Will we have to eat like this forever???

Hi, I was just wondering, they say that our pouches will stretch out to an average 6 oz by the time we are done. i am wondering if we will always have to not drink 1/2 hour before and after and never during our meals or if eventually we will be able to have a little water or such during meals. will our pouch become such that we can handle that?? any help is greatly appreciated thanks so much stacy leary 262.5/145.0

Here's what I've been told and heard at my support group meetings. The oz of food will depend a lot on the food. You could eat a lot more mashed pototes than you could chicken. The pototes are mussy so you can hold more in your pouch. The chicked is more dence therefor you would have a hard time eating say 6oz of chicked in one serving. About waiting 1/2 hour to eat after you have drunk something, is because, I've been told that's it's because our pouch can not hold much. So you want the water out of your pouch before you eat so that you are getting filled up on your good food choices. The reason you wait the 1/2 after you finish eating is somewhat the same. You don't want to push the food out of your pouch to soon or you will get hungry more quickly. Hopefully this helped some. Robin W.

I've heard the same as above. However, I have been drinking shortly after eating. I get very thirsty. maybe I'm not drinking enough before? mark g.

Hi Stacy, I think Mark and Robin hit the nail on the head. I can certainly eat more of some things than others. On the other hand, I have always drank something with my meals (it's an old habit that just wouldn't die). You do get full faster but I make sure I get enough protein in first. I've never waited a half hour or anything like that so for me it hasn't been a problem. I also make sure I save room for dessert only now I do it in moderation! I had my surgery on 11/5/03 and so far haven't had any complications (knock-on-wood) or dumping (I've never even thrown up) and I've lost 126 lbs. so whatever I'm doing has worked for me. The biggest change in my life since the surgery is my exercise. I do it 90 min. to 2 hrs per day and I never had the stamina for that before. I eat regular foods in small portions, drink 72 ozs water per day (that's not a problem living in Nevada) and get in 60 - 90 grams of protein per day. I think your body will let you know what you can do as far as drinking while eat, etc.