch, and today I've managed to eat a sausage with no problems at all. Could I have stretched my pouch somewhere along the line, can I reset it by going back to liquids? I don't know, and to top it all I've gained 1lb, which isn't a lot in the great scheme of things but I want to go the other way. So frustrated and peed off right now. Thanks for reading (again) what would I do without you lot. Lol
Xxx

 

[Jcoco]

I tried the 5 day pouch test when I started feeling less restricted. It really works and is a good boost for weight loss. Check Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test and follow the plan. Good luck

 

[Yvessa]

Please don't do the 5 day pouch test before you're six months out. Also, a sausage is fine. I can eat two. As long as you are sticking to a teaplate at most you will be fine and you will lose weight. A lifetime of crash diets that didn't work should suggest that you should stick with the good eating.

 

[Sarahj2710]

Thanks guys, yve I love you for saying that you can eat 2 sausages, I only had the1, with a table spoon of root veg mash and a tablespoon of green beans. Xxxx

 

[Yvessa]

Honey, I can (at 5 months out next week) eat 2 sausage, 2 bacon and a tablespoon of veg and tablespoon mash. Maybe two tablespoons some days. As long as i can get it on my teaplate and I don't hit my restriction I don't worry so much as long as I've trimmed the fat and used low fat sausages.

 

[Sarahj2710]

Ha ha, that actually sounds like quite a lot to me at the moment, but I am sure I'll get there. I think I just need to chill out over all this stuff.
Xxx

 

[mayamoo]

Stop testing your pouch! Stick to what your provider says you should be aiming for, don't have fluid and food together, obey the rule of twenty and you will be fine x

 

[jillyiant]

I was worried at the beginning when one week i didnt lose but these girls put me right & you do just have to be patient. We wont become skinny overnight.

 

[amanda577]

I agree with all of the above Sarah!!!! from what I have read it would be far too early to even think about doing a 5 day pouch test, when in truth we are only just beginning to find our restriction and learning to work with it.. You will be fine I'm sure xxx

 

[Sarahj2710]

ok, thanks for all the responses and support guys, I am definitely back on track today, and feeling more positive and I AM going to lose this weight, and use my tool (pouch) to the best of its ability to get me there!!!

 

[Jcoco]

I like your advice but I did the 5 day test during my 5th month and all it was reeducating me on my portions and low carbs high protein. Each to their own but it didn't do any damage it put me on track. It was doing what we had to do in the first 6 weeks post -op into 5 days. Liquids followed by soft foods followed by protein. Was only sharing what I did when I was questioning my restriction. Anyway good luck all.

 

[Karlos]

and have been unconsciously (maybe not that unconsciously) testing my pouch, and today I've managed to eat a sausage with no problems at all.

Well one sausage well chewed is not that big and I'm not surprised that you got it down, a little disappointed that so early out you're making kind of bad food choices but that's up to you.

Could I have stretched my pouch somewhere along the line, can I reset it by going back to liquids?

It's very unlikely that you stretched your pouch so early out, almost impossible in fact. Going back to liquids will not ever at any point cause your pouch to shrink. The 5 day pouch reset or test call it what you like only resets behaviour not your pouch.

I don't know, and to top it all I've gained 1lb, which isn't a lot in the great scheme of things but I want to go the other way

You need to look at your intake what you're eating drinking etc, and how much exercise you're taking. One pound is nothing lets face it a trip to the toilet will remove that, but you need to take steps now to make sure you maximise your chance of success.

Rather than relying on restriction, which will over time cause you to stretch your pouch as over time you will be able to eat more and more as it adjusts and gets larger to cope with the amount you're eating. It's better to measure out the correct amount of food into a bowl or small plate and when that's gone stop eating. I never ate to restriction as the signals of being full normally sent to tell us to stop eating that being obese cuts off never really reconnected for me so I never felt full. Hence I relied on measuring the correct amount of food for each meal and that worked brilliantly for me

 

[amanda577]

That is what I do also sarah!! I weigh everything I eat seeing as I wasn't sure what the full signal was or is like you... I never eat more than a 200gm meal and most times I try and stick to around 150gms, even though I know I could probably eat more... Maybe try measuring, or weighing your food portions and recording the nutritional value? I keep a food diary and record amount and carbs protein and fat content of all I eat, as I feel that gives me better control at the moment, and also quite a useful thing to show to the dietician or whoever if I run into problems.. Maybe that would work for you too??
xx

 

[dellymolly]

I never ate to restriction as the signals of being full normally sent to tell us to stop eating that being obese cuts off never really reconnected for me so I never felt full. Hence I relied on measuring the correct amount of food for each meal and that worked brilliantly for me

this i SO agree with - im eating until i no longer feel hungry, rather than eating until i feel full - because im not sure my full signal is working correctly, i think i only feel full once ive eaten too much...does that make sense? so yes, measuring out small portions is the way forward for me i think.

