My "pouch reset" experience - a positive post!

I am having a lot of success with this new path I have taken to lose weight! I wanted to share with the hope that maybe some of my new habits can help spark some ideas for someone else.

I had VGS surgery about 6 years ago. My starting weight was 230, and my lowest weight was 175. As soon as I hit 175 I slowly started to creep back up and found my way to 215 and back on all those dang diabetic medications again!

I read about the pouch reset and decided to give it a try. Guys, I'm just going to give you MY opinion here... it's not a pouch reset, its a brain reset. It helped me put myself in check again with what I was putting in my mouth, and really feel that full again. I've told myself whenever I start feeling myself eating more than I should then I will simply do a pouch reset again, or even just do the liquids for a few days - it really helped me mentally.

Coming out of the pouch reset I made the following decisions that have been working great:

1. No more soda! Shame on me for every going back to it. Instead I carry a water bottle with me at all times, and I always have a few different MIO flavors in my purse.
2. If at all possible I follow the no liquids 30 mins before or after a meal. I struggle when I do brunch with friends and having coffee. But... I will not beat myself up for this. 80/20!
3. I log all my food on My Fitness Pal and make a goal of 1200 calories a day. I believe with gastric surgery this is attainable. But, I do not beat myself up over going out with friends and hitting 1500. I don't look at it as a failed day - its simply living my 80/20. I have fallen prey to eating the same things over and over again and I'm perfectly happy: Fiber One, Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Tacos, Protein Drinks, mini baby-bells, and Imitation Crab = my world haha. I watch my caloric intake, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. Oh, I also make sure that I'm taking all my vitamins as well.
4. I hate to work out, but I force myself every other day to do 20 minutes on the elliptical.
5. Fiber fiber fiber! I make sure that I have 25-30 grams every day which is hard to do the way we have been taught to eat high protein. So, I have a bowl of fiber one cereal with raspberries every day, and I get the rest of it by putting a fiber supplement in my water.
6. Yes, I hit a stall period right around 198-199. I decided to go off my diet for an entire day (whi*****luded a lot of beer haha), and that is also when I decided to start putting some focus on fiber.

So... the results so far? I have been doing this for 2 months and I have gone from 215 to 193 as of today!

I'm so glad I found your post.

I had my VSG in Nov 2010 and almost 8 years later, I feel like a complete failure... back up to my surgery day weight :(

I'm going to try your "reset" idea.

Congrats on your recent success.

Thank you!~Jocelyn

Complete failure here. My initial weight was 308 and lowest weight was 215. Surgery was in 2009. I'm now back to 280 pounds :( This is my own fault due to adopting bad habits again, fueled mostly due to a prolonged stall at my lowest weight. I believe the stall caused be to adopt some old, negative thinking patterns about my ability to lose weight and I said "screw it." One thing I experienced that was frustrating is that I never experienced a decrease in hunger. I'm well aware of the head hunger thing, but I obsessively read other people's posts on this site and most folks seemed to experience some decrease? Anyway, does anyone think it's possible to start the journey again? I've heard about the pouch reset and am willing to make some changes. Thoughts???

Well, I am in the same boat as you. My surgery was in Dec. 2010, and I lost 70 lbs, not far from my goal of 90 lbs. Then I was broadsided by a nasty divorce that I didn't see coming several years ago, and I fell off the wagon. Living alone, feeling betrayed, worrying about money & my future, I started the "couch potato & junk food" return. Now, I have gained nearly 40 lbs and am totally & completely disgusted with myself. I am back to feeling ashamed and not wanting to have a social life because I'm so self conscious. Like you, I never lost my feelings of hunger either, which makes things worse. I don't understand these people who have to "make" themselves eat, or "forget" to eat. NEVER has that happened for me. I want to try the pouch test, too, and getting back on the eating program that worked so well. I think I am ready to start over, but it is so hard to once again give up the crap. It gets such a hold on a person! Also, I am worried that I have stretched my little stomach, too, and that I won't lose weight with it anymore. I'm thinking that there's no way to know if this is the case until I actually try it. So don't feel alone out there...us humans make big mistakes.

Thanks, this is really encouraging!