5 day pouch test
It's a five day fad diet for RNY patients. You eat a very limited amount of food for five days, which will cause you to lose a couple pounds, which you will probably gain back as soon as you start eating a normal diet again. I don't recommend it because it's a fad diet and those don't work. If they did, we all would not have needed WLS, right?
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Ditto what Kelly said. You can Google it and find information about it if you really want to do it.
In addition to the fact that it doesn't work in the long run any more than ANY diet ever did for us, it also reinforces that old diet-deprivation-binge-regain mentality that failed each and every one of us for our entire lives. The deprivation is the biggest reason that diets don't work. If you go back to basics, though, and eat meals that are high in protein and low in carbs, eat small portions, and make sure to get in plenty of water, you will be reinforcing the healthy eating lifestyle that you need in order to maintain your weight for the rest of your life. IMO (which, as a mental health professional is a bit biased, I admit), things like the 5DPT just sabotage your long term success.
If you ask the vets who are still here who are 5+ years out and are maintaining their weight loss, however, almost every one of them (every one that I can think of) will tell you to run, not walk, away from the "pouch test" (which doesn't "test" anything except your willingness to subject yourself to yet another diet).
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
I haven't ever thought of it as a "pouch test" - because to truly test your pouch you need to go to your surgeon or gastroenterologist to get a scope. I will admit (blushing) to using it a couple of times to kind of reset my eating when I let it get too out of hand. Basically it's just a couple days of fluids and a day or two or really limited amounts of specific foods. Google is great for finding this stuff.
Now though, at a little over 5 years, I just revert back to shakes for a day or two when I've gone haywire. Which I (blushing again and now shaking head) do admit to allowing to happen at times still. It's just life.
Best of luck to you on your journey=)
And about your way of using shakes for a couple of as a reset when you've gone haywire, I understand what you mean - it helps you create a reset condition. When you are strictly on shakes for those 2 days, there's no food consumed, so no grazing & no bad choices possible. Just 2 days for meditation & reflection. A mindset of discipline reaffirmed.
Teri
=)
Yup. The shakes help me. I just want to emphasis that I only speak for myself. My shakes still keep me full for 2-4 hours. That's not the case for everyone, and a lot of longer term post ops don't use them because the "liquid" calories do not keep them satiated. I use them once or twice per week for my night time meal. It took me literally almost 3 years to find a way to make them tolerable, but I finally found a process that renders them enjoyable to me. And I never get enough protein from food.
Best of luck to you on your journey.
amy
I'm in my practice phase of commencing my supervised diet. I've never been able to stomach the commercial diet drinks & "meal bars" dieting. They are all SWEET - not emotional or soul-satisfying as regular meal food (especially when eaten very warm).
When my band was applied in 2006, those weeks on protein shakes were an emotional deprivation torture.
But this morning, I added a half scoop of Tasters Choice Frenh Roast coffee crystals to my french vanilla omega-3 enriched protein & milk. I was concerned whether the crystals would dissolve in cold liquid, but I added it to my spiral wire spring ball agitator in my shaker bottle - and it took no extra work at all.
I adore the bitter yummy counterpoint that can cut the sweet. Iced French vanilla latte!
Teri
I'm in my practice phase of commencing my supervised diet. I've never been able to stomach the commercial diet drinks & "meal bars" dieting. They are all SWEET - not emotional or soul-satisfying as regular meal food (especially when eaten very warm).
When my band was applied in 2006, those weeks on protein shakes were an emotional deprivation torture.
But this morning, I added a half scoop of Tasters Choice Frenh Roast coffee crystals to my french vanilla omega-3 enriched protein & milk. I was concerned whether the crystals would dissolve in cold liquid, but I added it to myspiral wire spring ball agitator in my shaker bottle - and it took no extra work at all.
I adore the bitter yummy counterpoint that can cut the sweet. Iced French vanilla latte!
Teri
Ok Teri. Sorry it took so long.First, what worked for me BEFORE I found a way I like might help some of you to get your protein down if you're having the same problem so I'll share that too: The first two plus years, I would put my protein powder and just enough water to make a liquid into my Magic Bullet and mix just enough to get the lumps out (to avoid making foam). This would result in an approximately 2 oz homemade protein "shot" that I could get down in a minimum amount of swallows. It usually only took two or three swallows to get it in. That is the only way I could get shakes down at the time, and it's imperative to get your shakes/protein in early out so it had to be done.
At about 2 years out I learned a great lesson and from a newbie no less. I gave out my way of ingesting the nasty things (the one listed above) and mentioned how I hated them. She suggested buying vanilla protein and mixing with fresh fruit and a little powdered SF vanilla pudding to thicken them up. I had tried lots of other stuff and figured I could at least give a it whirl - couldn't keep complaining if I wasn't will to try new things.
It was really good! I was so, so happy. I could have an actual shake, or at least 4 or 5 oz of one, and sip it instead of slamming it. That encouraged me even more and I got inventive enough to start messing around. What I came up with is so good that my husband drinks them with me.
I buy the best vanilla protein powder I can afford. For me that's BSN Syntha-6 vanilla ice cream flavor, or if I really want a treat I'll use the BSN Lean Dessert Whipped Vanilla Cream. I throw blackberries or strawberries in the blender and blend until they're a liquid (have to use some water to get to a pourable consistency with frozen. Fresh don't usually need any extra fluid, but I add ice because I like my shakes thick and cold). Then I add 2 scoops of the protein powder, about 1/3 pkg of SF Jello Vanilla pudding powder, and my secret ingredient: the best vanilla extract I can buy. It's usually about $25 for a 2-4oz bottle, but believe me, it makes all the difference in the world. Sometimes I'll even use vanilla bean paste which is even more pricey. I don't mind spending the money, because it makes it possible for me to not only tolerate the shakes but to actually enjoy them. The vanilla is what takes the "protein powder aftertaste" away for me. The protein powder, powdered pudding, and extract/paste blends up into a thick, icy shake. I stay full for easily 3 to 4 hours or more.
So that's the deal. Mainly the lesson I think isn't so much in how I actually make my shakes, but in being open to trying new things if what you're doing isn't working. And, as with baking, using the absolute best ingredients available.
Someone on OH used to say that there's no excuse for forcing yourself to drink a shake you don't like. It used to drive me nuts when she said that! Then I learned she was right. There are actually even books out there with recipes for making all kinds of shakes. The possibilities are endless. Just don't give up until you find something that works for you. I'm done experimenting because I'm so happy with what I have and I can change up the fruit or flavorings or whatever if I want something different.
One caveat: a lot of folks don't use shakes this far out and consider them slider foods. they just don't keep them full for long enough. for some reason they still work for me, and I never have a problem staying satiated for several hours, so I'll have them a few times per week as meal replacements. i never get enough protein anyway so they're a bonus for me in that way also.
amy
