Question:
I drink carbonated beverages...
ok, i know i shouldnt, and i know that i had this wls for a reason. but i DO drink carbonated beverages sometimes. not a lot. maybe once a week or so. and not a lot then. but i am worried of having stretched out my pouch. what is the cottage cheese test? i dont actually think i have stretched it out, i just think i eat too much according to 'other people'. i am not even three months out yet, and i have lost 59 lbs. is that good or no? am i on schedule, or what? i need advice on stretching out my pouch, and if i am on schedule or not, please advise me? ~redneck stephie~ — squeekypete (posted on August 13, 2006)
August 12, 2006
First each of us will lose at a different rate so please don't compare
yourself to anyone else- you are unique! I was told that the pouch should
be able to hold 2-3 oz and after the 1 yr mark about 6 oz. I recently read
in OH magazine we should never eat more than 5 oz after having surgery. Now
for the cottage cheese test- it can be found in Colleen Cook's Success
Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients- buy a 16oz carton of small curd
low fat cottage cheese -Eat fairly quickly until you feel full (about 5
min)- you essentially do not need to chew due to the small curds so the
pouch should fill up before it begins to empty- you are now left with a
partially empty carton of cottage cheese- Measure the left over cottage
cheese into a 2 cup measuring container- then add water until the level
reachs the original level the cottage cheese had in the container- the
difference between what is left of the cottage cheese and the amount of
water it takes to reach 16 oz is the functional size of your pouch.
However- I would stay away from the carbonated beverages- to see what they
will do take two balloons and some soda and GO OUTSIDE- pour some soda in
a glass and let it go 'flat'- pour some of the fresh soda into a balloon-
tie off the balloon and shake it up after the rest of the soda goes flat do
the same thing with the other balloon- watch what happens in both cases to
the balloons- and think of your pouch. Good luck.
Donna 286/194/145 3 mo post op
— dabby
August 13, 2006
I agree we should not drink carbonated soda too but I've read from other
boards here that the analogy of soda in a balloon doesn't really apply
because you tie off the balloon where the gas cannot escape but our pouches
are not sealed off. We can still release that excess gas (burp/belch) so we
cannot stretch out the pouch this way. That makes sense to me but I hear
comments made from both sides on this issue. I wish I knew what the truth
is.
— Rick Bedard
August 13, 2006
I was allowed carbonation after 6 months. I occasionally also have a coke
zero, onc e or twice a month. I am maintaining well.
You pouch will stretch. it is supposed to, You couldnt' live on a couple
oz of food forever. I was told to expect to eat 1 - 1 1/2 cups of food at
one year and that is pretty accurate as to where I was, and still very
close to what I eat at a meal now. 3 months and 59 pounds is amazing to
me. that is close to where I was, maybe a little more. I have lost 130 and
am at a really nice weight for me, since plastics I am a size 8 which just
stuns me when I think about it. I am almost 4 years out and maintaining
very well.
If I were you I would take it easy on the carbonation, but mainly because
it fills you up on something that isn't providing nutrients for your body.
I don't mean that as a critisism at all, just a suggestion, so you can
keep our health uip.
I posted a bunch of nutritional info on my rofile, clos to the bottom.
— **willow**
August 13, 2006
just wanted to add, balloons over a glass of pop do not belch or fart and I
do. My pouch has 2 openings, one at the top and one at the bottom. put 2
holes in the balloon and then see what happens.
— **willow**
August 13, 2006
First, listen to the other sensible posters here who explained that soda
will not cause your pouch to stretch.
Secondly, the cottage cheese test is a farce-- there is just no way that
trying to gague how full you feel based upon cottage cheese will be an
accurate test of how big your pouch is. You don't know what food remnants
are left in the pouch from the day before which could limit emptying. You
have no way of knowing the relative density of the cottage cheese so you
have no way of knowing how quickly it should empty. There are just far too
many variables for this allged "cottage cheese" to be accurate.
Now, here is the other thing to consider-- if you stretched out your pouch,
what can you do about it now, except measure your food and be very vigilent
about slowly eating your controlled portions. If you haven't stretched out
your pouch, you will still need to measure your food and be very vigilentg
about slowly eating your controlled portions. So, why take a test if the
results are not going to change your behavior?
