[gidget]

After struggling with eating for what seems to be forever, today, believe it or not, I felt like I overate!! I had a protein shake for breakfast, a bag of protein cereal for snack, a cup of refried beans with lowfat cheese and a few bites of squash and 4 grapes for lunch, and then 2 pieces of salmon sashimi and a salmon hand roll for dinner!! I haven't eaten that much since I had my surgery and was just wondering if it was possible to stretch out your pouch? Have I really overeaten? I know calorie-wise, I'm fine, but I worry that my pouch can hold so much and I still didn't feel "full"!! I want that really full, can't eat another bite feeling and have yet to have it!

[DocSanae]

First off, your pouch should be able to hold 4-6oz as you get further out.
In the beginning, it can't hold much more than an ounce or so, because it is still swollen from the invasion of major surgery. When the swelling has come down, you will notice that your pouch can hold an ounce or two more than before. After the swelling goes away, the pouch regains the natural resilence that is has--the ability to stretch a bit, just like rubber, then go back to it's regular size once empty. THe pouch regains this ability at around 3-6 months out, so, you will notice that you can eat some more at this point. That is about how much it stretches.
You will be able to seem to eat some types of food more than others, because the are reduced greatly in volume when you chew them to mush. So, what your eyes see as a large amount of food, may not end up so large in volume once you've chewed it up. This is another reason you will be *feeling* as if you've eaten too much. Because the amount looks like a lot to your eyes.

Of course, very rarely, the pouch does *grow* larger than expected, or, the staple lines break. However, this is only in very rare cases. More often than not, you may start eating more because you've picked up the habit of drinking when eating, or drinking too early after you've finished eating. In this case, the fluids you are drinking will push the solid foods out of your pouch, and enable you to eat more, making it seem as though your pouch has *stretched*.

I know that stretching your pouch is one of your biggest fears post op, along with regaining what you have lost, but so long as you stick to your surgeon's rules, neither should be valid fears.

[butterfly73]

On the other end of the spectrum in regards to the original question, Can you shrink your pouch? Ive greatly reduced my intake of calories from 1300 to 500 a day and if I do eat solid food it's about a half cup but mainly it's liquids. After doing this for an extended period of time can your pouch shrink?

[qt82699]

thanks for clearing that up doc..i was wondering too!!

[DocSanae]

Originally Posted by butterfly73

On the other end of the spectrum in regards to the original question, Can you shrink your pouch? Ive greatly reduced my intake of calories from 1300 to 500 a day and if I do eat solid food it's about a half cup but mainly it's liquids. After doing this for an extended period of time can your pouch shrink?

No, you can't shrink your pouch physically. What happens is that it will lose some of it's resilence, which, with small pouches is not wise. Also, it isn't wise to reduce your intake to 500 kcals, that is in the anorexic level. As far as nutrition goes, from every aspect--fuel, necessary nutritents, body function, brain function-- 1000-1200 kcals is the minimum requirement for women, and 1400-1600 is the minimum for men. If you condition yourself to such low calories, you are seriously inviting anorexia. You body will become UNABLE to accept the necessary nutrients and utilise them, and it will lose the ability to metabolise effectively to maintain life. You were able to survive on very low calories immediately post op because you had a lot of extra stored in your body. Now you don't, so very low calories will deprive your body of everything that you need to maintain your life. I mean this very seriously and as a warning. When you have arrived at maintenance weight-- a reasonable weight for health, not model thin, not Hollywood starlet thin--you HAVE to get in 1000-1200 kcals to keep your body healthy. Vitamins and supplements aren't enough. Our body is so set up to function by digesting and metabolising real food, and absorbing the essential nutritents--nutirients that we MUST get from the outside world because our body can't make them from the various nutrients that we get in--from solid food to build and maintain our body and life. With only very low calorie intake, you are tampering with this very basic and very necessary function to maintain life.

Believe me, you don't want to be an anorexic. I've been told from my psychiatrist friends that an anorexic's view of food and the world is very warped, and it's very difficult to correct it, and so, very easy to endanger their lives. There is an anorexic girl who lives in my neighborhood. I saw her one day at a mall that I sometimes go to. She had tripped and fallen down, and try as she might, she couldn't get up, she didn't have the strength to. It took her several minutes before she was finally able to stand up. I had seen her around often enough, and other than being skin and bones, she seemed to be fine, so her weakness was very disturbing. It also isn't easy to decide whether to help such a person in such a situation, unless there's a car barreling towards that person or something like that, because these people think that they are fine, and may feel that being given a helping hand is an insult. It isn't an easy place to be, and if you can avoid it, you should. Just my $0.02 here.