Holy Moly!!!

OK... Yesterday I was very hungry and didnt "snack" so I decided to get a sandwhich. I thought...ok I will pick this puppy apart and have lots for later. Um NO. I ate the WHOLE THING!!! I had toasted multigrain bread with: Lettuce, tomato, sweet peppers, turkey and bacon!!!! I ate the whoooollleee thing! YEP ONE SITTING! I could NOT believe that I could eat the whole sandwhich. This was NO small sandwhich by any means!!! AND I ate it rather quickly! Only took me like 30 minutes if that! WHat is up with that...is that normal? Can anyone else here eat that darn much????? I am really starting to feel like my tool is holding way way too much and that I am done loosing and going to fail at this. I mean I guess I havent failed being I lost 107 pounds but I mean Im still 227 and Im only 5'4 so I have ALOT more to loose!!! Ah I guess its stupid saying I wont be able to lose more I know I need to hit the liquids again...but its frustrating that I can eat sooo much! Is my tool going to keep working for me? (no I didnt drink with the sandwhich either) so it just all fit in my pouch. Im telling you guys...she really piled on the turkey and this was a big sandwhich. Anyone else out there that can eat that much in one sitting? Think there is something wrong or my pouch is much bigger than the average? Elizabeth M

There are times that I am shocked by how much I can eat. Thank you for sharing this story because it is a terrific reminder that the pouch IS just a tool and we can't depend on it to control our behavior. Before surgery, sometimes I would eye up a plate and think, no way that's going to be enough. After surgery, I was shocked at how much I had left over. One of the most important things about the pouch is its ability to teach us how much food we *need* versus how much we would want to eat, or would eat just because it fit. I think it would be a good idea, for example with the sandwich, to separate out how much you know should go into your pouch, and either throw the rest away right away or wrap it up and put it away, BEFORE you start eating. That way you don't lose track of how much you ate and you don't have to rely on your pouch to stop you. You get the right amount, don't risk eating more than you need, and don't have to worry that your pouch holds too much. We have to learn to portion out food to the *need* size and then only eat what we need. It's dangerous to have more on the plate, hanging around to be eaten. And that way you won't have to worry about if your pouch is stretched or not or worry that it won't work anymore as an effective "stop". Eventually the pouch really WON'T work as a "stop" so we need to get off that crutch as soon as we can and get used to what portions are right for us instead of what our eyes think or our old stomachs think. I think we have a few more months left but eventually, our pouch is not going to save us.

I could eat that much...right from the start I could eat more than 4 ounces...my surgeon told me that the pouch grows up to about 12 ounces by this time and if you took that sandwich and put it in a blender it probably was only about 8-12 ounces....just because it was "hard" and bulky it seems like a lot. I guess it means we have to "think" about what we put into our mouths and use our heads and can't just rely on our pouches telling us...LOL Then again, I am sure you have found days that you get stuffed on a couple pieces of fruit....it is still very mysterious. Good Luck, you are doing well. Sally

Yep! I can eat that much. But I find that when I do, I don't get hungry again that day. In other words it is the only meal for the day unless I remind myself to eat some cheese or other protein snack. Joy

Sadly, I can eat that much as well. I find that there are days I can eat that much without blinking - like you - but then other days I find I can't eat as much. It's weird how one day I can eat a whole sandwich and the next I cannot. I generally use low-carb bread which is thinner and slightly smaller than regular bread, but I can load it up with just about anything and poli**** off if I am really hungry. Peanut butter and banana has been a favorite lately and that is no problem. I can eat an egg sandwich and have 2 eggs on it and usually eat the whole thing. I can eat what looks like a whole plate of spaghetti and I can eat a whole double decker taco and a regular taco at once. (I only did this once to see how much I could hold....I refuse to do that regularly and try not to have Taco Bell more than 1x a month). So yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Pouch, and he can hold more than I wish. The one thing about this though is that I had a reality check one day when I had a sandwich I made with regular bread and I loaded it up as I normally would...to the same thickness of my other sandwiches, and that day at least I could not eat it all. I quickly came to a realization that my idea of portion size has changed drastically in the last year and what I thought was such a huge amount really wasn't. It's just not the micro sized portions we ate when we got out of surgery. We just aren't prepared to be able to eat enough to look like we are eating normal looking sizes. Like Sally, I ate 4 oz right out of the starting gate. This gave me much grief, so although I'm not happy about being able to eat this much, I am actually comforted by this thread because it shows that I'm not so much different than many others who have had this surgery at this point. Although, when I eat out with other group members locally, I still can eat more than they do and that is disconcerting to me. I think the thing is that right now is the time we really need to learn how to water load (I hate water, so it will have to be Propel or similar) and follow the pouch rules. The other thing, Elizabeth, is that you ate that whole "huge" sandwich over 30 minutes. That's quite a long time to take to eat a sandwich. I would inhale it in less than 10 - although probably not a larger sandwich like you had. I have been able to eat more if I nurse it like that too. So what you were probably doing is waiting until it emptied out a bit and ate more. This is where I get confused with some surgeons. Some say to not eat too fast, but then if you take too long, you are creating more room for your meal. I've always subscribed to eating at a normal pace and filling up then stopping. My problem is that I have to eat while at work sometimes and while dispatching you get a bite in here and there when you can, so I end up nursing when I don't intend on it. Don't freak out too much - you and I are so close in how we are doing after surgery, and I think we just need to shore each other up at times like these so we can continue losing together. I wish you were closer and we could exercise together!!! Dina

