I'm two years out as of October also. I find the same thing with food. If I follow the plan and eat protein first, I still can stick to a cup of food at a meal. However, I am surprised when I can eat a whole toasted western, although much slower than before surgery. I could eat two slices of pizza and it scares me, so I choose not to eat it. I also drink socially, rye and diet coke or a glass of wine. I find I'm tolerating alcohol differently however and it i****ting me way too quickly now. 

Best of luck on your continued journey

The amount we can eat varies from person to person and even day to day.  I have "big pouch days" and I have "little pouch days" too.  Long-term success depends far more on your patterns and food choices than how "big" your pouch is.

Staying on-program most of the week and having a night out sounds pretty reasonable to me and if you're maintaining your weight then it sounds like it's working for you.  Congratulations.

I am 1 year,7 months out. I could eat "normal portions" of mushy foods IF I wanted to.

But I dont want to.

I had the surgery to help me lose weight and KEEP IT OFF. Part of keeping it off is staying within the stage appropiate volumes and calories.

No judgement from me. I think you are lucky in the sense that you can give yourself a play day. Unfortunately, my personality and (lack of) self-displicine (sp) is such that: if I fall off the wagon, I roll in the mud for eternity and NEVER get back on the wagon.  So, my solution is just to stay on the wagon.