I think I need a pouch reset.

[MzTrip 52]

My surgery was 5 mths ago. Since then I have left a relationship, started a new job, fallen in love, and started a new relationship. I went from completely miserable to the happiest I've ever been. It didn't take long before my new boyfriend saw how filling up on food really hurts me and he's become even more conscientious of my eating than I am sometimes... Same with my daughter.... My point is I have full support surrounding me. I feel, however, that I have stretched my pouch in the last month. I'm able to eat a good amount of food compared to what I could eat a mth ago. I can even eat foods that I wasn't able to eat. I haven't lost weight or inches in 3 or 4 weeks. I'm really scared I've ruined it for myself. Should I do a pouch reset? Do you think it would help? Thank you in advance for any advice.

Sent from my Z965 using BariatricPal mobile app

[S@ssen@ch 745]

I don't know. Only 5 months out? It seems unlikely you've stretched out your pouch (although admittedly, you didn't provide enough information to know EXACTLY how much you eat at a sitting. So, it's hard to know for sure).

I would say that it's more likely that all of your post-op swelling has gone down and your suture line is healed, so you have a slightly larger capacity than you did in the 1st months. It could also be that you're eating "slider foods" that slide through the sleeve easier than others.

#1-examine exactly how much and what you are eating. #2-if you truly feel you're eating more than you should be able to, consult your doctor.

[GreenTealael 24,850]

At 5 months post op you may swelling that could have subsided. You may be seeing your Surgeon in about a ninth anyway si don't change anything they have not instructed you to do without running it by them first.

Give your surgery a fair chance to work

Try to strip your meals down to Protein and a small amount of vegetables first. Almost everyone seems to gain traction when they do this, if nothing else. Good luck 💙

Edited October 15, 2019 by GreenTealael

[RickM 1,747]

It is quite normal for you to be able to eat more now than you could earlier in your post op progression, and for you to be able to eat more in the future. This doc gives a pretty good window on this progression:

There is also nothing that says that this progression will be linear - you may feel quite restricted for a while at the outset and as the inflammation subsides, notice that you are eating more than you were not long ago.

What I like about this vid is that it teaches us how to live with this fact of increasing meal volume, rather than fight it. This isn't to say that you shouldn't continue to keep your eating volume under control, but to realize that some increase is normal and not to go to the extremes like these reset diets to try to counter it.

You may or may not like this doc's prescription for living with this increase (I don't agree with everything he says, either) but to use this as a guide in finding your own path. As we progress, we tend to be able to eat a wider variety of foods - which is a good thing, nutritionally - but also a danger if we get into eating the wrong things consistently. His concept of eating veg first is sound - make sure we get in our Protein requirement, but fill in that additional capacity with bulky, low calorie veg. It may not be your thing, but it is a good example of what can be done that you can use in finding your own path to long term success.

Good luck...

[FluffyChix 17,409]

3 hours ago, RickM said:

It is quite normal for you to be able to eat more now than you could earlier in your post op progression, and for you to be able to eat more in the future. This doc gives a pretty good window on this progression:

There is also nothing that says that this progression will be linear - you may feel quite restricted for a while at the outset and as the inflammation subsides, notice that you are eating more than you were not long ago.

What I like about this vid is that it teaches us how to live with this fact of increasing meal volume, rather than fight it. This isn't to say that you shouldn't continue to keep your eating volume under control, but to realize that some increase is normal and not to go to the extremes like these reset diets to try to counter it.

You may or may not like this doc's prescription for living with this increase (I don't agree with everything he says, either) but to use this as a guide in finding your own path. As we progress, we tend to be able to eat a wider variety of foods - which is a good thing, nutritionally - but also a danger if we get into eating the wrong things consistently. His concept of eating veg first is sound - make sure we get in our Protein requirement, but fill in that additional capacity with bulky, low calorie veg. It may not be your thing, but it is a good example of what can be done that you can use in finding your own path to long term success.

Good luck...

Rick, I love this answer and this video! Dr. W. has helped me soooo much to be able to understand and not be fearful and to "use my power aka pouch" for good rather than "evil." haha (And yes, I'm low carb and don't eat beans/lentils etc...but I actually do get in close to a pound of low glycemic veg a day. )