— SteveColarossi
August 13, 2006
Congrats on the weight loss...as far as the soda goes, I was drinking diet
pepsi for the longest, then I started doing some research on this site and
discovered an amazingly WIDE variety of possibilites, so I limit myself to
1 diet pepsi every few days and at all other times I drink Fruit Punch
Crystal Light. I just don't want to take any chances. Also, just FYI...my
doctor told me that after my surgery, I needed to watch for liquid calories
and to be sure to only drink diet soda, no regular, of course, I dump so
easy, regular soda would never be an option for me anyway! But in my
opinion (which may not mean much) why would my doctor allow me to drink
something that would stretch out my pouch? Something to think about, after
all, he is the professional! Good Luck!
— TraciB06
August 14, 2006
If half the surgeons out there say no carbonated beverages and half say
it's okay, then we are left to medical guessing. The "stats"
that say that 52% of successful wls patients don't drink carbonated
beverages - well, what about the other 48%? Is that discounted? And they
don't specify between diet and regular, so would it stand to reason the
other 4% difference might be those who are drinking sugared sodas?
Perhaps. The point is that we all have to do what we need to do to make
this livable for ourselves. For some, eliminating carbonated beverages
makes them feel better, so great - do it. But if you just gotta have it,
try it out - see how you feel and work with it to make it work for you. I
decided from the outset that I was going to make this work for me. What
that means is throwing the dieting ritual out the window. When I feel
something is off limits, I will crave and desire it all the more and want
to gorge on it when I "cheat." Now this is not right out of the
starting gate because you have to follow certain rules to begin with, but
to make a long term solution, I had to figure out what would help me be
more "normal" so that I could not have my whole life focused
around food. So I drink diet soda sometimes. And a lot of times, I rarely
finish it, but I enjoy it from time to time. I have learned moderation by
doing this method, because there is nothing I cannot have. So I don't
obsess over it. Now, as for a stretched pouch, I started out with a 4 oz
pouch. I guess my anatomy made it so I ended up on the larger size. So I
was obsessed with how much I could eat for a long time. I finally learned
to not worry so much about it. I never ate until I threw up and I tried to
pay attention to the full feeling. I was 325 to start (338 was my highest)
and I am now 185. Yeah, I'd like to lose 20-30 more, but I'm not obsessing
on it. I am living my life and doing my best and every couple of months I
lose a pound or so. Took me a year to lose the last 10 lbs, but that's
okay because my focus now is to not gain and to learn to live with this in
the best way for me. So try not to worry so much and just focus on
listening to being full and not snacking. I am of the camp that believes
carbonated beverages won't cause your pouch to stretch, although it can be
uncomfortable for some people. But too much food will do more damage than
carbonation. Just my personal opinion....Good luck!
— Dinka Doo
August 14, 2006
Stephanie for an idea of how much weight you could be loosing try OH page
http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/post+op+planner.php
— Steve Etherton
August 14, 2006
Stephanie, I understand hoe hard it is to give things up after WLS....I do!
But what I would offer to you is: are you getting enough water? Water is
so key to weight loss and maintaining weight loss. As for carbonated
beverages, the truth is there is NOTHING in there that is good for you.
Nothing. It depletes your bones which can lead to osteoporosis. And I
agree with other posters who say do not compare yourself to others. Just
eat your correct amount of food, exercise, drink water and try not to
obsess on what others are doing. Just do your best for you!!!!!
— Mrs. Crabapple
August 15, 2006
Stephanie here! Thank yall for your input. Yep, I do get in a LOT of water.
And when I do drink pop, I drink so little of it. For instance, my friend
and I had dinner the other nite, and I had a can of pop with dinner, I took
it home with me, because there was still about half left, and then
yesterday I dumped it out because I had never finished it. I do that ALL
the time with this stuff, I dont think I have finished a pop since wls. I
do need to start getting in more protien though. Thanks yall! ~redneck
stephie~
— squeekypete
August 17, 2006
My nutritionist said that the act of belcing stretches your stomach out,.
My niece, though, also had the op, and she drinks and eats everything, and
she has lost loads of weight and looks great! I do not drink any soda,
because I figure why start. I am now used to not having it, and it does
not boether me. although I drank lots of Diet Sprite before my op. they
say that the sweeteneer in diet soda actually makes you hungrier, and the
sugar in regular soda is too much for me.
You are averaging about twenty pounds per month, which is really good!
Congratulations!
— Novashannon
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