Very, very, troubled....

No judgement here, just fact: I was able to drink alcohol fairly early on if I nursed it.  If I tried to drink at pre-surgery levels, I was a goner....

I am more worried about the absent-mindedly munching on potato chips.  To me that is the path to the dark side, young padawan..... these days nothing goes in my mouth without a conscious decision to put it in there, otherwise I'd be right back where I started, without a doubt.

Audrey

You use the phrases, " I was able to consume"..."I managed to drink..."

It seems like you are eating/drinking to see what you can get away with.

I would follow M's advice and take this time to Learn to eat differently.

At three months it should be relatively easy to stick with the healthiest options.
***The further out you are the more foods you can tolerate and in larger amounts.***

 I agree it sounded like you wre testing your pouch. You know you can drink liquor and that you can eat mindlessly again. Lesson learned what are you going to do about it?  Good luck remember this is a journey where we will make mistakes and learn from them.

 How long did you sit and eat on that bratwurst?  If I worked on something long enough I could get it in.  That's why I portion out on my plate what I *should* eat instead of the whole thing.  No mindlessly eating the whole thing that way.  Same with potato chips.  IF I eat them out of the big bag (oh, like I did yesterday on the way home from the store - I tossed them out the window but not before I did some damage!) I can eat quite a bit of them.  That's why I either have to avoid them, or just purchase the small 120 calorie single serving bag.

Drinking... it hits me hard and fast.  I cannot do it, period.

If your sugars are on the rise - have you looked at your eating choices?  Are they carby?  Starchy?  Are you increasing sugars?  Something is causing it to go up.  Have you noticed any trends?  Is it higher after certain meals?  Certain foods?   Mike's has quite a bit of sugar in it.

I believe your blood sugars numbers are going up due to the amount of carbs/sugars you are getting. All alcohol turns into carbs/sugars. It will raise your blood sugar.

I could eat more than I felt like I should, but remember you will have big pouch days and little pouch days. Plus I can eat something today with no issues yet tomorrow it will hurt, not stay down, etc...

You're gotten good advice here. I will add that I do not drink at all. I have never tried after surgery. Why? Because I am one of those people who thinks that if a little is good, more must be better. I also do not drink because of the empty calories.

Being aware of that thinking helps me to regulate myself. There are many things I could probably eat but choose not because I do not want the consequences.

I think you are right to question your food and beverage choices. Being mindful is one way in which we can change our habits for the better.

 I'm not a veteran, but am still gonna address your post. 

I'm 5 months out and can eat a whole lot if I eat it slowly enough. A large thin crust pizza?  Give me a couple hours, I could probably eat all of it. That doesn't mean I DO, but just that I probably could. I've never tested it to be sure. 

You and I seem to have had very similar recoveries, meaning that neither of us had any medical issues or real problems getting food in. I was back on a relatively normal diet within a month. And at this point, I can eat the way a "normal" slender person should be able to eat--small meals, consisting of just about anything. My husband keeps saying, when I ask what he wants for dinner, "Well, I don't know what you can eat."  I can eat anything. Except too much sugar or starchy carbs.  A cheeseburger or a hotdog is no problem. 

A bag of chips? Yep, it's nothing. I could probably eat a bag of chips if you let me and I wanted to. But I don't. Carbs are super easy to eat because they reduce to basically nothing and slide right through. 

I wouldn't worry too much about how much you can eat, because your pouch will have big days and small days and it will change and expand as you go on. Instead, like others have said, I would take this time to rewire your brain and get into more of a visual habit. I'm at the point where, say if I unwrap a 12" sub sandwich, my mind automatically thinks, "I need to cut that into thirds."  I've already gotten into the habit of reducing my portions and having smaller meals be more automatic, regardless of how hungry I feel or how much I could physically eat, so that when my restriction does give way a bit, I'll be more prepared to pare it down myself, without relying on my pouch to measure. 

Thank you to all *****sponded...you are all to be commended for providing candid feedback without judgement and I appreciate it more than I could ever even adequately express!!!

Now that I know some new things about what my pouch can and cannot tolerate, what am I going to do? Take a step back and make a conscious decision to make the best possible choice...'can' doesn't necessarily (in fact, rarely does it) = 'should'...

I erred in my endeavour to replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones...that's all I did...won't beat myself up over it but I am resolved to get that process going again...

Today, my lunch was 1 cup of Vegetable Lentil soup with roasted red pepper and four saltine crackers broken up...I had to stop eating at just about the half-way point...I was so happy!!!