5 day pouch test advice

I hear a lot of people on here talk about the five day pouch test.  I understand the concept, etc. but can you guys tell me the pros and cons and if you really found it that much helpful?  It seems faddish but I want to keep an open mind about it and consider doing it soon. Thank you!

I did it just to do it, no other purpose. Here is my *opinion* Good - reminds you of the rules, gets your refocused on protein, reminds you to chew chew chew, focuses you on getting in fluids, makes you weight/measure portions so you get refoced on proper portion size, helps you reconnect with your pouch. Some say it breaks the 'carb craving cycle' but I wasnt in one of those. People say it will 'shrink' the pouch, I do not agree.. physically a 5 day change in eating cannot really 'shrink' a pouch..... it will however make you more aware of your pouch and force you to 'listen' to it and realize when you are full giving the *appearance* of a tighter pouch. I found I was eating past the point of being satisified because I had more to eat.. I had to re-adjust my portion sizes and be more aware of what my body was telling me - basically eat more mindfull. Bad - I lost 5lbs and quickly regained 4, any time you cut carbs you will lose *water weight* typically when you add carbs back the weight comes back as well. I had very low energy and was rather cranky as well. The day after the 5dpt I ate a salad and was running back and forth to the bathroom for hours... for the next 3-4 days I had stomach cramps, gas and diarreah. I would say it honestly took me a week to recover before I felt 'normal'. Overall - I feel you can incorporate the good parts without doing the restrictive eating portion.. if you simply commit to food logging, no drinking 30 minutes before/after meals, weight/measure your portions, eat balanced, drink your water then you should be able to achieve the overall effect. However if you are some carb/sugar addict who feels they need to 'detox' then it could be good for you. Any time Ive felt off track I simply food/water log for 2 weeks and that seems to do it for me.

Well, it's great if you are off track with your pouch rules for quite a while, such as drinking with meals, eating too many sugars and carbs, not getting enough protein, eating til full rather than satisfied, forgetting to listen to your pouch...etc!  If you just do it to do it...and no other reason, and you don't have any of these issues...well then there's really no good purpose to try to get on track, now is there?   When you have some, of these troubles, such as the carb monster....you have gas, and a grumpy pouch , are always hungry and feel pretty yucky most days.  Doing this test totally forces you to control the bad habits...It's not to lose weight...although some people do.... I lost some and gained most of it back...then I couldn't seem to stabilze the weight I lost there after. I really didn't know how many calories I was eating.  So I really had to learn to keep on track after the 5DPT and change my eating amounts as well. Even though I was working on 10 lbs , I had maintained my weight for 4 years...I also was sick and didn't know it so what I thought was lazy was actually fatigue...and so I didn't have the energy to exercise... I realized that when you don't get in good daily exercise, you MUST cut your calories until you can start a work out again. Notrmally, my eating adjusts to my activity, but with all the sugar I had began eating, I had severe hunger cravings and just felt insatiable.  I have nothing bad to say about it, except I was a bit frustrated when I felt so great after I did it...and I still couldn't seem to keep my weight loss stabile. I kept going up and down by 3-4 lbs and I couldn't figure it out.  I finally realized I needed to keep better track of my intake by journaling my food to get a handle on that, and to cut back on calories even though I had substituted carbs for protein...I needed to cut more calories until I began exercise again.   Hope that makes some sense...

If you want another alternative which provides the same result, you can do the 3 day liquid protein train as done on Bariatric Eating.   I am posting the general guidelines but it is not as strict and you don't have to buy or make special foods. Who Should do the 3 Day LPT? 1. If you have gotten off track (or just plain de-railed in your weight loss journey!), then the 3 day LPT is for you. 2. If you find that you are addicted to carbs, are eating junk food, are snacking and grazing, then the 3 day LPT is for you. 3. If you need to jump start your weight loss once again, then the 3 day LPT is for you. 4. For those who have no weight to lose and are not addicted to carbs, this is probably not necessary. Instead, you may want to check out Susan Maria’s Basic Bariatric Eating Plan to stay on track. Before You Begin: 1. How many days will I do this program? Normally it’s done for 3 days. You may choose to continue for up to 5 days. Anything over this might be excessive. 2. Will I drink ONLY protein shakes or will I add a light supper? The choice is entirely up to you. If you are able to get rid of carb cravings by cutting back to eating a light supper (high protein), then you may want to stick with drinking shakes all day but a light supper at night. However, if you are overly addicted to carbs and need a more aggressive approach, the full liquid shake only approach may be the best for you. Preparation for the Program: 1. Make sure you have plenty of protein shakes available – there’s nothing worse than to be in the middle of a program and run out of products! Stock up on high protein, low carb, low sugar and low calorie protein powders or ready to drinks. Bariatric Eating sells a wide variety of great tasting protein products. 2. Decarb your pantry – get rid of foods that you should not have (crackers, chips, cookies, high carb sugar free products) as these will be a stumbling block to you. Also, the purpose of the LPT is to get back on track and away from those items that cause you to fail. You don’t want to sabotage your own success by having these tempting products in the house. They do have a tendency to call your name at the most inopportune (usually your weakest) times! How It's Done: 1. Drink a protein shake whenever you feel hunger (whether it be real body hunger or head hunger) – one person said they drink a shake every two hours. I figured that if a person would start at 6 am, drink a shake every two hours, this would allow them to drink up to 8 pm! (Sounds great) 2. Consume a minimum of 800 calories for the day 3. You may drink fluids after consuming protein shakes. The "30 minute wait period" before drinking after food does not apply in this case. Keep in Mind: 1. Get off sugar products 2. Some people include a few additives in their shakes to help spice them up such as a little peanut butter, or sugar free Davinci syrups, or a little bit of fruit (although fruits do have carbs, so it depends on what your preference is). If the additive causes you to crave more, DON'T add it. 3. You may want to include thin soups with light vegetables, yogurts or custards as they are considered full liquids. 4. It has been suggested that if you are exercising, drink a protein shake right before your workout. Transitioning Back to Normal: 1. If you are doing full liquids for 3 days, on the fourth day you will want to add a light supper. When comfortable, add a light lunch until you are back to your 3 meals a day. The LPT will help you to be more in tune with how food makes you feel. In other words, you will know when you are full on a meal. Stop there, do not overeat. Listen to your body and pouch when it says its full. 2. If you did liquid all day and a light supper at night during the 3 days, then just add your light lunch back into the routine.

This posting is so timely.  I'm trying to stick to all protein shakes and crystal lite for the next 3-5 days to decarb.  I had only planned to go to 600 calories (kind of like the first week post op), but I think 800 is probably more realistic! Thanks for sharing... Jewel

One thing that both of these good programs do is to help a person get off carbs... .those bad ones that make us CRAVE snacks... you know the kind...  the cravings for crackers, chips, pasta... all sorts of wls no-no's.  And, it helps to jump start the weight loss again.  Yes its true that you will lose weight and probably gain some back when you start eating food again, but the goal is for it to be good food that is wls friendly.  Just wanted to throw that in so that people will not discouraged if/when they gain those few lbs back...  your good choices will have those scales moving in a downward spiral...  Oh I forgot to add...  I do not think it shrinks the pouch either.  It does make me feel full faster... but like "IEatCarbs" said...  it helps you get back to the basics... . so you are listening to your body more.

Tryed it, lost weight, regained it and a few more pounds. I think I'll try the 3 day LPT next.