Volumetrics and your bigger pouch - a way things change as you get further out.

I found this on the RnY forum message board. I thought it would be helpful. It is re-posted here for your information. Jupiter6 was the originator, these are her words, not mine.
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Volumetrics-- this is a difference in how we eat further out than we do as fresh post-ops.

New post ops are advised to eat very small portions of protein dense foods, and relatively low fat and carbohydrates, in an attempt to burn your fat storage as fuel. If you don't put much food in, your body will burn the fat off that backside-- and that's what we want, right?

As you get further out your pouch gets bigger-- but don't panic! It SHOULD! The reason is that as you deplete your stores, your body needs to glom its nutrition from your daily intake, so you need a place to put that-- thus the bigger pouch.

Because the pouch gets larger, you will be less sated on the same amounts of  food. Initially it's kind of scary or shocking-- "Did I break it? Will I eat forever?" Your restriction isn't what it once was with your two ounce baby pouch, nor should it be.

The way you eat has to change as well. A quarter cup three times a day will not leave you sated or provide what fuel you need to run the body-- remember, you're running out of reserves.

You may find that you do well to eat several small meals a day. The advantage of this is that you can keep fairly consistent levels of blood sugar, so there's no big energy depletion-- which might cause you to binge or snack.

Instead of eating just protein, you are able to add a little more carbohydrate-- in most cases, you're moving more, so you need it-- and if you're moving more, you are feeding your muscle through work and not just supplementation, so life doesn't have to be protein protein protein all the time.

That's when volumetrics come into play. You've probably seen the Jenny Craig ads where there's a choice between some small super-fatty meal, vs. a large salad with protein, etc....the idea is that for similar nutrition, you get to "eat more." Now our pouches still don't allow for a smorgasbord, but feeling sated really is a key way to keep from snacking and grazing. Our pleasure centers really just like to be "full".

This is where foods like lettuce and shirataki noodles come in really handy. While they aren't pasta, they're a hearty and filling companion to high protein foods, and very low in calories and carbohydrates. I get my 4 oz or so of meat, toss in 4 oz of noodles and a little sauce, and it's very satisfying without stretching the works or destroying my nutritional values. At 20 months post op, an 8-12 ounce meal is not atypical-- and in my case, it's necessary to maintain a healthy diet.

Volumetric eating--- food for thought!

-----:(Pam commented on Jupiter's post and I thought it would help also):-----
Great post!  I'm about 17 months out and a typical meal for me is around 8oz and sometimes 12oz depending on the food density (slider vs. dense). 

This is just our body's way of compensating for the surgery ... just like it's normal for the intestines to grow longer, stronger, denser villi to grab more calories from the food we eat... so too does it grow the pouch to accomodate a larger volume of food. This is just the natural progression of the surgery and I wish surgeons would educate their patients about it from the beginning.

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OK this is me again, Veronnie. I am almost 18 months post. I went off track, my fault, during the holidays and winter months pretty bad. I went from my lowest of 204 up to 223. Just a few weeks ago I got back on track and started journaling and eating the way I should. After reading these post above from Jupiter and Pam, I realized this is what I have been doing wrong, not eating volumetrically. I am slowly getting back down, I am 212 now. I'm gonna try this and see what happens.

Thank you so much for sharing this information.  I'm sure it will helps many members, especially those that hit the point of "oh my God, I can eat more!"  It's scary and like Pam wrote, if only our surgeons would have educated us on this.  My Program Director said "it would be virtually impossible to gain the weight back."  Unfortunately, many have, whether it be 10 pounds or 100+, they/we were told it wouldn't come back and now many are struggling feeling like failures...but don't get me started. =)

Thanks again for sharing.

Kimberlee

No Problem. Sharing is why we are here. I am back down to 206 now. i can't wait for the back on track class to begin.