 

[Sarahj2710]

Ok, can I just say thank you so much for your advices, it really does help. Karlos thank you for for your candid advice, I have read your other thread and know that you're not shy in saying it like it is, and when I saw your name pop up I thought 'oh goodness' but actually what you said is very helpful and I bow to your knowledge. Can I just clarify, it was a very low fat chipolata form WW, less than 2% fat on the packet, and I had 1, it wasn't a big cumberland ring or anything like I would have eaten in the past, but. I thought that I would have felt it more as it was the first time I had really eaten anything meaty (solid, just come off of mush).

I measure everything fastidiously, I eat from a tea plate, and everything on my plate weighs no more than 200g, Ever, and once that's gone, if I get through it, I am done. I keep a track of everything I eat, via MFP, so I know how many calories, carbs, fats, sugars etc i am eating every day, I have set my calorie goal for 800 cals per day, but rarely get over 650/700, around 50g of carbs and 70-90g of protein.

I swim for 30 mins everyday, and do aquafit twice a week. I would like to walk more and did start doing this but my knees are really painful, and because of a large overhang, my hips also get very sore walking. I am trying to build up stamina, and lose more weight to be able to increase my mobility and add in cardiovascular exercise.

I am just over 6 weeks out, and have not had a follow up appointment, seen a dietician or anyone. I have called my 'team' and have left messages, but no-one has come back to me, however I am going to the support group held at the hospital where I had my procedure done, tomorrow and my consultant, and bariatric nursing team will be there so I will speak to them.

I know most of the time I sound like an obsessive crazy lady, and I feel like that sometimes, but at the moment this is all consuming, it's the first thing I think about in the morning and last thing I think about at night. I have been overweight my whole life and am so desperate for this to work, and because I've stalled I am doing my own head in, and I know 1lb isn't a lot (trust me I know that going to the loo would shift this, and I would love to be able to go, 6 days now and nothing) but it freaked me out when i saw that I'd put on. I think I will be better when I go back to work, as I won't have so much time to think about this. Holiday first though!!!

I think I have said in another thread somewhere, that I am trying to concentrate on losing 1 stone at a time, this time last year I weighed 29st 13.5lb, at that point if I had lost 10 stone, I would still have been about 9 stone overweight, the numbers a too big for me to deal with, so 1 stone at a time. When I weighed myself on Tuesday I weighed 22st 1 (blooming)lb.

Thank you guys for your time in reading, supporting and caring enough to post your thoughts and advice, and Karlos you don't scare me anymore, I think you're lovely.
Xxxx

 

[Karlos]

It's not the type of sausage that is my main concern to be honest Sarah, it's the behaviour. I'm not having a pop I tend to leave that to the tough love thread LOL, but it's the association between the food choices we make that's important rather than the actual food. What I mean by this is some will eat sugar free deserts or diabetic chocolate as they see this as being "Safe" post op because of the no sugar or low fat content. But for me and many others the danger lies in that we are still letting food control our choices rather than just adopting a healthy intake that has no association with previous habits.

I know several people one who was very prominent here who made and ate sugar free supposedly high protein sweets and cakes who couldn't see why I refused to eat them. They were safe after all right? Six months later this lady is eating more and more of them and also eating sugared sweets and cakes and is gaining weight. This was because unless we avoid these Safe alternatives we run the risk of being dragged back to the dark side. So eating even a low fat, low calories zero taste sausage today could very easily lead to the proper really good ones down the line. My trigger food was pizza so I avoided them for three years because I can only do total avoidance as I don't do moderation very well.

It sounds as if you're well sorted and I'm sure you'll be a great success post op.

