Testing your pouch to see how many ounce u can hold

Hi Everyone, I had my gastric bypass (RNY) 5 years ago. I have gain about 17 pounds back.
I feel every pounds too.  I started to gain back about a year and a half ago.  Not Happy.
I was wondering how do i test my pouch to see if it is still in working mold. I also wonder if someone could tell me how many ounce's my pouch is suppost to hold 5 years out?  Thank you Debra

Hi,

I've never tried this.  Some folks find it confusing.

So, how do you measure up? Are you accomplishing the feeling of satiety at each meal? Do you know how big your stomach pouch is? Would you like to? Nearly every patient is curious to know just exactly how big their stomach pouch is. The following technique is used by bariatric surgeons and patients to determine the functional size of a patient's stomach pouch. The idea for this technique began with Dr. E. E. Mason, at one of the Iowa Bariatric Symposia in the early 1980's, who suggested that it might be useful to ask patients to eat cottage cheese, in a structured manner, to attempt to determine their functional meal volume at different times postoperatively. Dr. Laytham Flanangan (website: The Oregon Center for Bariatric Surgery)is known for his research and experience in developing the "Cottage Cheese Test."This test is accepted as a standardized, reproducible measurement of the physicalsize of the stomach pouch in a person who has undergone a gastric bypass procedure. The Cottage Cheese Test

1. Purchase a container of small curd low-fat cottage cheese.
2. Begin the test with a full container of cottage cheese, and perform the test in the morning before eating anything else. This will be your breakfast on that day.
3. Eat fairly quickly until you feel full (less than five minutes). Note that the small soft curds do not require much chewing. You are eating rapidly so you will fill the pouch before there is time for any food to flow out of it.
   After eating your "fill" of cottage cheese, you will be left witha partially eaten container that has empty space where cottage cheese used to be.
4. Measure the volume of cottage cheese you have eaten by filling a two cup (16 fl.oz.) measuring cup with water. Pour water into the container of cottage cheese until the water level rises to the original top level of the cottage cheese.
5. The amount of water poured into the container is the functional size of your pouch.

Dr. Flanagan's research indicates that the average volume of the mature stomach pouch, measured by this method, is 5.5 ounces (163 ml). Additionally, he reached the conclusion that, "sizes ranging up to 9 ounces have NO IMPACT on the person's success in weight loss". This means that unless your pouch holds a greater volume than 9 ounces (267 ml), the exact size of your pouch is not a critical factor in whether or not you can lose excess weight and then manage your weight as time progresses.  

Hi Debra, I've had a slight regain the past few months also, and it's slooooowww getting it back off.  I saw someone post the cottage cheese test, I don't believe it truly tells us anything because it's a mush.

I know I have good striction when I eat dense protein, namely steak or chicken.  It's not focusing on the dense protein first for me along with grazing on things I shouldn't that has allowed me to eat more and gain weight.

It appears to me most RNYers at our stage should be able to eat 8-12 oz at a meal depending on what it is......I can honestly say when I eat my protein first and then a few bites of other stuff then I still cannot eat 8 oz consistantly at a meal.  For instance, I can eat about 4 oz of steak or chicken with a few bites of veggies and be satsified.  The thing is being comfortable and not feeling stuffed, listening to the pouch.

Good luck, you can refocus and get the weight off; don't look for it to happen as quickly as before.

Have you heard of the 5 day pouch test??  It is a really good tool to utilize.  (the first day or 2 is bear with "head-hunger")
http://www.5daypouchtest.com/

-Jamie