Be honest...how does this tool always work...
So I am pertrified that I have stretched out my pouch. I know people say you will always have this tool but if your pouch is stretched out...then isn't the tool not effective?? I am so scared that it's happened. I don't get that full feeling, however I do stop eating. I don't eat like I used to but feel I eat more than I should. Not sure if I'm even saying this right. Maybe I just needed to put this out there and see what other think. If only to ease my mind.
Jennifer,
We all have those fears. You are almost a year out and that means that you will be able to eat more. It sounds like you have the right idea about not eating more, just because you can. This is why we need to set up our habits early on. It gives us an idea of how much we should eat.
If you are worried about how much you are eating, track your food. Log everything that goes in your mouth. This will give you a good idea of how you are doing. If you are still having doubts, call your dietician from the weight loss center. They will be more than happy to go over things with you.
Good luck,
Jenn
We all have those fears. You are almost a year out and that means that you will be able to eat more. It sounds like you have the right idea about not eating more, just because you can. This is why we need to set up our habits early on. It gives us an idea of how much we should eat.
If you are worried about how much you are eating, track your food. Log everything that goes in your mouth. This will give you a good idea of how you are doing. If you are still having doubts, call your dietician from the weight loss center. They will be more than happy to go over things with you.
Good luck,
Jenn
Hi Jennifer -
Your original stomach (before surgery) could hold up to 4 liters of food (that's 16 cups!!). Your new pouch at the time of surgery was about 1oz and could hold about 2oz of food. Your surgeon made your pouch out of the least-stretchy part of your stomach, so it's difficult to stretch it.
BUT...
Our pouches will GROW over time. Yes, it's a living organ and your body tries to compensate for the rearranging we did to it and it will grow to help get in as much nutrition as possible. A mature pouch is anywhere from 6oz to 9oz in size... and can naturally stretch to hold up to 12oz of food at a time. A pouch reaches maturity at about the 2-year mark. By 6 months post-op your pouch has grown to about 2/3 of it's maturity level. You're nearly a year out. So your pouch is no longer 1oz in size ... it's more like 3oz or 4oz right now.
Studies have shown that the size of your pouch has very little to do with your overall success with weight loss. Your success has more to do with how well you follow your eating and exercise plan and how well you follow the "rules of the pouch."
Also remember that your body immediately begins to compensate for the surgery. Once your body realized that a portion of your instestine has been bypassed and you aren't absorbing all the calories you're eating, it begins to figure out how to become more effecient. Your intestines grow additional cilia along the intestinal wall -- the little fingerlike tenticles that grab nutrients/calories as food passes by. No, we won't ever replace those first 100-150cm where various vitamins are absorbed, so we'll always malabsorp nutrients. But the body figures out how to absorb all the calories we eat eventually. By the 2-year mark you're likely absorbing every single calorie you eat. (This is also the case with DS folks too!)
As for not feeling full -- that's perfectly normal. The nerves in our stomach were cut during surgery. These are the nerves that signal to our brain when we are full/hungry/etc. In some people those nerves repair themselves as early as 3 months post-op, but for others it might take 18 or 24 months for them to start working again. And often they don't have the same "signal strength" as they once had before surgery. So that's why it's so important to always measure/weight the food we eat.
By ALWAYS following the rules we were given we will always be able to effectively use the tool we have. NO drinking with meals -- that's a big rule that so many people get lax on the further out they get. I have a post in my profile about why its so important to follow this rule. Once we fall back into that bad habit, we have basically rendered our tool useless. But once we stop drinking with meals... we realize the pouch tool still works just fine. And that's just one of the rules we follow.... gotta keep them all at the top of our list.
So yes, I firmly believe the tool continues to work for the rest of our lives. As long as we protect it and be kind to it. But by understanding that it grows, matures and changes is very important when you have to adapt your behavior to what's going on inside your body.
Sorry.. this kind of turned into a long rambling post. But I hope it helps a bit...
Pam
Your original stomach (before surgery) could hold up to 4 liters of food (that's 16 cups!!). Your new pouch at the time of surgery was about 1oz and could hold about 2oz of food. Your surgeon made your pouch out of the least-stretchy part of your stomach, so it's difficult to stretch it.
BUT...
Our pouches will GROW over time. Yes, it's a living organ and your body tries to compensate for the rearranging we did to it and it will grow to help get in as much nutrition as possible. A mature pouch is anywhere from 6oz to 9oz in size... and can naturally stretch to hold up to 12oz of food at a time. A pouch reaches maturity at about the 2-year mark. By 6 months post-op your pouch has grown to about 2/3 of it's maturity level. You're nearly a year out. So your pouch is no longer 1oz in size ... it's more like 3oz or 4oz right now.
Studies have shown that the size of your pouch has very little to do with your overall success with weight loss. Your success has more to do with how well you follow your eating and exercise plan and how well you follow the "rules of the pouch."