 

[Sarahj2710]

OMG Karlos, you're absolutely right. It's really funny, my boss's brother in law had the procedure done in 2009, and he was blending 'big mac's, and Krispy cream donuts to mush, so that he could eat it, and felt perfectly justified in doing this because it was in his calorie range. I thought that it was a dosguisting thing to do and swore that my calorie intake would be good calories, and on the whole, I am striking to that. You're right however, a sausage wasn't a good idea to soothe the meat craving, I could have had a piece of chicken instead, but thought that a low fat sausage was ok. I have my 'avoid' foods too, I've never been a sweet/cake eater but had no problem in consuming 3 pies or 6 pkt of crisps in one go, so I avoid the high fat savouries like the plague, and generally I am sticking to the good food choices. I guess having the tool to helping the weight loss a lot of the work comes from the mind set. I am getting there, I was just convinced that I would lose stones in the first few weeks. I need to manage my own expectations more! One thing that does confuse me though and would like some help with. I have read that people eat until they are satisfied. Well I am not very often hungry, and eat at specific times of the day because I know I need to eat, but how do you know you're satisfied if you weren't hungry in the first place?

 

[jeany]

Karlos. I remember reading a while ago a post from you in which you gave a example of your daily food intake. I thought this was really useful, but I was newly post op. Is there any chance you could re- post that or link to the original post. I did print it at the time but it's now disappeared somewhere - hopefully I've not eaten it!

Hope you don't mind me asking.

Thanks

 

[Karlos]

I have read that people eat until they are satisfied. Well I am not very often hungry, and eat at specific times of the day because I know I need to eat, but how do you know you're satisfied if you weren't hungry in the first place?

Hunger is not something you'll feel for many months post op. As to being satisfied, well I think they are confusing it with being full. The danger is that pre op as obese people the signals sent from your gut to your head that say hay I'm full stop eating, are cut off. Hence the almost inevitable increase in weight once we reach a certain level because we eat until we are unable to swallow another mouthful.

Post op those signals can take some time to reconnect, sometimes they never do as in my case so it can be tricky to rely on restriction as the guide to how much we eat because it might be that we are in fact over eating.

I wouldn't worry about being satisfied, I ate when I was due to eat and ate the measured amount and no more. Sometimes I couldn't manage the usual amount other days I might have been able to eat more but I just stuck to the portion control I knew would work.

My daily intake would have been like this

6.00 Protein shake with milk


7.15 12 Grapes no more no less LOL


8.00ish Small bowl complex cereal such as Weetabix or Shredded wheat with milk


10.00 single Fage yogurt, zero fat (I used to put protein powder in this some days to bulk it up to 20g of protein. It tastes yucky but is good for you, the 2% fat version is much nicer. This is a very expensive yogurt so only get it if you can eat it without throwing it up

12.30 Tuna salad full tin Tuna. I used to add a few pine nuts to this to increase the protein and eat the salad only after the fish had gone in. Salad would be 1 cherry tomato, iceberg or some bag lettuce leaf, two slices of cucumber, small serving of Lentil & Bean Shoots, little bit of Alfalfa & Radish Shoots, two pieces of celery, small amount of red and green peppers, desert spoon of low fat coleslaw, and I added low fat mayo to the Tuna. It cost a fortune to buy the stuff but it was so tasty and had good protein content.


2.00 1 Banana


4.00 1 Pear


6.00 after the gym Protein bar or shake


7.30 Evening meal of fish, chicken, or lean beef minced with veggies. I’d eat chilli a couple of times a week, Spagbol with a little pasta I'd even eat curried chicken with a little rice and sauce, but always ate the protein first and if I had room, then the carbs. I used oxo instead of gravy and avoided potatoes and bread. I measured out a small soup bowl that was filled to two thirds with food, and once it was gone it was one, I never went back for more and never ate to restriction.

9.30 If I could manage it I’d try to get another protein bar in, or a little cheese for a change. When I wanted to stop losing weight I changed this for half a bagel with full fat Philli on it

Now this worked for me, but remember I was working out six/seven days a week and lifting fairly heavy weights on three of those days to protect my muscle mass. That meant I needed more protein and my NUT agreed I should try to get in 120 to 130g a day minimum. Now that’s a lot and if you’re not working out hard you need less protein, around 80g should be enough.

Saturday mornings instead of cereal I would often have small tin baked beans low sugar and now and again I’d have the beans with little sausages in. I’d also eat lean bacon with the fat cut off. Once I'd reached goal and wanted to stop losing weight I switched back to full fat milk and mayo and I also ate one bag of Walkers cheese and onion crisp every two weeks

As I always say you should follow your surgeon’s plan because they know you better, and what works for one does not always work for another so I don’t advocate my diet for you or anyone, but this is more or less what I ate every day for two and a half years.

 

[jeany]

Thanks Karlos

I exercise 30 minutes 5 times a week, fast walking or cycling plus light wrights so will adjust taking this into account

Had my op at Salford last November and have lost 7.5 stone so far. 1.5 stone to reach goal set by my team.

Thanks again

Lindsay x