Day Four Musings

Just posted this on my blog and thought I'd put it out here too in case anybody has insomnia issues and needs some sleep-inducing reading. Five Day Pouch Test After having read about this on the internet for months now I decided to join friends here on OH and do it. I still don't eat white flours, potatoes, pastas etc, so I don't need the 5DPT to 'cure' me of that but it would still be fun to try. But I know that I am eating way too many whole-grain, fruit and dairy carbs because my Sparkpeople tallies just don't lie...those carb counts have climbed higher and higher in the last few months. So I shopped and prepped to be all 'set' to do it. Protein shakes, here we come! Day One with the full liquids wasn't a problem...my resolve was good and even though I got the carb-withdrawal headache it didn't deter me. Day Two: pretty much the same though it seems my calorie counts both liquid days was pretty high. I figured...well, it is just a short test and 'what the heck'. A few days of high calories and higher-than-normal fats (wow, those soup recipes from the website are SO HIGH IN FATS!!!) isn't going to kill me and if I gain weight from it I can always just go back to a regular eating plan and get it off that way. And surprise, surprise...the little 'Valentine's Sugar Free Candy Gain' (did I fail to mention that I chewed my way out of my size four jeans with that evil stuff???) l-)began to go away a pound at a time. Ok. That makes for some nice additional motivation! Even though the headache was still with me through Day Two I kept at it. By the end of Day Two I was wanting to chew a little more but still not a big problem. After all, here comes Day Three and the famous Hallelujia Chorus Egg Meals. What a letdown! Day Three and the eggs made me nauseated. Since my original wls in '99 I haven't eaten 'real eggs' very often because they either always got stuck or just made me sick but Egg Beaters-type products always worked. But the plan calls for real eggs (it really seems to push higher-fat food choices) so that's what I tried. Yuck...one thing the 5DPT has done is cure me of any possible egg cravings I've had. Day Three I was so hungry! (And STILL had the headache!) The semi-soft foods just didn't satisfy me and I never felt satiated. Never felt that 'aha' pouch sensation that so many others have reported. If it wasn't for the fact that the scale was still inching back where it should be I might have considered quitting. It seemed like a lot of trouble for not much in the way of results. Luckily for me, MelissaF gave me some great encouragement. She is one of the most wonderful people I've run across here on OH and a real blessing to all of us she has helped. So thanks to Melissa I switched plans to eat some turkey meatballs for Day Four instead of using the chicken that I'd prepped (ground meats generally aren't a good thing for me). When I was cooking them on the evening of Day Three they smelled so good and made me so hungry that I decided to skip ahead for the evening and eat a portion of them. Wow, it made all the difference in the world! At last I felt the 'aha...here's the pouch!' sensation and it wasn't painful. AND the headache went away. Now we insert the Hallelujia Chorus: So on to Day Four, or 'Meatball Day' as I am thinking of it. haha It is working out great! My protein count is going to be astronomical and I am having less carb cravings today too. I'll be honest...I still want them and think that a mere five-day period without them isn't really enough for a true carb detox. We'll see... Planned for dinner tonight...Mahi Mahi. Mmmm! Too bad we are out of propane, my husband bbq's the BEST Mahi Mahi for me. He takes the time to set up the smoking chips and makes it so delicious because he knows I don't eat steak anymore so he goes out of his way to make it a treat for me. Totally cool, huh? 25 years and he is still so thoughtful. Don't know how I got so lucky but I'm sure thankful! Haven't decided yet what to eat on Day Five now that I'm doing so well with the turkey meatballs. Chicken is notorious for getting my stoma plugged and I dread that day so much even though I did prep the meat and have it ready to go. On a normal day I'd just be eating my chicken with fat free ranch dressing but that turns it into a 'slider' and is against the 5DPT rules. We'll see... At any rate, whatever I end up eating I'm thrilled that this has given me back the feeling of self-control over my food impulses and my size fours are getting more comfortable. For a reward, I bought myself a gardening kneeler-pad and hope that it will allow me to get back on the floor and resume my Pilates. My regular exercise mat just isn't protection enough for the Tailbone From Hell. But I'm sick and tired of the muffin top and the lack of muscle tone in my abs. Time to get tough!!! Would I recommend the 5DPT? Yes. I'm not saying you'll have earth-shattering results but even if all you get out of it is a regained sense of determination to stick to your surgeon's rules then it is definitely worth it. One thing I've gotten from it is another cold, hard look at my really awful sweets addiction. Now that I can resist the carb temptation a little easier I am very leery of adding back too many 'allowable' sweets. The sugar free chocolates that I hid shouldn't come back after the fifth day as I had planned. (Merri Lou [my dietician] might read this and think..Well, DUH!) Even though I used them sensibly in the past as a way to control my cravings I just got too overconfident with them and then out of control. I've been through this pattern before in the past year and should have seen the warning signs. I'm going to do some serious praying and soul-searching over the possibility of trying to go cold-turkey on chocolate the way Carol Pielli has. That might be the only long-term answer for me. Or maybe I will just keep repeating the 5DPT as needed...

