Question:
I FEEL LIKE I'VE STRECHED MY POUCH, HELP!!!

I'm 8 months out and I feel like I can really eat alot more food than ever.I actually ate an entire slice of pizza, with the crust. It wasn't a huge slice, maybe a medium sized slice of a real Italian pizza (not Dominos or Pizza Hut), but I ate it and I wasn't really full like I thought I should be. I even ate 4 whole ounces of chicken and a salad. Does this sound okay or way to much? It seems at my period time, my pouch stretches, I know that's not true but that's what it feels like. I've lost 85 pounds and want to lose about 40 more. I'm paranoid that I overate one to many times and streched it out. HELP!!! Kelly*    — Kelly* P. (posted on September 24, 2003)


September 24, 2003
Hi Kelly- I'm barely 6 months out, but found I can eat LOTS during my period. I asked my doctor and he reassured me that, though it seems like a lot to us, compare it to a pre-surgery meal, and it's not much at all. He also said something about hormone flushes during that time interfering with "appetite" controls. Something about we don't feel the tummy stretch as much during that time of the month, so we can fit more in. He also said that the only way we can stretch our pouch enough to cause premature (as in during the first 12-18 months) weight gain is to overeat so much that you need to vomit...and do this everyday for a long time. I wouldn't worry about it at all, but if you need reassurance, bring this up to your doctor or someone in their office. Good luck!
   — toolio

September 24, 2003
This sounds normal to me. The farther out you get, the more you can eat. I've read the optimum final pouch size is 6 to 9 ounces.
   — mom2jtx3

September 24, 2003
My surgeon explains that after 6-9 months, our stomach gets more efficent, the muscles at the top of the stomach have finally learned to work effectively and that it will empty more efficently allowing us to actaully empty part of the food while we are eating. Hence the ability to eat all of a very small meal. I am only 5 weeks out so I don't know from experience, but you sound like you are doing just fine.
   — sissie S.

September 24, 2003
I can realte to the that time of the month thing. It seems I want to, and do, eat more than usual over that week. At my six month check up, the nurse said that they like to see us eating 1-11/2 cups by a year out. I had hardly ever eaten a 1/2 cup at that point. My point is, though, that your pouch is supposed to stretch some over time and what you may be noticing is just one of the natural increases along the way. Keep up the good work!
   — eaamc

September 24, 2003
Well, that sounds totally normal to me, for eight months out. Don't forget that the pouch is supposed to stretch when we eat, as it's made of stretchy material. There's a difference between the size of the unexpanded (empty) pouch and the size of the expanded pouch (how big it stretches when processing food). In the first weeks and months after surgery, our pouches don't expand very much to allow much food because they're healing. But in the long run, they do allow more food, though nowhere near as much as we could eat before. A six-to-ten ounce pouch capacity (that's stretched, full of food) is typical, and that's a good thing. After all, we aren't going to stay in the weight loss mode forever; eventually, we're aiming to maintain a healthy weight. For that, we can't keep living with a teeny pouch forever. Most important, it's not the size of the pouch, it's what you put into it, that determines long-term success.
   — Suzy C.

September 24, 2003
I have found that I can eat much more of certain foods. For example, I can only eat about 3/4 of a 3oz. chicken breast but, I have eaten 1 to 1 1/2 slices of domino's pizza! I can also eat a lot of pasta, which some people cannot tolerate at all. I just think that some days you can eat more of one thing than another and some foods we tolerate more than others.
   — [Deactivated Member]

September 24, 2003
A slice of pizza in one sitting is too much food-- I'm almost one year out and couldn't even come close to eating that (largely because of the crust). However, if you feel satiated after small meals at other times, then chances are you just responding to the pizza (we all have some foods that we tolerate more easily than others). Assuming that you have a 1 oz. pouch, it shouldn't be that stretched out by now, so chances are you just aren't feeling the food backing up into your esophogous. It is possible that monthly hormonal changes stimulate your hunger or cravings for particular foods (not that it alters the size of your pouch)-- wish I knew how to deal with those cravings, not that I don't feel bloated and crampy every time I drink a protein shake too fast but I sense that it's just not the same. I guess the best advice is to simply not worry about the pizza cravings and try to avoid having a whole slice (consider eating the toppings without the crust). Good luck.
   — SteveColarossi

September 28, 2003
I am 8-1/2 months out, and what you described happens to me. To give an example, I can eat 3-4 small slices from a large Pizza Hut pizza if I don't eat the back crust. I can eat even more when I have my period. However, when I compare the amount I eat to what I'd eat before the operation, I realize I eat much less now-- generally 1/4th to 1/3 the amount. I also am continuing to lose weight, slowly but consistantly. So, I figure the larger appetite is normal, and try to fill up on nourishing, low fat/high protein foods.
   — Beth S.

September 28, 2003
This whole notion that we posties can only eat medicine cup sized amounts for the rest of our lives is a fallacy...most of us are always convinced that we can eat more than we "should". I've found it's bizarre actually - some days I feel like a bottomless pit, others like a brand new post-op. I think WLS just levels the playing field for us - most of your naturally thin people wouldn't eat an entire pizza, or cake, or bag of cookies, or whatever - nor would they want too...I remember my size 4 cousin once saying she hates that bloated, overstuffed feeling from eating too much food. At the time I was like "whatever" (accompanied by a big eye roll) but I really feel that way now, and I love it...
   — rebeccamayhew

September 28, 2003
I am going to chime in on this one...I am almost 2 years out (11/16), and there are times when I can eat "normal" sized portion of food...today at lunch I ate an entire sandwich...I took my time, and I ate slowly...enjoying the company of my husband and children...but tonight at dinner, I ate 3 bites of chicken, 2 bites of green beans and that was it...I was done, done, done...Just couldn't eat not one more bite. I can barely make myself swallow anything in the mornings, usually...but other days, I can't seem to get out of the kitchen before eating 2 eggs over easy...hormones...yup...and eating what my body is saying that it needs...this afternoon at lunch when I ate the entire sandwich, I had been all over my kitchen in the morning, cleaning out every single cabinet, taking everything out of them, cleaning the shelves, etc., putting it all back, shining and polishing the cabinet faces...we're getting ready to put our house up on the market and I burned a lot of energy. Yesterday, I worked all day at the groom shop, and the A/C was broken, it was 80+ degrees, hot and humid...I sweat off a bunch of water weight...I weighed 3 lbs less yesterday afternoon than I did in the morning...but...my point is, at 8 months out, you sound perfectly normal. BTW, I eat pizza...and I enjoy the one or two slices I allow myself to have. I have been at goal for over a year now and am very very happy. I had this surgery to feel and look normal. I look around at my husband's family, who are all very small people...and barely any of them eat much more than I do...tells ya something huh? Have a Sparkling Day!! ~CAE~
   — Mustang




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