Also remember that your body immediately begins to compensate for the surgery. Once your body realized that a portion of your instestine has been bypassed and you aren't absorbing all the calories you're eating, it begins to figure out how to become more effecient. Your intestines grow additional cilia along the intestinal wall -- the little fingerlike tenticles that grab nutrients/calories as food passes by. No, we won't ever replace those first 100-150cm where various vitamins are absorbed, so we'll always malabsorp nutrients. But the body figures out how to absorb all the calories we eat eventually. By the 2-year mark you're likely absorbing every single calorie you eat. (This is also the case with DS folks too!)
As for not feeling full -- that's perfectly normal. The nerves in our stomach were cut during surgery. These are the nerves that signal to our brain when we are full/hungry/etc. In some people those nerves repair themselves as early as 3 months post-op, but for others it might take 18 or 24 months for them to start working again. And often they don't have the same "signal strength" as they once had before surgery. So that's why it's so important to always measure/weight the food we eat.
By ALWAYS following the rules we were given we will always be able to effectively use the tool we have. NO drinking with meals -- that's a big rule that so many people get lax on the further out they get. I have a post in my profile about why its so important to follow this rule. Once we fall back into that bad habit, we have basically rendered our tool useless. But once we stop drinking with meals... we realize the pouch tool still works just fine. And that's just one of the rules we follow.... gotta keep them all at the top of our list.
So yes, I firmly believe the tool continues to work for the rest of our lives. As long as we protect it and be kind to it. But by understanding that it grows, matures and changes is very important when you have to adapt your behavior to what's going on inside your body.
Sorry.. this kind of turned into a long rambling post. But I hope it helps a bit...
Pam
My Recipe Index is packed full of yumminess!
Visit my blog: Journey to a Healthier Me ...or my Website
The scale can measure the weight of my body but never my worth as a woman. ~Lysa TerKeurst author of Made to Crave
Thanks Brenda. I'm glad I could help. :-)
My Recipe Index is packed full of yumminess!
Visit my blog: Journey to a Healthier Me ...or my Website
The scale can measure the weight of my body but never my worth as a woman. ~Lysa TerKeurst author of Made to Crave
Thanks Rich. Glad my rambling didn't bother you. It's good to know I can teach an old dog new tricks. 
My Recipe Index is packed full of yumminess!
Visit my blog: Journey to a Healthier Me ...or my Website
The scale can measure the weight of my body but never my worth as a woman. ~Lysa TerKeurst author of Made to Crave
The RNY surgery works three fold.
1.You have restrictive property.
2. Malabsorption property and
3. Time to rethink/override bade nutrional habit and change your diet.
The D word makes people very upset.
Retsrictve property eventualy diminishes for most people with a pouch made of stomach material.
Mine is made of esophageal cardia and is resistant stretching.
The length of bypass dictates your malabsorption rate. Mine is long so I absorb about 68% and dump easily. Even at 4 years I still dump.
The time to change is what many overlook. They don't fix the head.
RNY and lap band share 1 and 3 but long term bands fail because they also go back if they are not careful. The one who succeed took proper steps to ensure their sugery was going to work.
DS has 2 and 3.
RNY has all three and for some loke me and other Sapala/Wood micros it is permanent restrictive.
I can feel full but I am never hungery. The clock dictates my eating and because I balance my diest to exactly what I ned according to my activity level there are no cravings.
Yes I am the WLS nazi. I do exactly what Dr. Schuhknecht told me to do. I have also learned the hard way where my limits are and I do not cross them.
My advice is to write down what you eat with the numbers in protein and calories and spread your meals out all day.
kp
edit: My post opereative report showed I had a 3 CC pouch. Basically and elbow.
1.You have restrictive property.
2. Malabsorption property and
3. Time to rethink/override bade nutrional habit and change your diet.
The D word makes people very upset.
Retsrictve property eventualy diminishes for most people with a pouch made of stomach material.
Mine is made of esophageal cardia and is resistant stretching.
The length of bypass dictates your malabsorption rate. Mine is long so I absorb about 68% and dump easily. Even at 4 years I still dump.
The time to change is what many overlook. They don't fix the head.
RNY and lap band share 1 and 3 but long term bands fail because they also go back if they are not careful. The one who succeed took proper steps to ensure their sugery was going to work.
DS has 2 and 3.
RNY has all three and for some loke me and other Sapala/Wood micros it is permanent restrictive.
I can feel full but I am never hungery. The clock dictates my eating and because I balance my diest to exactly what I ned according to my activity level there are no cravings.
Yes I am the WLS nazi. I do exactly what Dr. Schuhknecht told me to do. I have also learned the hard way where my limits are and I do not cross them.
My advice is to write down what you eat with the numbers in protein and calories and spread your meals out all day.
kp
edit: My post opereative report showed I had a 3 CC pouch. Basically and elbow.
"Go sell crazy somewhere else; we're all stocked up here."
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