Molly I am sooo proud of you I do not do the sugar free chocolate as it is a trigger food and 1 would turn into 1 bag. I did get the calcium chews in chocolate and will have a couple of them in the afternoon while I am cooking dinner. I will have to try the 5 day again. I am so happy for you and Melissa. D

Thank you, Diana! Your support means a lot and if it weren't for you asking for someone to do this with you I would probably still be on the fence about it. The sugar free chocolates used to be a really good tool for me...I'd only eat one per day. Then that turned into two and up. I never ate more than one in a half-hour period because I was afraid of diarrhea so all they ever did to me was give me gas (oh phew!) and then ultimately when I got too ****y with them, gain weight. I think the next time I do the test I will change day three. No eggs or tuna, maybe that day I'll just skip ahead to the ground meat. Or maybe just do three days of liquids. ?? All I know is that it has all of a sudden really made me glad I did it. Even tonight-- I was prepping veggies and meats for tomorrow (good produce sales so I overbought) and I 'cheated' and ate a floret of cauliflower and it tasted so sweet! It has probably been since around month five or six post-op since I've noticed things like that. Nice to have that back!

Yeah for you Molly! I think you have done great on this honestly! Better than I.. look at my what did you eat today post from yesterday (ducks and hides and RUNS) and well getting back into control of our "issues" whatever they maybe is the goal and understanding fullness better with our pouch.. taking our time to eat and enjoy what restriction it can give us when we don't focus so much on "slider" foods b/c we are wanting something to go down easy.. is really really what its all about and for me getting that damn.. yes I said "damn" carb monster off my back! I have to do that from time to time b/c even good carbs get me going with low blood sugars and just feeling "craveful". Keep up the good work Molly I am so glad your 4's are fitting you better.. mine still aren't as comfy as they could be and I am sure I will need to keep working it hard to get all my weight back off but I am willing to put op the fight. March is a lot less busy and stressful for me. I have to present at our support group at the end of the month so I have that lecture and handouts to prepare but at least I am working on something that will only benefit me and help me with the rules of WLS... a great thing. I am happy to have some slow down time.. for real. Thanks for the shout out Molly but honestly... what would I do without you and the rest of this board honestly? The weeks I was away was He*% for me.. its not worth getting away.. i lose myself into old preop habits bc I am not being accountable with u all nor myself nor am I getting the good and gentle "kick in the pants" I need when I need it or the reassurance I need from time to time.. that we ALL need from time to time. Lets make a pact to try to keep this board alive.. never let it die.. might be a hard thing to maintain as I see many boards (surgery boards) fizz out over time but I wish ours could withstand time.. we can certainly try.. being that we are almost 1.5 years out (hard to imagine!) we have sure done well keeping it alive thus far! Better get ready for work! Thanks again for all you do to help me and others on this board Molly, you are soooo appreciated! *HUGS*