Question:
How do you know if you have stretched out your pouch?

Sometimes I feel like I could eat a lot of food and other times I can eat only a little bit of food. Lap RNY 1-3-06. How can you tell if your pouch has been stretched out since sometimes the amount of food in the pouch seems like or is a lot. Or maybe I am just not sure how much food really can fit. Please advise. Thanks for your support and thank in advance. Kristy    — Kristy (posted on July 3, 2006)

July 3, 2006
A "mature" pouch can hold 8-16 ounces, up from the 3 or so ounces when it was created. So, you are getting some naturally occuring enlarging of your pouch. Also, it's a matter of perception. Remember when you went to a restaurant and had a salad, maybe soup, a steak, baked potato and dessert? Now that looks like dinner, and lunch for the next 3 days, right? I am 3 1/2 years out from surgery and the same thing still happens to me from time to time. Sometimes I can eat a whole sandwich and some fruit and chips (when really, really hungry) and sometimes a cup of soup and a small side salad are more than I can handle. You can try the cottage cheese test, where you start out empty and eat as much cottage cheese as you can comfortably hold, and that supposedly tells you how much your pouch can hold. (Look for Pouch Rules for Dummies on the internet for the actual directions). Wow, it's almost like being "normal" person who sometimes eats more, sometimes less.
   — koogy

July 3, 2006
Kristy, your pouch will increase in size the further out you get but to strentch it unreasonably you really do have to abuse it (unless you have a mechanical failure). You will find yourself able to eat different amounts at different times, depending on what you are eating and the density of the food. Did your surgeon give you an amount to eat at each meal/snack? If so that is what you should be measuring out and eating, if it's to much stop when you feel comfortable but don't eat more than what is recommended. If you weren't given an amount....call and ask what they recommend. I'm 17 months post-op and a while back I to thought wow I can eat so much more than I use to. I then decided to see just how much I could eat. I grilled some chicken and measured out 2 1/2 oz, know what that was too much food. 2 oz was enough for me that extra 1/2 oz made me uncomfortable. If you aren't feeling satisifed, focus on denser foods. Foods like chicken, beef and shrimp really keep me satisfied, carbs are evil and although taste good, just don't keep me happy between meals. HTH, Dana
   — cajungirl

July 3, 2006
I agree, the density of the food has a lot to do with it. The big factor is if you are drinking within the 30 minutes before, during the meal, and the 30 minutes after a meal. The liquid pushes the food thru, thus not giving you a full feeling and you do eat more. This can make you eventually start gaining weight.
   — Cath

July 8, 2006
At 6 years out I eat what I see "normal" people eating. I always end up either leaving food or getting a doggie bag when I go to a restaurant. The type of food, consistency of the food (dense versus crumbly, or slippery food), and the mood of my pouch that day all affect the amount. I've been told I eat "like a bird" but I don't see that at all. It is a whole lot less than before though, that is for sure. The most important things are eyeballing your portions, paying attention to your pouch, stop when comfortable not full, and not grazing are all key as well as not drinking with meals or 30min after. I have done this and can assure you that the fluid does indeed flush the food through which is NOT what you want to be doing.
   — Kellye C.