i am so concerned

I am so afraid that I have stretched my pouch. I have been so bad about drinking and eating. I drink diet pepsi all day long. I am worried that I have done damage. I am not sure the amount of food that we should be eating now. I know that I should because, I used to be on top of this all. But, I am not anymore. I have not gained any weight but, I haven't lost in months. So everyone please let me know are you guys able to eat a hot dog on a piece of bread. Or a taco from taco bell. or a half a sandwich. I am flipping out. Thanks for listening. Wendy Is it possible to shrink your stomach back.

Well, you must not be eating too much otherwsie you would have gained. You must be eating enough to maintain - that's a positive so that when you reach goal you will have experience of what it is like How much have you lost already - how much more til goal and is this your goal, your surgeons goal and do you think it is a realistic goal - it could be that you are at a reasonable weight for your body and don't need to lose more - you don't say. And lastly, I have found that the more I eat, the more I can eat...and the less I eat, the less I can eat, if you understand??? So I dont' know about stretching and shrinking stomaches, but I do know how it feels and when I know I'm eating too much, a couple of days being strict with myself will readjust my stomach to only be able to eat less. Hope that helps and don't stress so much!!! As you say, you've done it before, you know what to do, you just need to get back into the driving seat again. Keep posting here and you'll soon be seeing yourself back into routine again. Ruth

Hi Wendy - I'm really glad that you posted this because I have been dealing with the same issues. For example, I am hooked on diet pepsi, and have gotten to the point of drinking 2 2-liters a day, in addition to the 64oz of water. I'm truly addicted to it. Is there a Diet Pepsi Anonymous somewhere? I'm currently trying to get off of it, but its hard. I think I'm using it to self-medicate to compensate for all the sedating medications I'm on. I'm scared I've stretched my pouch, and don't want to tell my surgeon the truth next week about how much I am drinking. I'm not sure about how much we should or could be eating at this point either in terms of the size of my pouch. I find that at different times of the day, I can eat different amounts of food. My emotions also affect how much I can eat. I can eat a half sandwich, depending on what is in it, and also depending on the time of day, my emotions, etc. I can eat a 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich and 5 grapes for lunch. In the morning I can eat most of a South Beach Diet Meal Replacement Bar. Sometimes I can eat 1 doughnut, and others I can eat 2, but with difficulty. (I have not been eating good things this summer, doing a lot of emotional eating, so I'm not the best role model). I am probably not a good example because I have regained weight because I have been emotionally eating most of this summer, but I would be interested in what others are eating. Maybe we can have a "what have you eaten today" posting again. Take care, Heather

Pepsi an addiction is something I am very familiar with. Many years ago I was consuming at least 2 six packs along with 4 trips to 7/11 for the super big gulps.. it was bad. I had constant heart burn.. I quit drinking them and felt so much better. than about 3 years ago I went to work at a place that only had a soda vending machine so i though... hmmm i can handle it and drink one.. sure enough within a month I was right back to drinking gallons of the stuff a day. Before surgery I was told I would have to quit drinking them again and I did.. I promised myself that day I wouldnt drink them again so as of today I am a little over 2 years out from drinking sodas. They are really that addicting and I dont want to start that habit again. good luck to you

your stomach should be the size of your fist right now. you 'should' be able to eat about a 1 cup container of food. I can put away 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of canned fruit or 1 medium granny smith apple. for instance, today I had a single serving of cream of wheat (3 table spoons dry mixed with 1 cup of water and boiled and then I added 1/2 a cup of milk and 1 tsp of splenda and 1/2 tsp of butter and that was my breakfast I can eat about 2 -3 oz of cooked chicken, honestly have not calibrated my pouch in ages but plan to since I have gained 7 lbs in the last 3 months. just remember some food is slider food and it just slides right through, like cream of wheat and cottage cheese, other food is mushable food like salad and cooked vegetables and you can get a buttload more down before you 'feel' the stretch then there is the food that refuses to smoosh, chicken/steak/pork and that is my 'calibrator' I need to do this this week as well to find out what is going on, am I eating too much or am I eating the wrong stuff to create the gain. i do not think that it is the volume, but the content.

yes, you can shrink it back some, and I don't eat bread much so have never tried the hot dog bun thing, but I can eat a soft chicken taco with most (not all of the shell from taco bell)... I would be addicted to soda again...LOL but it makes me feel so bloated....

late to your post but wanted to let you know that i can eat bread without a problem. Can do a whole sandwich sometimes. Re soda I can count on onehand and still have fingers leftover but I've never been into soda.