Elizabeth, I ate 6 inch sub, minus one of the pieces of bread and scared the hell out of myself. I thought I was going to eat 1/2 and save 1/2 for later, but the whole thing was gone before I knew it. I haven't ordered a sub since because I don't trust myself. Here's the good news. I have a flaming sinus infection that has been taking over my whole head. It hurts to eat so I haven't eaten much the last several days. Today was the first day that didn't hurt to eat and I couldn't fit in more than a couple of bites. My whole consumption for the day is three bites of chicken, a few bites of beans and 4 shrimp. I really do think that if you just cut back or go to liquids for a few days, you'll find yourself with a petite pouch again. And speaking of my sinus infection, here's a warped story. I was REALLY in pain the second night. My right ear and sinuses were infected and impacted so the doctor prescribed a pain medication which makes me loopy, something to drain the sinuses which makes me dopey and an antibiotic. I'm already on Soma for my back. So I'm loaded up with drugs (better living through chemistry) and head to bed. I always have strange dreams when I'm taking medication. I must have been hungry because I dreamt that I was going to eat spaghetti sauce, but didn't want to eat the carbs in pasta so had to put it on something else. For some reason, the perfectly logical thing to do was dip my cat Runtley in the spaghetti sauce and pick the meat and mushrooms out of his fur. Runtley was not amused. When I woke up, I found Runtley at the foot of the bed giving me a steeley eyed stare. Hang in there honey. We're all in the same boat and we'll get through this. Well, maybe not Runtley. Connie

Elizabeth, I am feeling so much of what you're feeling as well. I had a very good day yesterday, concentrating on protein and liquids, stayed away from solids for the most part. But here's something I discovered that worked well for me. Remember early on when we were all naming our pouches? We came up with some pretty clever terms of endearment, as if our pouches were puppies or kittens we could love to pieces and that would love us back -- and take care of us. I thought about this yesterday, I thought about "Reenie's Teeny Wonder" and realized I had disconnected emotionally from my little pouch. Once in a while I'll make a stupid joke to my family, "My stomache hurts...I don't know which one, but it hurts." Otherwise, I haven't thought about that little pouch too much. So I did yesterday. More importantly, I visualized my pouch, I needed to see it in my mind before I could attempt to take care of it. Once I saw it in my mind, I saw it working hard on my behalf; I saw it trying to take care of me...and then I started to visualize what I'm dumping into it; I saw some of the foods I've eaten lately and in big quantitie****ting my pouch and just sitting there while my pouch worked overtime trying to pass it through. This made me realize the danger I'm putting myself in every time I choose to eat unhealthy foods in unhealthy amounts. I can't tell you how this has helped me! My cravings have calmed and I feel so much more in control. Now I try to visualize the good stuff and how much happier Reenie's Teeny Wonder is in processing that through. Health over Hurt all the way. I know this may sound weird to some of you, but it helped me. We simply need to take good care of ourselves. Simple in concept anyway but oh so difficult to do in real life. Take care, sweetie. Maureen

Whoa happy what a dream!!! Poor ol' Runtley!! thats funny! Those are some crazy meds! I was on vicodin once and that med makes you have insane dreams as well. I swear as soon as my head would hit the pillow I would start having vivid WEIRD dreams! Dinka...yeah, its weird how one day 2 bites can make you feel full then the next day 50 bites is like nothing. yeah I wish we lived closer as well that would be so cool since we are on the same path...although you are ahead of me now since I stopped loosing. I think the liquid thing will work. I am just waiting till after new years day because I have a family get together on the 1st and they would be so hurt if I didnt eat a thing there you know. but Im gonna stick with veggies and fruit!!! NO more goodies for me! SO I will be ready on sunday I think. I am definitely staying away from sandwhiches!!! I wi**** was like when we first got out of surgery again. minus the pain and such of course. lol. Taking that little bit and feeling full and the nausea being stronger and such. I stopped missing bread and didnt feel like eating much. NOW its starting to all fade away. I didnt even miss bread until I started eating it again. Well not that I really ate bread. I had some bread at the macaroni grill it was a rosemary loaf baked in the oven that you pull apart, dip in olive oil and eat. (Insert homer simpson drooling donught sound) but cant eat much of that though. I still can go without its not a big deal really. so nixing the sandwhiches!!! I need to go back to no carbs. no sugar or breads or pastas! Its going to be sooo hard on sunday to do this liquid diet but I am going to do it! OH I got the yummiest protein shake I ever tasted yesterday! I went during my lunch time and bought a variety of different shakes to mix things up and this one was called Muscle Milk. isnt that a funny name! it was Banana Creme flavor BUT it had 330 calories in one container but had 32 grams of protein and it was really darn good! i think maybe 2 g of sugar i think. so see if you guys can find it its really yummy! Elizabeth M

I am sure all of our pouches are much bigger then we think. I know i just don't let myself eat to fill it. But i will admitt i have ate more then i should have at times. We are only human, and it will happen. From what i have seen so far, you are doing great, so don't let this eat ya up. Keep up the good work.

i am very glad to be reading this thread-i thought something was wrong with me! at conference in LA; i ate with tealady, windy pat and jeanniedavis(from teh Over 50 forum) and i felt like i had never had surgery compared to these gals- felt like i was a piggie-- however- funny thing- i LOST weight that weekend!!!!!