POUCH RULES FOR DUMMIES

Could anyone tell me if they have followed these rules?  I am really stressed, had wls rny 2 years ago, weigh 147, gained 12 in the last few months.  So I started following rules and lost about 9 in a week, but I seem tense, and I get hungry in the afternoon, and on Sunday I binged and seemed to gain 5 in a day, is this possible?  Should I follow pouch rules?  Any advice?  I am also finding it difficult to judge 1 and 1/2 cups at a meal time, and tend to want to eat alot at a meal as I feel that I am not going to eat again for 5 hours.  I used to eat 5 - 6 small meals per day, but snacking crept in.

I would still eat the small 5 or 6 meals a day and curb the snacking or if you just get that munchy feeling take in 3 meals a day and 2 snacks but low calorie snacks like apples or 100 calorie snack packs.

Eating smaller meals throughout the day means you don't have to wait so long for your next meal.  Also, keep yourself busy.

What I do to help with munchies is I cut up an apple into many pieces so it seems like I am getting more. 

Unfortunately the pouch is a tool and can't do all the work.  (Boy I wished it could) What I wished there was a cure for was head hunger!!!!  But then again if we cured that most of us probably wouldn't need the WLS in the first place.

It is impossible to truly gain 5 pounds in one day.  1 pound = 3500 calories so do the math.  But it can reflect on the scale like that due to water weight especially if you binged carbs.  Many carbs are loaded with water.

Hang in there!  Don't beat yourself up.  Remember you get one body and one life try to control it and don't let it control you.  (That is something I say to myself each morning)

Thanks so much, I am definitely going to include and apple or low cal protein bar as snacks as with this rules of the pouch I am definitely eating to many carbs, when I have my 3 big meals all I want is bread or dough, going hungry leads me to crave white carbs.  A small snack e.g. fat free yoghurt and fruit I am hoping will lead me to have to have less at meals, even if I have to eat more frequently.

I don't follow the pouch rules to a T, but the principle behind the rules are excellent -- especially for someone further out like you.  I wait about 30-60 minutes after a meal to start drinking again... the longer I wait, the more full I feel for longer and don't get hungry as quickly. 

I also eat on a very specific schedule -- about every 3-4 hours.  I eat 3 main meals per day, 1 protein shake in the morning and 1 or 2 small snacks between.  So a total of 5 to 6 meals/snacks per day.  I weigh or measure my food religiously - the scale that sits on my countertop is the most used appliance in my kitchen and I keep the measuring cups out on the counter too.  I try to keep my meals to around 250 calories each and snacks at around 100-125 calories.  No matter what I eat, there must be protein as part of the meal and I try to balance the amount of protein with the amount of carbs.  So if I eat 10g protein, I'm allowed up to 10g carb.  If I eat a piece of fruit, it must be balanced with protein (grapes and cheesestick or apple and peanut butter or salad w/ chicken, etc.).

Water keeps me from getting hungry between meals.  I often forget to start drinking again after I eat, so I have a few different alarms set on my cell phone to go off at different times to remind me.  I also often forget my 4:30 pm snack, so I have an alarm for that too.  If I forget the mid-afternoon snack, then I'm overly hungry for dinner and end up eating whatever I can get my hands on instead of making a healthy, well-thought out choice.

Whenever I'm tempted to have a snack when I shouldn't I find myself checking the clock.  If I know a scheduled snack is  coming up in 1 hour, I can put off that unplanned grazing habit knowing I've got a yummy snack coming up in a little bit. 

I think the key to success for me is having a very strict eating schedule.  I've also learned to  really listen to my body to pick up ques about how I feel -- is that real hunger or head hunger or a grazing habit or an emotional trigger to eat?  I also track all the food that passes my lips in my food journal (www.fitday.com) and this helps to keep me honest about what I'm eating.  I ate a cookie last night ... and it went on my food log.  Every single calories I eat or drink must be logged (gum, water, vitamins, 1 M&M, etc.) because even if I'm not counting calories, my body still is.

Good luck
Pam

Thanks Pam,

I am going to try follow the pouch rules.  What do you think of the 5 day pouch test?

Shirley

I personally haven't tried it and probably never will.  I've heard of enough surgeons saying that there's never a reason to go back to all liquids like is required with the pouch test diet.  It doesn't shrink your stomach like many say (which is biologically impossible anyway).  The only good thing about it is the mental aspect ... forcing you to think about what's going in your mouth and be strict with your eating for 5 days.  But you can accomplish that same thing with a sensible meal plan.

The pouch test is too much like a diet, in my opinion.  And we didn't sign up for a diet after WLS.   We signed up for a change in our relationship with food, the way we eat and how we live our lives... it lasts a lot longer than 5 days.  I'd rather see people use those "5 days" to get themselves back on track with the right kind of eating, meals, snacks, water, vitamins, exercise, etc.

JMHO
Pam